Lucy Lawless

Lucy Lawless
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Name:
Lucy Lawless
Real name:
Lucille Frances Lawless
Who is:
Birth date:
(57 y.o.)
Place of birth:
Mount Albert, New Zealand
Height:
5'10 ft ()
Weight:
137 lb (62 kg)
Namesakes:
Birth Sign:
Chinese zodiac:
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Photos: Lucy Lawless

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Biography of Lucy Lawless

Lucy Lawless is a New Zealand actress who shot to global stardom playing the title role in "Xena: Warrior Princess," the hit TV series that ran in the late 1990s. Lawless is also known as a model, singer, director, producer, and Greenpeace activist. In 2024, fans celebrated her return to television as Lucretia in "Spartacus: House of Ashur."
Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless

Childhood, Youth, Family

Lucille Frances Ryan (the actress's maiden name) was born in the spring of 1968 to Frank and Julie Ryan in the suburb of Mount Albert, Auckland, New Zealand.

Her father, a banker, and her mother, a teacher, also raised five older children—four sons and a daughter. Lucy, as she was known at home, showed her feisty personality early on, keeping up with her brothers in all their childhood pranks and adventures. Her parents eventually enrolled their spirited daughter in a convent school, hoping to channel some of that wild energy. There, Lucy discovered a love for English literature and threw herself into school activities.
Retro Lucy Lawless Commercial (1986)
At the age of 17, she entered the University of Auckland, where she continued studying literature at the philology department while also taking vocal lessons in a student studio. But she didn't finish her degree, deciding university wasn't for her, and left to see the world instead.
Funny Business- ANUS fragrance (with Lucy Lawless)
Returning home as a married woman, Lucy participated in the "Mrs. New Zealand" beauty pageant and won. Following this, Lawless worked as a photo model and was then invited to television for the sketch project "Funny Business."

Acting Career

Early in her career, Lawless landed only small roles. In the early '90s, she appeared in the anthology series "The Ray Bradbury Theater" as Liddy Barton, then worked alongside Jon Voight and Sam Neill in "Rainbow Warrior."

Soon after, she was cast in the adventure fantasy "Hercules and the Amazon Women" as the villainous Lysia. She then stepped in to replace an ailing actress in "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," taking on the role of the Amazon warrior Xena. The character proved so popular that producers rewrote the original script to keep Xena alive.

In 1995, Lawless landed her first starring role in a series created specifically for her—"Xena: Warrior Princess," where she became the iconic Amazon queen.
It's Rude to Stare - Xena: Warrior Princess
Lawless performed almost all her stunts on set herself. Safety protocols were excellent, and she never got injured during six years of filming—until a live show where Xena was supposed to appear on horseback. The organizers didn't account for the horse being spooked by bright lights and loud music—it stumbled and threw Lucy to the ground. After suffering a hip injury, she needed nearly a year to recover, then began appearing in blockbuster films—though only in supporting roles.

Her filmography includes "The X-Files" (as super soldier Shannon McMahon), "Spider-Man" (as a punk rock girl), and "Boogeyman" (as Tim's mother).
Lucy Lawless Interview - ROD Show (1996)
She landed leading roles in the horror films "Locusts" and "Vampire Bats" (both released in 2005). In 2007, she played the main role of Tanya Austin in the film "Football Wives."

Lawless has called her favorite role Lucretia from "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" and "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena," earning her both a Saturn Award and Best Actress honors at the Monte Carlo Television Festival.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand - Lucretia
She also won an iHorror Award for Best Actress in a Horror Series for "Ash vs Evil Dead."
Lucy Lawless Talks Her Role & Nudity In Spartacus At Comic-Con
In 2019, Lawless both produced and starred in the crime drama "My Life Is Murder." During the pandemic lockdown, she and actress Renee O'Connor organized an online "Xena: Warrior Princess" marathon for fans, complete with discussions and live chat interactions.

Personal Life of Lucy Lawless

Lucy was in her senior year when she fell in love with classmate Garth Lawless. The young couple decided to travel the world together, picking up odd jobs along the way.

While working at an Australian mining site, the couple decided to tie the knot. They worked at a gold mining company for several months until they discovered Lucy was pregnant. Returning to Auckland, she gave birth to their daughter Daisy in July 1988.

The young couple's relationship began to strain when Lucy started pursuing her acting career more seriously. After she scored the lead role in the Xena TV series, Garth pushed for a divorce.

In 1998, Lawless found love again, marrying executive producer Robert Tapert. They have two sons: Julius Robert Bay and Judah Miro. The actress keeps her private life under wraps, rarely sharing photos or details about her family. What we do know is that Lawless values family time with her husband and children over her acting career.

Lucy's also become a passionate Greenpeace activist, joining forces with fellow environmentalists to fight for a cleaner planet. In one bold move, she and fellow Greenpeace activists occupied an oil drilling ship, demanding they stay out of the Chukchi Sea where new drilling was planned. The stunt landed the activists in jail, and they were sentenced to 120 hours of community service.

Lucy Lawless Now

In 2024, the actress stepped behind the camera for the first time, directing a documentary about war photojournalist Margaret Mott titled "Never Look Away."

Lawless has also signed on for "Spartacus: House of Ashur," where she'll reprise her role as Lucretia. Her mission: create an alternate timeline to "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," completely reshaping the story.

In this version, Nick Tarabay's Ashur takes center stage in the Battle of Vesuvius storyline. His character somehow survived and gets tasked with taking down Spartacus and crushing the rebellion in exchange for the House of Batiatus. Alongside Lawless, the series stars Graham McTavish, Tenika Davis, and Jamaika Vaughn.

Interesting Facts

  • Growing up, Lucy Lawless had her heart set on becoming a singer. She was just ten years old when she was invited to play the lead role in a school musical. This success was so inspiring that Lucy decided to pursue opera studies at the University of Auckland. While music eventually became a hobby, Lawless still performs at concerts, recorded the album Come To Mama Lucy Lawless In Concert, and has written soundtracks for several of her films.
  • Here's something most fans don't know: the worldwide hit "Xena: Warrior Princess" almost never happened. Initially, Lucy Lawless's character appeared in several episodes of the series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," where her character was supposed to die. But Lucy was such a hit with viewers that she actually outshone the main character played by Kevin Sorbo. Producers noticed how popular Lawless's Xena character had become and decided to give her own spin-off series.
  • The original concept called for Xena to be blonde, but producers later reimagined her as a stocky, dark-haired warrior in bronze armor. The visual prototype for the character was the Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Lucy was happy with this choice since she's not a fan of dramatic hair changes.
  • Lawless admits that she is a terrible cook, although she can prepare a nutritious and quite edible meal in twenty minutes. When she married her second husband (who loved to cook), Lucy negotiated a deal: she wouldn't have to cook as long as she handled the dishes afterward. Turns out she didn't love doing dishes either, so they reworked their arrangement—though Lucy never did become much of a cook.

Important Life Events

  • 1985: Enrolled at Auckland University. Dropped out after a year.
  • 1988: Married Garth Lawless, worked at a gold mine in Australia.
  • 1989: Daughter Daisy was born. Became "Mrs. New Zealand." Started appearing in advertising projects.
  • 1991: Appeared in the film "For the Love of Mike."
  • 1992: Appeared in the film "The Ray Bradbury Theater."
  • 1993: Appeared in the film "Rainbow Warrior."
  • 1994: Appeared in the film "Hercules and the Amazon Women."
  • 1995: Got a role in the series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," was cast in the lead role in the series "Xena: Warrior Princess."
  • 1996: Divorced Garth Lawless.
  • 1997: Received the Saturn Award for Best TV Actress.
  • 1998: Married producer Robert Tapert.
  • 1999: Son Julius Robert Bay was born.
  • 2002: Son Judah Miro was born.
  • 2003: Appeared in the film "Tarzan."
  • 2005: Played lead roles in the films "Boogeyman," "Locust."
  • 2007: Played the lead role in the film "Football Wives."
  • 2010: Played the lead role in the series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand." Received the Saturn Award and a prize at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival for Best TV Actress.
  • 2011: Played the lead role in the film "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena."
  • 2014: Appeared in the series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
  • 2015: Appeared in the film "Salem." Received the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards for Best Supporting Actress.
  • 2016: Appeared in the series "Ash vs Evil Dead." Received the iHorror Awards for Best Horror Series Actress.
  • 2019: Played the lead role in the film "My Life is Murder."
  • 2024: Played the lead role in the series "Spartacus: The House of Ashur."