THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190080
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
THIS COLUMN is for you, Jack Fontanilla of Norfolk, and for all others who indulge in the guilty pleasure of watching ``Xena, Warrior Princess'' Friday night at 8 and Sunday morning at 3 on WGNT.
I'm with you, Jack.
Hail to the mighty princess of power and passion whose courage will change the world.
``Xena: Warrior Princess'' is No. 1 on my list of TV's guilty pleasures followed by ``Singled Out'' on MTV, ``Profit'' on Fox, ``Love Connection'' on the USA network, ``Absolutely Fabulous'' on Comedy Central and ``Baywatch'' on WGNT.
Fontanilla called my number on Infoline (640-5555, Category 3333) to ask this question about ``Xena'':
Does Lucy Lawless as Xena do her own stunts on the series in which Xena in a typical hour might stop cruel warlords from slaughtering peasants, rescue children who stumbled into the path of a man-eating Cyclops, help end a 10-year war and dispense a little mythological philosophy?
``Causes are lost only when people give up . . . ''
Is Lawless some kind of a super athlete who was recruited for TV by series producers Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi, Fontanilla wonders?
Hardly.
About the most strenuous thing that Lawless engaged in before ``Xena'' was yoga. She had to take special training in the martial arts and swordplay before ``Xena'' began in 1995 after Lawless clicked with viewers on ``Hercules: Legendary Journeys.'' After training hard, she could handle the scenes that call for flying fists, high kicks and flashing blades, to say nothing of administering the two-fingered Xena neck pinch.
Not bad for an actress whose nickname was once ``Unco,'' as in uncoordinated.
Now she's really good with that chakram discus thing that Xena tosses at her enemies. (The producers of ``Xena'' use computer graphics, animation and elaborate sets and makeup to help along the notion that Xena lives in a world of gods and demons).
In some scenes, such as when Xena is airborne with leather fringe flying, the producers bring in stunt doubles. Why? Because stuntmen don't cry, Lawless once told a reporter.
As TV's Wonder Woman of the 1990s, Lawless said she's pleased to be playing Xena, who alternates from mesmerizing men (``Those boots, that leather, those legs'') to thrashing them.
``I see Xena as a very human hero who knows all the darker side of human nature. She has to battle it within herself every day. . . ,'' she said.
The slightly superhuman image is helped by the fact that Lawless is almost 6 feet tall.
She's 27, the mother of a 7-year-old. Her bangs are dyed black. She has to be shoe-horned into her costume. Lawless once worked as a gold miner.
Lawless is a New Zealander who buries her accent when playing Xena, which is filmed in Auckland.
The diction of the actors on that show is a puzzle. The producers say the series is set in the distant age of myth ``long before Greece or Rome.''
So, why does everyone sound like they're Americans ordering at McDonald's? Xena's sidekick Gabrielle, played by Renee O'Connor, sounds positively hip at times.
The dialogue is a hoot:
Xena to an old friend: ``I see you've grown up.''
Old friend to Xena: ``I see you've grown legendary.''
Love it.
Ever notice that the cast of ``Xena'' has perfect teeth? Since when did people in the dark, dark ages have teeth a model would kill for? Silly me. I assumed that orthodontics came along long after Hercules' time.
The last place you'd expect to find a set of perfect choppers is in dirty dungeon where helpless villagers await execution on the feast of Zeus. Unless Xena rescues them.
Love it. by CNB