Regis and Kathie Lee -December 23, 1997


Reneé O'Connor


Regis: Okay. She was just on our show but you know we kinda ran out of time...
Kathie: Yeah.
Regis: ...and so we've invited her back. The sassy sidekick Gabrielle on Xena: Warrior Princess and she's got some more moves to show us. Here's Reneé O'Connor.
Regis: (shakes Reneé's hand) Well Reneé how are you? Nice to see you again.
Kathie: (shakes Reneé's hand) Welcome back Reneé!
Regis: Hey Reneé. Look at you, yeah.

[all three takes a seat, not in each other's lap, though;)]

Regis: Incidentally, on the show, are you her assistant...? Her secretary... ?
Kathie: Her friend...?
Reneé: I'm her packhorse.
Regis: You do it all.
Reneé: I do it all. I cook, I clean.
Regis: And how did you two meet out there in the wilderness?
Reneé: Umm, ha ha, well as a matter of fact, she found me and I just decided to be a little vagrant and a tag-a-long behind her. And then, you know...
Regis: You were just stumbling around out there in the jungle and
Xena found you?
Reneé: Well I was being sold as a slave and luckily...
Regis: For a hundred thousand camels again?
Reneé: Probably. Now if it's my mom I would've been gone. [smiles]

Reneé: But Xena, you know, is heroic so she saved me...
Regis: She saved you and uh?
Kathie: So you're grateful to her?
Reneé: Very. So I become her best friend, her confidante. And now since Xena is... Xena's heroic, she's staunch and then Gabrielle, my character is very sentimental... You know I'm always crying and...

Regis: But everytime I see you two fighting, you're always... knocking the hell out of some guys, you know?
Reneé: Well yeah. That's the way it should be.
Regis: Well...

[the audience wildly applauds, whistles and cheers]

Kathie: That's why it's a big hit.

[audience laughs: ha-ha-ha.]

Regis: Yeah. That's why it's a big hit and she's probably right. I mean once in a while do you ever run upon a pack of wild WOMEN that you encounter? [laughter] Just once in awhile?
Reneé: We befriend them. You know they're the Amazon women.
Kathie: They're just misunderstood is all.
Reneé: Yeah. You know, we're very complex.
Regis: Mmm, you sure are. But you're good fighters, the two of you.
Reneé: We are, actually.

Kathie: Were you real athletic before you started the series?
Reneé: Yeah. I used to umm, take gymnastics - dancing classes. But ever since the show started I started working more with self-defense, martial arts...
Kathie: Uh huh...
Reneé: Because I developed an interest... outside Xena.
Kathie: So you like kickboxing now.
Reneé: I love kickboxing.
Regis: Yeah.
Reneé: I actually learned this move...

[Reneé grips her right elbow]

Regis: Did you really? Well let me show you. Xena was just on the show last month and uhh...
Reneé: Yeah?
Regis: We did some fooling around together there.
Kathie: Well she was showing you how to film these fight scenes, right?
Regis: How to film the fight scenes, yeah.
Reneé: Did she hit you?
Kathie: Oh! Well...
Regis: Oh, yes she did. As a matter of fact and I whacked her, too. (laughter) I'm not afraid of her.
Kathie: Equal time.
Regis: Why don't we roll that tape right here?

[cue to clip of Lucy Lawless's September 25 1997 appearance is shown with Lucy and Regis punching at each other. The audience applauds and cheers.]

Kathie: Very well done.
Regis: Not bad.
Kathie: There's a future for you in this thing. Warrior priest.
Regis: So now, what can you teach me?
Reneé: I can teach you a thing or two, actually. I umm...
[taps her right elbow with her left palm]
Regis: You keep going for the elbow, what...

[Reneé and Regis stand up]

Reneé: Come here... come here and I'll show you this elbow. I umm, being short...
Kathie: Yes...
Reneé: I like to go for an elbow up to the chin here.

[Reneé places her left hand behind Regis' head and moves her right elbow
up to under his chin]

Kathie: Right under the jaw.
Reneé: Oh yeah...
Regis: Oh you think a guy's just gonna stand there and let you
put your hand there...

[makes a similar move at Kathie Lee]

Reneé: Oh hang, on hang on. Someone comes at you from here-
[makes a two-handed reach towards Regis] -comes at you, just grab 'em and go whap! [puts her left hand behind Regis' neck and elbows his chin]

Kathie: Yeah. See, he's expecting a kiss.
Reneé: Yeah, exactly. A cuddle.
Regis: Not around here I'm not. (laughter) So that's it.
Reneé: So...
Regis: The ELBOW in the face.
[Regis quickly moves his elbow towards Reneé's chin]
Reneé: Uh! that's it, you got it.

Regis: And what about kickboxing? What is that all about?
Reneé: Kickboxing. Um, you can...
Regis: The only kick I learned in the Bronx was "Hey hey, oh!"
[Regis kicks towards Reneé's crotch and she flinches and smiles]
[applause and laughter]
Kathie: And it still works.
Regis: And it still works. And to this day I've found it to be the most EFFECTIVE kick. (laughter)

Regis: So tell me about you now.
Reneé: I like, 'cause I'm short, I like to go for the head. So I would come up and come straight for the chin. [Reneé extends a high kick to Regis' head]
Regis: Oh wow, you can go that high, huh?
Reneé: Well, you know, ow! Sort of. [Laughter]
Kathie: Hey you gotta warm up for those.
Reneé: Yeah, yeah.
Regis: So a kick to the face...
Reneé: Kick to to the face, you can come and knee to the...
[Brings her right knee to Regis' stomach] the abdomen. So if we do those two together...
Regis: That's a nice way of putting it. (laughter)
Reneé: And you can sell this now. If I come to your chin, just bop your head back... [motions back with her head] ...and then when I come to your stomach, [leans forward, pulling her stomach in] -lean forward.

Regis: Oh-oh, we're gonna do a little film, uh, film fighting!
Kathie: Yeah!
Reneé: Yeah. Okay, ready?
Regis: All right. Now... what are you gonna aim for first?
Kathie: Now I'm gonna sit here and fan myself.
Regis: I give it that... [tilts his head back slightly]
Reneé: The idea is I'm, you know, I'm a good foot- [measures a distance away from Regis' face with her hands] -away from your chin.
Kathie: Yeah.

Regis: Where should the camera be?
Kathie: That's the idea.

Reneé: Where are we? [looks to see where the camera is]
Regis: There's one... [points off-screen]
Reneé: There you are. You're right here.
Regis: We got cameras all over the place. S'all right? Fine.
Reneé: Okay, fine. That's the camera.
Regis: That's the camera you want on?
Reneé: So when my foot comes to the chin, take it there- [tilts her head back]
Regis: [in a thuggish voice] Hey Reneé!
Reneé: Oh yeah? HYEAH!
[High kicks with her left foot to Regis' head]
Kathie: Oh good!

Reneé: And then...
Kathie: That was pretty close.
Regis: And then what?
Reneé: And then to... uh, ready?

[Reneé suddenly makes a kneeing motion towards Regis' crotch and he flinches]
[applause and laughter]

Regis: Didn't we just do this?
Reneé: Okay, lean over quickly? Ready? And... KYEAH!
[Reneé knees and punches Regis, who groans]
[more applause, and cheers too]

Regis: But then I love the guys that she fights.
Kathie: So they do a lot of the Three Stooges stuff now too. Olololololo!
Reneé: [catching her breath] Yeah...
Regis: Yes, the guys are leaping in the air before you know it. As you approach them they're falling down.
[Reneé and Regis sit down]
Kathie: Well they know what to expect. How did the Three Stooges things get introduced? Because it's really funny now. She's got this... First of all she does the warrior thing. Alalalalala!
Reneé: That's pretty good. Yeah.


Kathie: Or something like that. [some bit of fluff or something drifts down from the ceiling...] That's leftover from Jukebox Jamboree. (laughter) And then umm, and then you guys do a lot of the... umm, what do the Three Stooges do? They go...
Reneé: Lucy actually in this...
Regis: [makes a strange sound] All those facial mannerisms you mean?
Reneé: Yeah she umm, this last episode, she goes insane, so she's doing all this type of um, you know, Three Stooges things, [paws at her face and makes a split-finger poking-the-eyes Stooge move] -but it's so unlike her character which was, you know, bizarre.
Kathie: Oh, it's temporary insanity. (laughter)
Reneé: Yeah.
Kathie: There's a lot of that going around. Yeah.
Reneé: But she usually does flips up the trees and all that is really very realistic, and so, you know...
Regis: Well it's a terrific series and it's right up there in the ratings, I'll tell ya. Xena the Warrior Princess. [audience applauds] Thank you very much Reneé for being with us. [shakes Reneé's hand]

Reneé: Thank you.
Kathie: Very nice to meet you, Reneé. [shakes Reneé's hand]
Regis: We'll be right back in a moment.


[back to articles index]