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Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor - Coffee Talk #6 — Transcript

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0:18It's Christmas time.
0:20Yep.
0:20have a tree, you've got
0:21I have a tree, I have a menorah.
0:24I have um I got it all going on.
0:29And uh so uh you guys have been singing
0:31and dancing all over the country.
0:33How was it How was the What kind of Who
0:35Who started this and what kind of fun is
0:37that?
0:37her idea.
0:38Like Lucy.
0:40And I wish she would think up something
0:41else cuz it's exhausting, frankly.
0:44I'm I'm just boogying down. Yeah, let's
0:46you know, you're the one that brought
0:48all this on. It's good. Actually, I
0:49think it was your idea, Sharon.
0:53And I went okay. And then we sat and
0:55organized it and it all happened and
0:57then it That was for the first Roxy
0:59show.
1:00And then it kind of snowballed on to
1:03New York, Chicago and now we're back to
1:05the Roxy.
1:07The addiction set in. I don't know. This
1:09is the funny thing though. I I was just
1:11talking to Ren about it that um I'm
1:13discovering something about myself in
1:15the last year where I
1:17hate to repeat myself. I I hate to
1:19repeat the experience, you know? So
1:21um the Roxy was
1:24really scary and it was it's own thing
1:26and then I guess the next one in New
1:28York built on It was New York the next
1:30one?
1:31New York built on that.
1:34Then we went to Chicago and tried a
1:36completely different feel. Which was
1:38great. Yeah, that was the whole the R&B
1:40feel and I was reviewing it the other
1:42day and and looking at the songs that
1:44really worked which were very much in
1:45the vein of those musicians. You could
1:46tell
1:48that the songs
1:49that they
1:51innately understood really rocked out.
1:54That was very interesting to me. It's
1:56like Hm. So when you go to a certain
1:59town and you
2:01want musicians that have the character
2:03of that town, you must choose music that
2:07suits them and you
2:09because because some some sort of
2:12magical coalescence or some Well, the
2:14culture's right there and they can
2:16enhance Yeah, and and then you go on
2:18this magical carpet ride through their
2:20their culture, you know? Which was
2:22just unbelievable. Such a priceless
2:24experience and I would love to
2:26see them again, actually. But um this
2:29next show
2:30since I don't have them and I don't want
2:34to go backwards
2:36I have to do something completely
2:37different and I want to really pair it
2:40down like you said and just
2:42get back to just
2:43like friends and family because a good
2:46number of these fans now are
2:49you know, they're they've become like a
2:52a different kind of family.
2:54Yeah.
2:56And I want to do something that is
2:57really private, almost. I know that
3:00sounds weird, but
3:01Not at all.
3:02Yeah, it won't will not be slick. I
3:04that's the only thing I can say right
3:05now. It will not be slick.
3:08But it will be very personal and um
3:10So I have a question then going back to
3:11what you said. If you're doing it at the
3:12Roxy, what culture of LA would you want
3:16to pull into it? Or is it There's so
3:17diverse you could do whatever you want.
3:18I think I'm going right back to It's
3:20like my living room.
3:23It's not I don't know about LA. It's
3:24just like this is my
3:26Oh, what do you sing here? Like we were
3:27singing it right now around the This is
3:30like my backing singers are going to be
3:33Tony Award winning Marissa Jaret
3:35Winokur.
3:35Oh, that's so Her husband Big Judah whom
3:38I
3:39whom my son's named after and Daisy, my
3:41daughter.
3:43So it's This is not professional, but
3:45it's going to be
3:47really personal.
3:49Oh, that's kind of like what they had It
3:51used to have in Hollywood at George
3:52Gershwin's house. Everyone would come
3:54over.
3:54come come over to George Gershwin's
3:56house. And do you know what?
3:59This house actually used to
4:01uh belong to a a famous
4:03um
4:04lyricist from
4:0750s.
4:09Actually, hang on.
4:11No, earlier than that. Like uh
4:14Yeah, 30s, 40s and 50s.
4:16Didn't you
4:17So at some party someone was on the
4:19piano and you were singing along to
4:20Christmas carols or something? Oh, I
4:22can't remember. Oh, maybe.
4:24Like that's how I just see you, you
4:25know? That's sort of my idea.
4:26that that that exact that kind of
4:28feeling. I wanted it to be like the Bing
4:30Crosby Christmas special, but it'll be a
4:32little bit crazy because of
4:35who we all are. Cuz it's you. Yeah,
4:37it'll be you know. David Bowie will walk
4:39in.
4:40Wow. He'll do the Little Drummer Boy. I
4:42can't promise David.
4:44That's lovely. Well, I what I love about
4:46your shows is that there's a your
4:48personality and your emotion comes out
4:50in your songs and you take us all on a
4:51journey. People connect with you anyway
4:55in your music, you know?
4:56Well, this time
4:57is going to be even wilder. Yeah, but I
4:59I have no idea yet what I'm singing, but
5:01I'm meeting with my musical director
5:03next week and I just uh
5:06I don't know. This is come on into the
5:08living room, you know? Well, that's an
5:09interesting point. You say her
5:10personality comes out in her music.
5:12What's coming out when you're in your
5:13dancing? Is that you? Whips and
5:17take aways and
5:18I definitely have a whip at home. We all
5:20know that.
5:22Um but there's definitely the wild Renee
5:24that you know
5:26that sort of balances my
5:28Fixing.
5:29Yeah. I love I love sexy clothes. I love
5:32all that stuff. I love to dance. I've
5:34always loved to dance. So it's great. I
5:36mean, I'm not used to
5:38whipping so much, you know, in front of
5:41in public.
5:42Yeah, you know. Actually, I don't really
5:45It's just
5:46Yeah, do I whip? I mean, I'm I don't
5:48know what I Do you whip? Little whip. Do
5:49I really whip? Little whip. Or like, you
5:51know, if I'm trying to be silly. It's
5:53exactly like you see on stage. If I'm
5:55being silly
5:56then yeah, you know, there there will be
5:59whipping, you know? But it's just a
6:00person part of my life. You should ask
6:02some of those Xena stunt men about Renee
6:05and meeting out punishment. She knows
6:07how to do it just fine.
6:11But you know, I do like dancing. But I
6:12haven't seen the uh
6:14yeah, you know, the last one was
6:15different. It's not really what I was
6:16expecting. I thought the leather whip
6:18would be similar to what we did at the
6:19convention. I don't know why, but it
6:21just felt different. Yeah. There was
6:22just a sense of soul and groove going on
6:25and the dance felt different, yeah.
6:27Yeah, I told you after that your dancing
6:28was entirely different than the first
6:30two shows. It just
6:32felt that way watching it.
6:33just fun. It's fun being up there and
6:35with the the uh I loved that Ray Charles
6:37number. Oh my gosh. Still listen to that
6:40song and just go
6:42Baby, what I say? Yeah. Really?
6:45Here it I just get transported
6:48Yeah, it's a good one.
6:50With a diamond ring.
6:51That was fun.
6:52So it's been uh a year at least since
6:55you guys were together. It's been a year
6:57and a half. I was pregnant. It's been
6:58over a year and a half. Oh my gosh. I
7:00didn't realize it'd been that long.
7:01Well, this is one of the reasons why you
7:03guys have been all over the world, all
7:04over the country, doing all kinds of
7:06projects. So I thought we'd cover a bit
7:08of it. Uh recently one of you played
7:11Wonder Woman and the other Indiana
7:12Jones.
7:13Who played which?
7:15I didn't play Wonder Woman.
7:16I certainly don't remember
7:19being Harrison Ford.
7:20So you did. You've done Harrison Ford a
7:23couple of times. This was a little
7:24different, yeah. I wasn't playing at the
7:25male version of Harrison Ford. This was
7:27sort of the uh
7:29the lady who goes on an expedition
7:31similar to Raiders of the Lost Ark. The
7:33whole different character. Genesis Code,
7:35yeah. So I played a woman who basically
7:37is trying to prove that there is
7:38existence out there that's greater than
7:41our own physical being. She's what she's
7:43doing. She's trying to to show her
7:44ex-husband that um that there he should
7:47have faith. He should have faith in God,
7:49spirituality.
7:50You know?
7:51Is this um
7:53So you filmed this in Bulgaria. How did
7:54you wind up getting the part and uh
7:58is that the crux of the movie or I know
8:00there's a you have a husband. Is there
8:02another male lead? Um
8:04Um the other Well, the male lead is
8:06really Tim DeKay and he plays
8:09my ex-husband.
8:10Which was so much fun to do cuz there's
8:12so many elements, you know, that are
8:13sort of personal that you just want to
8:16to use, you know? You know what I mean?
8:17In acting like you bring out real
8:19feelings, you know, and or you make
8:20comparisons to your own life. And so it
8:23was just so much fun to transcend the uh
8:25formula that the Syfy channel has and
8:27make it something that it's more like a
8:29personal drama drama or comedy between
8:31us. So I really enjoyed doing that. And
8:34um and it just sort of came about. This
8:36I
8:37was talking to the Syfy channel and said
8:38I was interested in doing some things
8:40and was giving them ideas that I had cuz
8:42I like to sort of get involved in the
8:44whole process. And they basically said,
8:46"Mm, we've already done this or we
8:49already have something in production."
8:50And then it came up and it was just the
8:52right fit. And I was willing to go to
8:54Bulgaria for a month with the kids. That
8:56was the big thing for me. So I've always
8:58been hesitant about taking my kids on
8:59location, you know? But uh it was pretty
9:02good. You know, we were in Bulgaria.
9:05Iris became very sick, so she was in the
9:06hospital for 3 days in a hospital where
9:08they don't speak English. So it was kind
9:10of trying. I was spending the night in
9:11the hospital and then going to work all
9:12day.
9:13But you know, it's funny how your
9:14adrenaline
9:15Was your mother there?
9:16My thankfully, my mom was there. Oh my
9:18god, you must have had a hard time. It
9:19was pretty It was challenging. It was
9:21stressful. But you know, your adrenaline
9:23as a mother is keeps you going. And then
9:25I so loved the project that I wasn't
9:28tired at all, you know? You just keep
9:29pushing through. Did you come home and
9:31collapse? No, but it's funny. The third
9:33day I had all my dialogue and there's
9:35about eight pages and it's just my
9:37talking. It was just like monologues of
9:39information and I don't know how they'll
9:41put it together, but I was worried I
9:43wouldn't know remember the
9:44uh the lines after 3 days of really not
9:46SLEEPING MUCH.
9:47OH.
9:48AND I REALLY I WAS SO LUCKY BECAUSE I
9:50finally kept thinking there's a part of
9:53me that kept looking to my own
9:54spirituality and it was about
9:55spirituality anyway. Going, "Just let it
9:57go, you know, let it happen. And I did
9:59and then suddenly the words would come,
10:00you know? But each time I'm like, [ __ ]
10:03you know, excuse me. Grace. You got
10:04grace. Yeah. You know, and the other
10:06actors were all talking and it was
10:07really distracting and I'm like, yeah,
10:09let the grace of God just happen. Let it
10:10la la la la la la la la happen and and
10:12that was a huge lesson for me as an
10:13actor. Yeah. That you know it, you know?
10:16You don't have to work so hard. It's in
10:18you. Don't worry about it. Somebody else
10:20will. Yeah.
10:20I think you mentioned that a bit when
10:21you did the play on stage. Either one of
10:23the characters or maybe one of them was
10:25talking to me before. But you forget
10:26though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to
10:28keep reminding yourself, hey, yeah.
10:30There's some divine intervention in here
10:32somewhere, you know. And I found it to
10:34be really true.
10:35That's cool. That's really cool. It's
10:37fun. And how did you wind up being
10:38Wonder Woman?
10:40This was a Oh, I can't remember. I don't
10:42know. Somebody rang up. No, I did um Oh,
10:44the Justice League. I did Yeah, the
10:46voice of Wonder Woman for the Justice
10:47League, but uh That's cool.
10:50You know, if somebody rings your agent
10:51and says, are you available? And I
10:53wanted to
10:54I'd never felt that I had done that
10:57form of performance very well before.
11:01I had a taste of it on
11:03um
11:04What was it?
11:05The animated Hercules and Xena and on
11:08The Simpsons, but
11:09they were such
11:11I was so new to it. I didn't understand
11:13that type of performance. So I would did
11:14it a couple more times with Justice
11:16League and for Dragon Lance. Cool. And
11:19um and it was great. I really enjoyed
11:21the experience, but it's very short. You
11:22got to remember
11:24that you go in there for
11:26an hour and a half. Wow. Two hours,
11:28maybe. You're done.
11:31Wow. And then it takes another year and
11:33a half before they animate it.
11:36And probably a few more months before
11:38they put it out there.
11:40And you've kind of forgotten all about
11:42it in the meantime. Well,
11:43you could ask me a week later and I
11:45would have forgotten about it. Yeah.
11:46Well, so do
11:48I remember on the animated one on
11:50Hercules and Xena that you only had
11:51about maybe one chance to get it. Was it
11:54similar to that? You know, when you
11:55think of you're doing a movie in an hour
11:56and a half, you're really only doing it
11:58one time through, right? Um you Yeah,
12:01you get a a few times. A few times. And
12:04because And you just have to trust the
12:05director to say you said it's what you
12:07want because
12:08they have the image in their
12:11you know, how how the
12:13shot the artwork's going to come out and
12:15you can't see. You have nothing in front
12:18of you to draw on for information. And
12:20no other actors. It doesn't work. And no
12:22other actors. That's really tough.
12:24Yeah, so
12:25you're
12:26very often with these things
12:28um Oh, wait a minute.
12:33Um so you were going from no actors.
12:36Yeah.
12:37There are no actors around. No other
12:38actors. No, there were no There were no
12:40actors.
12:42Wow.
12:45Yeah, because there's nothing else for
12:46you to draw on.
12:48Well,
12:50and no other actors.
12:51no other actors there.
12:53And no other actors. It's like
12:56Oh, [ __ ] I can't remember what we were
12:58talking about. Well, maybe think of
12:59something though because you've done so
13:00much music lately, right? You're
13:01listening. You're actually working
13:04in a different realm completely. Did
13:07that help you doing the animation then?
13:08Because
13:09No, because I did all the animation way
13:10before I started singing. Oh, right.
13:13Yeah, even before duets. And there were
13:15no actors there.
13:16And no actors. Yeah, you just you're
13:18totally alone in a booth going, did I
13:20say that right?
13:22I'm I'm wondering what a director does
13:24on an animated feature.
13:26You deliver a line I mean, they know the
13:28You've Have you Do you see the whole
13:29script? Well, you have the script, but
13:32you don't know what the other characters
13:34look like apart from some comic strip.
13:36Maybe you get a page of comic strip.
13:39And
13:40you don't know how what that voice
13:41sounds like. You
13:46Do you want to go Are we checking that
13:48up? that door. Mhm.
13:49We are checking that up? Hey, one of
13:51there's a couple of doors between us and
13:53the kitchen. You want to Yeah.
13:56They're just swing doors.
13:59Is there a door on that side, too? Yep.
14:01Shut every door you can possibly find.
14:04One of There's another one on this side,
14:06too. If you go around there. In fact,
14:08this is a big sliding door in the
14:09cavity.
14:12Oh.
14:13This right here? The big door?
14:16No, shut the one there behind you. Yeah.
14:19Yeah. And then in here.
14:21Okay.
14:23Shouldn't expect you to find your way
14:24around my house.
14:25Well, is that door shut? Yeah. Kind of
14:27poison shall we?
14:37Lock down. Yeah. This is the panic room.
14:41For the next nuclear explosion. Are they
14:43sitting in the same spot? So there What
14:45does a director in an animated feature
14:47actually do? Give you line you know,
14:50descriptions and Sometimes the director
14:53will give you a line reading. Like no, I
14:54want you to say more like this. And you
14:56just do it because Wow.
14:59they know who's coming up behind you.
15:03You know, they they're holding the
15:05performances of all the other actors in
15:06their head. Wow. Even if they haven't
15:08been done yet. They they have to be the
15:10continuity behind every character, I
15:12think.
15:14Now, some of them actually don't they do
15:15the voices and they end up keeping the
15:17voices in Oh, I don't know. I've heard
15:18that happen before.
15:19Yeah, I think Wonder Woman's actually
15:20going to be that man who's directing it.
15:22It's like,
15:23you're going to go, yeah, no, that voice
15:24doesn't work.
15:25I can do that.
15:27Yeah. That's funny. And Dragon Lance
15:31You've talked a bit about
15:33They wanted a specific voice for it. Did
15:36you change your voice for it or were you
15:37using your real voice?
15:38Well, you know what happened?
15:39No, with Dragon Lance,
15:41she's supposed to be like Native
15:43American or something. So I don't know
15:46how to do a Native American accent and
15:49somebody was trying to show me, but it
15:50just sounded
15:53you know, weird coming out of me.
15:56I I can't even do it. I can't even do
15:57it. I've never heard it before, so I've
15:58no reference for it and it would just be
16:00disrespectful and and you know, don't do
16:02that.
16:03So eventually I realized what they were
16:06asking was, can you just do the Xena
16:09voice? That's what we want.
16:12Really? Yeah. And the Xena accent.
16:15If you can't actually be
16:17uh Goldmoon or
16:20then
16:21Native American, then
16:22can you be Xena?
16:25And they were too shy to ask those sort
16:26of guys, you know, try a little bit more
16:27staccato.
16:29Like this.
16:31But they wanted be more flowing.
16:35You just want me to do Xena, don't you?
16:36Yeah, yeah, would you just do this?
16:38That's so funny. They couldn't ask that?
16:40Or did they want a sense of
16:41timelessness? Is that what they're going
16:43for?
16:43No, I don't know.
16:45I don't know. They just liked your Xena
16:47voice.
16:47They they just like, yeah, that's what
16:49we're paying for. Goldmoon
16:51Goldmoon's a strong character, I gather.
16:53She's uh
16:55I don't know.
16:56Read those pieces.
16:57You know, to be honest with you, I
16:59didn't know anything about it. I was
17:00just like wanted to do a favor for my
17:03friend George who I knew during the Xena
17:05and Hercules days.
17:07George Straiton. And I was like, yeah,
17:10totally George. I'll come and help you
17:11out. That's all I thought it was. And
17:13now I hear that it's just some worldwide
17:15movement and about 20 years ago it was
17:16like
17:17and tens of thousands of people were
17:19into this, but
17:21I had a friend that was into it. Yeah.
17:22Started out kind of a Dungeons & Dragons
17:23things, became books, became, you know,
17:25online. It just it's huge. It's
17:28Yeah, it's it's an incredible world.
17:30You can go That's going to be fun to
17:31see.
17:33Wow. With the Xena voice.
17:35Um
17:36Voices. Ghost Town.
17:39Uh you were hired to play a man. Yeah.
17:43Um hired to play a man, but they
17:47dis Actually not to play a man.
17:49I was hired They wanted to hire me for
17:50something else and then the role wasn't
17:52right. So
17:54they offered me um a man's part and said
17:56they would switch it to a woman. So I
17:57said, sure. And then yeah, and it was
18:01all right, you know? The the experience
18:02was um just sort of getting my feet wet
18:04again. The [ __ ] with being a mom as well
18:06on location the whole thing. It was the
18:08first step into going somewhere and um
18:12Where'd you go? To North Carolina. And I
18:13was on my way.
18:15I just don't want to leave my kids, you
18:16know? I just it kills me.
18:18So Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, but I tried it
18:21out. Mouse came out for a while and I
18:22was there the whole time. And it was
18:25really easy. It was easy to be on a set,
18:27you know? Cuz it's just like old hat and
18:29just sort of look around and go, oh
18:30yeah. And you And they were pretty
18:33pretty independent as well. It was a It
18:35was a low budget. So you just you know,
18:37you could just sit back and go, oh yeah,
18:39I know what you're doing. I know what
18:40you're experiencing, you know, talking
18:41about all the ins and outs of trying to
18:43pull it together.
18:45So she's like, you're telling me.
18:48La di da di da di da. Four years of
18:49diamonds and guns. I know. But they were
18:52further ahead, you know, because I was
18:54still working on some sort of
18:55post-production. And
18:57further ahead in that they had the money
18:58for post-production where I think I was
18:59still raising money for post-production.
19:01And um
19:03But it was all right, you know? It was
19:04It was two directors directing, which is
19:06a little weird for me. I don't like
19:07that. I Yeah. Did they ever have a
19:10conflict?
19:10Oh, yeah. Oh. Yeah. Well, of course they
19:13do. I mean, they have two visions and
19:14they're trying to complement each other.
19:16One's more technical, one's more
19:17artistic. And it just
19:20Sometimes there was a lack of
19:21communication, you know? Nobody
19:23But you know.
19:25Did you ever
19:26This was a Western. Were you ever a
19:28cowgirl as a kid coming from Texas?
19:30Not really. I was a city girl. You were
19:32a I have to confess, you know? I really
19:35was a city girl.
19:36Um
19:38Yeah, but the tomboy element of
19:40Gabrielle is still sort of in me. And so
19:43that sort of played into Little Jack.
19:46And and then like the vicious like
19:48There's a She was just mean-spirited,
19:50you know, in some ways. And I just sort
19:52of explored like, "Well, okay, you
19:54know." I came up with ideas. It was just
19:55They were mean, you know, like I hold
19:57the woman. I said, "Why don't I hold the
19:58woman while you beat her?" You know.
20:01But like I had nothing to do. It's the
20:02horrible It's horrible. You're friend. I
20:05know. And it's She's pretty dark at
20:07times. Well, you you're not personally
20:08dark, but you remember you used to read
20:10all that psycho killer stuff?
20:12Because of Hope, though. I did it cuz I
20:14it was Hope when I was playing Hope.
20:16Hope's fault.
20:16No, yeah, it's Hope's fault. You did not
20:18You didn't you do it at school? No, not
20:20at school, but there was another thing I
20:21was doing. Oh, when I play Usually cuz
20:23of roles. I always like to investigate
20:25the roles. And there was something um I
20:27can't There was one where I was
20:29taken by a serial killer when I did FBI
20:32the Untold Stories.
20:33Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? And I
20:34was working with this great actor and I
20:35just Again, I like to know
20:38you know, I like to find more to do. And
20:40the thing with Little Jackie is she was
20:42so um
20:44There was just There was nothing for her
20:45to do in the scene. So, I sat there and
20:47I was like, "Okay, you know, what are
20:49you going to sit there?" You know what I
20:50mean? I mean, I'm thinking to myself,
20:51"Am I just going to sit here?"
20:52And they knew they wanted me on camera.
20:54Like they were starting to get that they
20:55should use me more. They're trying to
20:57find ways to put me in stuff. And so,
20:59they kind of sat me down next to the
21:01woman. So, I thought, "Well, hell heck,
21:02you know, why don't I hold her down, you
21:04know?" And then You know what I mean?
21:06That's fair enough. I can't We call it
21:07having egg on your face. No actor wants
21:10to be in the back of somebody else's
21:11shot going
21:13Yeah. Got nothing to do.
21:15Yeah. And cuz that's not real, either.
21:16If you If you're there, you've got an
21:18attitude. You've got something to say
21:21about the scene. Yeah. So, that was my
21:23contribution in that scene. So, it's
21:25just Again, I don't know. She didn't
21:27come out as dark as I thought she you
21:29know, she might at times. It It uh
21:31She wasn't fleshed out really. Would you
21:34like to play Would either one of you
21:35like to play a serial killer like, you
21:37know, like the Dexter character?
21:39I don't think I would. I don't know.
21:41Would you like to? No, I've turned down
21:43roles that are just
21:44in in shows that I I just find
21:47too yeah, mean-spirited.
21:49Because I don't want to
21:51put that out in the world. Which is not
21:52to say I wouldn't play a serial you
21:54know, a one-off some, but I don't want
21:55to be in a series that's about
21:57hideousness.
21:59Criminal Minds is I've seen two episodes
22:01in a row now.
22:02That's a really tough show. It's well
22:04done. There's no doubt about it, but
22:06I'm I'm I'm not going to watch it again.
22:09Yeah, it was just so
22:10Oh, wow.
22:12Well, I watch Yeah, I watch a lot of
22:13crime shows, but not scripted drama.
22:18Because it gives me too much pain. They
22:20keep calling me in for that, too.
22:21Criminal Minds. It's funny cuz they
22:23don't really know me at all. So, they
22:24call me in to read. And I And I've come
22:27to the idea that, "You know what? Maybe
22:29I need to learn something here." And I
22:31go in and I And I The parts have been so
22:34heavy. And even though they're
22:36I haven't gotten them because of
22:37whatever reason in the end, you know.
22:39And age or It was like age stuff. One's
22:42too young, one's too old, blah, blah.
22:43But um but just to to really connect
22:45with these horrible victims was
22:49Oh my gosh.
22:51one thing. For TV, it's actually pretty
22:53divorced from the actual crime. Yeah,
22:56it's When you watch Yeah, or on A&E or
23:00DTMS or
23:01part? You like the analysis?
23:03No, I I Yeah, I want to I want to see
23:06bad guys brought to justice.
23:08Yeah. That's what it is.
23:10I want to see That's cool.
23:13Yeah.
23:14Huh. Wow.
23:17That's why you watch I wondered why you
23:18were
23:19what you were doing at the end of it. I
23:20know. It's Yeah, you're you're right.
23:21Something satisfying about that.
23:22Particularly when it's like some doctor
23:24kills his wife and covers it up and so
23:26You want to see the rich guy come down
23:29for a being a slimeball. And often they
23:32do it for like
23:35or really for a few maybe a couple of
23:38hundred thousand dollars. Sometimes they
23:39do it for like $30,000 go and murder
23:41some poor human being who never did them
23:44any harm. And you just go, "I want you
23:46to go down for this. I
23:48And do they I mean, they actually
23:49Yeah. Yeah, well, the ones that I'm
23:50watching are you know, wrapped up cases.
23:52So, it's about forensics or the cops
23:54being the heroes, you know. Wow. Are you
23:57into the Drew Is it Peterson Pierson?
23:59The latest one that's on there with the
24:01Oh, yeah. Well, that's the king. Well,
24:03it's Scott Peterson was king, but I'm a
24:05little horrified that, you know, Lacey
24:07Peterson, Stacy Peterson, they actually
24:10have a daughter called Lacey Peterson.
24:12You just know that the Peterson family
24:13and
24:14uh
24:15up in Marin County or wherever they I
24:17don't know. They're from San Diego,
24:18aren't they? The
24:19Lacey Peterson's parents are really
24:21living
24:22their misery through this other family.
24:24It's just It's just a horrible um I'm
24:26not the Peterson family, sorry, but
24:27Lacey's
24:29birth mother. Um
24:31It's just ghastly.
24:35And on a brighter note
24:36Yeah, moving away from
24:38serial killers. So satisfying. Larry
24:41David in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
24:43There you go. A little more recent.
24:45Uh I ran That was fun.
24:47When someone was describing that show,
24:48they said, "I guess there's a scripted
24:51outline, but then it's improvised
24:54internally." And I wanted to know what
24:58what that experience is like working
24:59with him and what parts were You're
25:01You're right that it is it is loosely
25:03scripted and you have to
25:07uh you know, you have to make sure that
25:09you end up at a certain point from A to
25:12G by the end of the scene. And you can
25:15throw something out there and Larry will
25:17either love it and take it and and
25:20include it or he will kill it dead, you
25:22know, right there. And um Meaning that
25:25he just doesn't let it go any further or
25:27you're cut and then you start over
25:28again.
25:30Um Oh, he was so good to me and he was
25:33so you know, they just kind of allowed
25:35me to
25:36waffle and I and I was respectful of the
25:37appro- process. So, I'm not throwing
25:40no
25:41complete rubbish in there, I hope. But
25:43um
25:45Like the the whole thing about, "So,
25:47you're a Jew." That was all from
25:49me.
25:49So, you're a Jew.
25:52Cuz you know,
25:54there are no almost no Jewish people
25:56where I come from. So, to me they were
25:57always like this mythical creature.
26:02Yeah.
26:03So, and
26:05Anyway, it was really funny. You know
26:07what I mean? Didn't he seem to say that
26:08he seemed a little smitten? I don't
26:10know. It was good. Well, I didn't know
26:11that poor guy that his marriage actually
26:13was breaking up. I didn't know.
26:15So,
26:16I didn't know that. He I guess knew.
26:19Um because it was just the next week
26:21that it was made public. So, he was
26:23right in the maelstrom at that time.
26:25Yeah. So, um I wonder why that was on
26:28the show. Seems so odd. They make such a
26:30great couple on camera. Yeah. odd
26:32element to put into their show, you
26:34know? Yeah, I I And I I saw people like
26:37TV Guide was going, you know, "This is
26:38where Cheryl leaves Larry and this is
26:40where we leave the show as of I mean,
26:42they were hurting." They were people
26:44were really hurting because Cheryl
26:45Cheryl left him. Now he's just a
26:47horrible old curmudgeon on his own. I
26:48don't want to know about him.
26:50But it's like He's got to grow. Get Get
26:53over it. Plus, this guy is an artist.
26:56He's not He's He's not interested in
26:59being a monkey for the network. Do you
27:01know what I mean?
27:02He Wow. Artists do what they do and you
27:06can't stop them. Have you been in a
27:07situation where he can? It's popular.
27:10Yeah, and he's
27:12And it's fascinating. Yeah. It's
27:14fascinating to to watch somebody uh
27:16put themselves put real life on the
27:18line. So, a fair amount of that dinner
27:20table, the the date that was
27:23improvised.
27:24Yeah, that we I was had a couple of
27:27other I had one other scene which got
27:30cut out. But you understand it, you
27:32know, when you see the episode because I
27:34wrote in my blog like I I thought it was
27:36all about me, me, me. This whole thing
27:38cuz every day that I was there was all
27:40about me. The scene where they were
27:42talking about me or whatever. But so
27:44much is going on in this episode cuz
27:46Cheryl leaves Larry. She's on the plane
27:48and she's having terrible time and he
27:49won't listen to her cuz he's there with
27:51the TiVo
27:53salesman.
27:55Yeah, and and the black family are there
27:58and what else? The restaurant? Was that
28:00sandwich
28:01palava part of that drama? No, the the
28:04friends are choosing between Cheryl and
28:06Larry. So, there's so much going on.
28:08That was kind of heavy stuff, you know,
28:09for Curb Yeah. It was like That was an
28:12instant classic, I reckon. I'm so I'm
28:15I'm lucky, man. I get to I was lucky I
28:17saw you because I watch it when I can.
28:20And I I guess I heard that you might be
28:22on it, but then you know, you weren't
28:23going to be on it. Everyone was confused
28:24I didn't know it
28:26The date was confused. watched it
28:28anyway.
28:29And then Ted Danson popped up at the
28:31end. Ted Danson. Yeah, what a great guy.
28:34The writers told me that everybody loved
28:36it that I thought that Ted Danson was an
28:38ass. That was so funny. Did you make
28:40that up? Yeah. That's hilarious. I
28:43thought I thought you might have made
28:44that one up. Yeah. I remember hearing a
28:46line in there that I said, "That sounds
28:48like Lucy." I Doesn't it really? Yeah,
28:50yeah, the Yeah, the way that you say it
28:53is you. Exactly. The way that you get
28:55there is you. That would have been your
28:56sort of sense of humor plugging it in.
28:58Just to be a funny, you know, I figured
29:00that would be funny.
29:01Yeah, cuz who doesn't like Everybody
29:03likes Ted Danson.
29:05That's so
29:05Although he's doing an incredible job on
29:07Damages. Oh, really? Being an absolute
29:10bastard.
29:10a good actor.
29:13He's fab. He's a fine actor. It's a
29:15great show. Yeah. I watch that on Uh FX,
29:18right? FX. Mhm.
29:21Saving Grace is on TNT. Damages on a
29:24Glenn Close.
29:25Glenn Close now. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:27Great, you know, yeah. Holly Hunter,
29:29Glenn Close. Somebody
29:32Holly Hunter is doing that new show. Oh,
29:34that's really good. Yeah.
29:37And Laura San Giacomo, I'm so
29:39Yeah. thrilled to see her in such a
29:41great show. She on the same one? She is.
29:44She plays the best friend and I'm
29:45watching this show and I'm thinking,
29:48"I know that. I would like that show.
29:49You'd be good on that. Yeah. I think it
29:51was her glasses that threw me. I have to
29:52see it. I read I didn't read a very good
29:54review about it. So Oh my god, it's so
29:57interesting.
29:59And good beautiful really filmic really
30:01Oh, really? pretty and yeah. Huh.
30:03Great acting.
30:06And now we have to plummet back into
30:07schizophrenia because you did Boogeyman
30:102 Yeah.
30:11for Rob.
30:12for Rob?
30:12for Rob. And how did that come about?
30:14How did you know that movie was being
30:16done? Um I heard about it and I I was
30:20fascinated with this woman who was
30:21dealing with schizophrenia in her life
30:23that her mother was a schizophrenic. And
30:25then she was always afraid of being
30:26schizophrenic and it took me back to
30:28this
30:29when I was a kid I played something
30:30where I was a schizophrenic for this
30:32foundation and all these parents really
30:35affected me because they were hurting so
30:36much with their kids going through this
30:38treatment. Um that's what affected me
30:40the most more than actually watching the
30:43patients and how they functioned. So to
30:46think that this was a woman who
30:47basically felt the same way as all those
30:49parents did.
30:50connected to her charges. Yeah, because
30:53this woman had to deal with the
30:56the illness.
30:57You know. So anyway anyway so I
30:59immediately connected with it I thought
31:00that would be fun and it films in Los
31:02Angeles.
31:03And um
31:05and it was some modern day piece cuz the
31:08ghost town was again a different period
31:10and I was sort of looking for things
31:11that are current.
31:12And yeah, it was good. It was really fun
31:15to do.
31:16Is it it's a slasher movie, right? Well,
31:18it doesn't feel like a slasher movie at
31:20first. It felt like a normal drama and
31:23then I think the last day I was on
31:24everyone started
31:25at least I died and people started
31:27dying, you know, and then I was like oh
31:28yeah, I'm in a horror film.
31:30You watched Tobin Bell walking across
31:32the parking lot with two syringes in his
31:34eyes and I was like oh yeah.
31:37That's what we're doing, you know. We
31:38were supposed to do something visually.
31:40I don't remember what it was maybe just
31:42meat but you wound up being in
31:45horror makeup for the whole day. Yeah,
31:47which looked fantastic. They
31:49blew veins on my skin and it was peeling
31:51away cuz I'm electrocuted. So I went
31:54home that that night like this because I
31:56knew that I knew Iris was asleep cuz I
31:58wanted to see what Judd would do cuz he
31:59hates horror films, you know.
32:01So I went and he was just mortified,
32:04yeah. I said that next to him, honey.
32:06Hi, honey.
32:08And I was I was begging them to let me
32:10take my head cuz I get decapitated. I
32:12said please let me take my head home,
32:14you know.
32:14It's just so mean, you know. Put it in
32:16my refrigerator.
32:18I don't know. Horrible to do. Wouldn't
32:19that be great? And they said no and I
32:21said well, can we at least put it in the
32:22craft service refrigerator
32:25as everyone's coming through and they
32:27said well, we have to wait till it wraps
32:29and then maybe we'll do it. Lucy holds
32:31down women while they're being beaten.
32:33She wants to put her head in the
32:34refrigerator. But I loved horror films.
32:36This is not the Renee I know. I won't go
32:39to her house cuz I'm afraid I'm going to
32:40end up covering a lampshade.
32:42But you know I was thinking about it and
32:44I loved horror films as a kid, you know.
32:45Someone's asking me why? I said cuz it
32:47was such a thrill, you know. I loved the
32:49idea that I could sit here and be on
32:51this journey and I knew it was perfectly
32:52safe and then um Do you get Chiller
32:55state that cable station Chiller? No.
32:58Oh, it's pretty good.
33:00I don't like it as much as I did as a
33:02kid, you know. Me neither but they're
33:04they're a little cheesy so they're
33:05really good, you know, like the old
33:06stuff that we used to watch when we were
33:07kids. So it's okay. I quite like being a
33:09little bit scared but
33:11not a lot.
33:13We just had this wild library of horror
33:14films so I would go in I wouldn't really
33:16even know the titles but I'd put them in
33:18and start watching them. And then I
33:19would start to figure out how they did
33:21it.
33:22So then it actually detached me a little
33:23more from the the gore. Did you ever get
33:25a fright? And put in a video that
33:28that you know, nobody meant you to see?
33:32Yes.
33:32Something adult?
33:34You go
33:36and yet somehow I
33:38it's so compelling I have to watch it.
33:39Exactly. I did that. That's there was my
33:41joke on Diamonds and Guns cuz my
33:42character put you know, she's channel
33:45surfing and then a porn comes up she's
33:46like oh, you know, porn like no big
33:48deal. So that was my own little joke
33:50about how nonchalant,
33:52I thought that was funny that she's just
33:54so nonchalant. to me. I was sorting
33:55someone's tapes a noname person
33:59and I put in it was
34:02I put in a tape. I can't even say what
34:03the other ones were but I put in a tape
34:05and I'm watching this like Victorian
34:0717th century woman.
34:09Really? And I'm and then it progresses
34:11and a lot of things are going on under
34:13the boobs.
34:14So it's not an old fashioned movie.
34:16a period No, this is a period A period
34:18porn.
34:21When was it made?
34:23Probably in the 80s or 70s 80s or
34:24something.
34:26I've been out here 20 years. I'm going
34:28I'd say yeah, that was maybe around the
34:3180s.
34:32Was it badly shot and all trashy?
34:35Um I didn't watch all that much of it. I
34:37didn't know what category to I was just
34:38there trying to
34:39where to where to file it. I don't know
34:41where to file it.
34:43Ah, that's funny.
34:45Unexpected things somehow you're going
34:47to be unboxed. You have gone back to
34:50Vancouver
34:51and shot a bit more Battle Star. Yeah, I
34:53get
34:55uh unboxed.
34:57That's about all I can say. They're very
35:00secretive about this stuff.
35:01nice seeing the
35:03seeing the old old buddies. It's been a
35:05while. It was really nice actually. I um
35:09uh
35:10everybody was is very relaxed.
35:13Unlike us in the run up to the end
35:15because we all got more tins. We're so
35:17excited, too. Do you know what I mean?
35:19We're excited but I think people like
35:21the crew was very afraid. They'd had
35:22this job for a long time and
35:25um
35:27I don't know. I by the end I was so
35:29incredibly
35:31tired that I didn't I was out of my
35:34mind. I don't know if I'm admitted to
35:35that.
35:36The end was crazy. Four units going at
35:39the same time with those two episodes.
35:41Yeah. It's a lot more physical show.
35:42It's a lot more physically wearing. I
35:43mean you guys were outdoors in the least
35:46bit of clothing in the craziest weather.
35:48No other TV actors ever had to do
35:51anything quite like that.
35:52was Rob's episode. We really wanted to
35:53get it right for him. You know what I
35:55mean? Don't you think? We really wanted
35:57to come together and be the best and
35:59Yeah. that was
36:00probably where some of the pressure came
36:02in. But overall weren't we just really
36:04excited? I mean we seemed so pleased
36:05with every episode. Everyone's
36:07every single one in the sixth season
36:09stood up, you know. I thought I thought
36:12it we did a good job. Wow, that's what
36:15that's what you remember? Yeah.
36:17Wow. Like you would have like what do
36:18you remember?
36:19remember sixth season? The last season?
36:20No, I remember that Japanese those two
36:23episodes being incredibly
36:26uh painful difficult
36:30stressful
36:33cold.
36:36No, I don't remember any of the other
36:37episodes that season. What what were
36:39they? I would if you remind me.
36:41Heart of Darkness.
36:43Oh, really? That was the last season?
36:45Good Khan. I remember that quite quite
36:46well. Many Happy Returns. Many Happy
36:48Returns?
36:49Was it a pony thing? No, what was that?
36:52That's where you were you went swimming.
36:54She had a black eye. It was a lot of
36:55practical jokes were going on and you
36:57read the Sappho poem on the hillside.
37:00Almost tossed the head over the cliff.
37:02Was Kevin Smith in that one? No, he was
37:04in
37:05Soul Possession which was maybe the last
37:08Remember that's where we were
37:09look like clones. We were just That was
37:12a really easy That was such an easy
37:13episode. We were in heaven because you
37:16know, there was so many people in the
37:17cast there was very little for us to do
37:19on that episode and we just got to sit
37:21and pretend like we're sleeping. I was
37:22wearing Annie Annie clothes. It was my
37:25favorite costume.
37:26That was an easy one. Drinking chocolate
37:28milkshakes and burping.
37:30Kevin was in that a lot. You've been
37:32talking about Army Wives and there seems
37:33to be some hinting going on in the
37:35recent interviews that you've done. That
37:37you're a bit Lizzie?
37:39Well, I'm not supposed to give that
37:40away. So I just have All I can say is
37:42that
37:43I'm a lady who uh
37:45who
37:46um
37:47befriends what befriends one of the Army
37:49Wives.
37:53Liz befriends.
37:56Yeah. But it's going to it's going to be
37:58fun. I'm looking forward to it.
38:00Something I've never played before. I'll
38:02put it like that.
38:05And this the script's not written yet,
38:06right? So now we're just So what are you
38:08guys
38:09Anybody done any picketing? Anyone uh
38:13I have not been out there.
38:14What's happening to the turmoil in
38:15Hollywood right now? I know the Xena
38:17fans are out there providing donuts and
38:20uh
38:20Yeah. Here they are. Wow.
38:23It's surprising the heck out of the
38:25picketers
38:26because the only show that's supporting
38:28them is the show that's been off the air
38:29six years. They're sending um No way.
38:33Yes, they're not getting stuff from
38:35anyone else.
38:36How wonderful. They have a website the
38:38MaryD's website on Australia's website
38:41and there's a PayPal button and you can
38:42go in and you can donate and then what
38:43they do is they take donate the donuts
38:47They put yeah, water out there and um
38:50Catherine was just amazed because there
38:51were all these boxes arriving for her
38:53and Steven Sears.
38:54It was from the Xenaverse.
38:56And so she said all these
38:58I know, isn't it? She was so blown away
39:00and then so she's telling all the
39:02writers within the guild thank the
39:04Xenaverse. So people are coming up and
39:06they know nothing about
39:08and they're saying I want to thank the
39:10Xenaverse, you know what I mean? People
39:11are really starting to Get out of town.
39:13Really?
39:15just why this show your show's off the
39:17air. Why are they doing this for us?
39:19They appreciate Wow. Isn't that nice?
39:22Fantastic.
39:24Your people, guys. Well. It's those
39:27Thanks for letting us be your people.
39:30isn't that really nice organized that?
39:33Wow.
39:34It's really uh
39:35This is the amazing
39:37that they are force for good. Yeah.
39:39Or or for what they believe in Which is
39:42generally speaking a really good cause
39:44especially spreading the love, you know,
39:47spreading the joy.
39:49We seem to be better because of you
39:51guys, but then we also think that maybe
39:53you guys are getting better because of
39:54us. Getting better, but I mean like you
39:56even go out again and try to be even
39:58more generous or you push ahead and you
39:59keep finding new ways to to keep it
40:02going, you know what I mean? Like you're
40:03creating music and then you're bringing
40:04everybody into your world, you know, it
40:06just seems to reciprocate
40:09each other in the generosity.
40:11Like look at the Kevin Smith
40:13Yeah, it's amazing.
40:16I was
40:18My parents have moved out here, so I'm
40:20thinking a bit about childhood having my
40:22parents around more than I than I used
40:24to. And you recently performed at the
40:27Young Storytellers Foundation.
40:30Oh, yeah.
40:30Yeah. How how did that come about?
40:34That's right. I forgot to tell you about
40:35that cuz it was a very last minute
40:36thing. The woman who used to be my nanny
40:39and is now a social worker. So she's an
40:41incredible young woman, too. Her
40:44boyfriend
40:45is one of the guys who runs Young
40:47Storytellers. So they're trying to
40:49sort of
40:50encourage that
40:52that
40:53that spark in children to tell stories
40:56and and be script writers. Though I hope
40:58they're not writing during the strike.
40:59But I was trying to support the young
41:01writers.
41:02I took them a donut each. And they have
41:06once a year they have professional
41:08actors come and read the kids scripts at
41:10somebody's house.
41:12So um Amy and Bill asked me if I would
41:15come and
41:16do it and I said I was like Oh, yeah.
41:20Okay. Oh, actually it was really
41:24This little girl, I'm afraid I don't
41:25remember her name, wrote a story The
41:27Mystery of the Voice of Elmo.
41:29And there was another story. And they're
41:31about
41:33five seven pages long, I don't know.
41:36And everybody there was Tate Donovan, a
41:39whole lot of actors who you would know
41:41if you watched network drama, but I
41:43don't know cuz I don't, you know.
41:46Um
41:47But wonderful young people being from
41:50the OC, he was somebody I got to know a
41:52bit. Um
41:54Anyway, they came down they want to do
41:55those icebreakers games, you know,
41:58where you repeat a pattern or something
41:59and I came to it late cuz I was trying
42:01to cadge a drink off somebody. And I was
42:03like, well, I better get over there with
42:04the actors. And I came to it late, so I
42:06was a bit behind the eightball.
42:09And
42:10And they're going, well, they're doing
42:11also warm up games and they're all like
42:13into it jolly hockey sticks and I'm
42:15like, what what? And then you got to go
42:16boom chukka lakka lakka. And what what
42:19what whatever, right? And I'm like, oh,
42:21what is this? And then this kid goes,
42:23and you?
42:25And then I'm into it and boom chukka
42:27lakka what what and I'm trying to be
42:29like cool and hip and down with it, you
42:31know, but I'm like so lame at it and the
42:34kids are observing us. I didn't realize
42:36they were observing us to see who they
42:38want to cast.
42:40So
42:41in the end like nobody wanted to cast,
42:43you know, the kids were giving out all
42:45their piece of paper to the you know, to
42:46the pretty girl, whatever her name was
42:48who was like really, you know, she was
42:50kind of slinky really pretty nice young
42:52woman, whoever the hell she was.
42:54And so she got a couple everybody else.
42:57And at the end it's me and somebody
42:59else. I'm going, this is hysterical that
43:01I cannot get cast in Hollywood
43:03by a bloody eight-year-old, you know.
43:07So eventually this kid standing there
43:08and I'm going, have you got a dog role?
43:10She goes, no no no no no no all the dogs
43:12are gone.
43:14What about a fat man? I would like to
43:15play a fat man. Like no, I'm just being
43:17ridiculous, right? And she goes
43:19eventually she's like stuck and I'm the
43:21only person she goes, I'm oh
43:23Do you want to play the part of the
43:24principal? Oh, yes, I want to be the
43:26principal. Thank you.
43:28So she's like gives me the principal
43:30role. I'm playing the principal of the
43:32school Mrs.
43:34Gular spelt Gullet and who turned out to
43:37be a real person. She was actually there
43:38Gullet. So here I was saying saying her
43:40name wrong.
43:42And it turns out to be like the main
43:45role, right? The title role The Mystery
43:47of the Voice of Elmo.
43:48So these kids go to the Elmo show on
43:51Broadway and they and they come out
43:53going, gee, I wonder who plays the voice
43:55of Elmo and they let's Google it up. So
43:57when they get home they Google it up and
43:58it comes up Anita Gular or something.
44:02And hey, that sounds like our
44:04principal's name. Let's
44:06sneak around and try to find out what
44:07her first name is.
44:09So at school the next day another
44:11teacher says, hey Anita, I'm sorry I'm
44:13going to be late to that teachers
44:14meeting after school. No trouble, says
44:16I. Well
44:18because my character is the voice of
44:20Elmo, of course, I start playing her
44:21totally with the voice of Elmo from the
44:23start. Like I'm like And the kids come
44:25and say, Mrs. Gular Mrs. Gular,
44:28everybody we know that you secretly
44:31played the voice of Elmo. And I'm like,
44:33WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? ME NOT PLAY
44:35ELMO.
44:40SO ALL all like the the audience loved
44:43it cuz they're grown-ups and they just
44:44thought it was funny that I would even
44:45know cuz they see you get given the role
44:48and you've had no practice or whatever.
44:50They just are amazed that you know the
44:51voice of Elmo, right?
44:53And
44:54but the kid was going
44:57Like like, look, she's ruining it. If
45:00you talked like this
45:02everybody would know you were Elmo.
45:05Right, but I'm just being a fool. And
45:08anyway, I had a great time, but the poor
45:11as writers often are with me are
45:13horrified what I did their words.
45:16Anyway.
45:18Um
45:19What you TALKING ABOUT? NO.
45:22ME not me not play the voice of Elmo.
45:32Miscast.
45:37She should have given me the dog role.
45:41No accent. You have said that you use
45:43music to help you find a character
45:46especially when you don't have much time
45:47to prepare. Can you give us an example
45:50and what music does
45:53I think it might be an emotional
45:54connection to the character.
45:56That's what I'm thinking cuz nothing
45:58comes out of, you know, no inspiration
46:00on the story. I don't know, but it must
46:02just be uh
46:04probably the tone of the piece or the
46:05tone of the character.
46:07Uh maybe even
46:09um the words or the the the voice of the
46:13musician.
46:15Could be that sort of thing.
46:16Do you have to pick the
46:19artist for the character or is it just
46:21something that strikes you?
46:24Um
46:26I think it just if I can run across
46:27something. For instance, okay, here's an
46:29here's a story. For one week in a month
46:32that it was such a raw
46:34angry character. And it was actually
46:36Eric's idea the director to listen to
46:38Liz Phair.
46:39What? Liz who? You know, I didn't know
46:41who she was. Do you know her stuff? P H
46:43A I R, right? Yeah, she's
46:45pissed and angry so angry and that's
46:47what he wanted. So I was like, oh, okay.
46:50And I started listening to her and I
46:51just I understood what he meant. So then
46:53I asked another friend who is um more
46:55fluent in different artists to make a
46:57compilation of music for me. I told her
46:59I was looking for. So she gave me some
47:00stuff and I just used I used that to get
47:02that
47:03that um feeling, you know, just keep it
47:06keep to sustain the feeling really.
47:08It keeps me going, yeah.
47:10You also said maybe in the same
47:13interview that you love you love the raw
47:15emotion of acting.
47:17Can you think of the rawest moment for
47:19you on Xena? Either both of you?
47:22I know what hers is. You do? Yeah.
47:24What?
47:25That cannibal one.
47:28Oh.
47:29I wouldn't have thought well, that was
47:30pretty raw.
47:32That was a sense where I felt like if I
47:34said anything I was going to lose my
47:37[ __ ]
47:38going to lose control of of like cuz you
47:40got to be professional. You got to do
47:41your job. You know, you're here to do
47:42your job. And there was there was so
47:44much anger in that that I just was like
47:47But but my most raw what I was thinking
47:50with you is when you were in the
47:53the water and you had that one piece
47:55around your neck.
47:57You know what I mean?
47:58And just to have that sense of there's
48:00dialogue and then there's emotion.
48:01There's no there's no hesitation. It's
48:03just complete connection to the material
48:05and to the situation. That's what it
48:06came to my mind at first. Especially
48:09working with someone else where the
48:10cannibal thing was just my in my head
48:12going That that right.
48:16Yeah, that wouldn't have occurred to me
48:18as the rawest though that was certainly
48:20similar in that if I had of given an
48:23inch I would have lost my
48:26business, yeah.
48:28Because it was so heavy. I was so and
48:30everybody's like totally casual, you
48:32know, having a cigarette and are you
48:34sure we film it and I'm sitting there
48:35with this like 20 pounds of wood on my
48:38head that's really wild and
48:40uncomfortable.
48:41And
48:42there are other people that only
48:44you particularly don't want to
48:46be a brat because there's other people
48:48in the water with you. And I think the
48:49ones they had on them weren't so heavy.
48:51They were like foam ones or something
48:53styrofoams, but
48:56And it was bloody yeah, and it was
48:57really miserably heavy. The other times
49:00that was hard to keep it together was
49:02yeah, in water often it was the water
49:04ones, right? Water and cold when we were
49:06wet and cold.
49:09You couldn't take it off, you know what
49:10I mean? Like you were sort of trapped in
49:12this thing. Your body was trapped. And I
49:15think that's how I felt with the
49:16cannibal, you know, my arms were tied. I
49:18had all these strange
49:19a little bit mad now when I look back
49:20and I go, you know what? There is no
49:23it's kind of what you said before. I'm
49:25afraid is true. I do not think that
49:27anybody
49:29puts up with that
49:30level of discomfort and stuff
49:34in America ever. Not that I've seen. I
49:36mean, they don't bloody tolerate
49:39having to walk 50 ft to the bathroom.
49:42Wow. Let alone lying being crucified
49:44half naked in the middle of winter. You
49:47have to laugh.
49:49You have to wonder how
49:49You have to laugh and and yes, but every
49:52kid now I'm getting out I think of it I
49:54just go that was wrong man, that was
49:56unfair.
49:57But you know what? It didn't At the time
49:59it felt like we were
50:01We just We did not know any better. I
50:04was in We were serving the material
50:06though.
50:06Yeah, but the more we did the more they
50:07could write.
50:09Oh, instead of saying no.
50:10Because you and I didn't know any better
50:11and we we were tough enough chicks to
50:13like suck it up. Yeah, you just suck it
50:15It's great, but it's like I don't want
50:16to remember to be honest with you.
50:18relatively new
50:19Yeah. I don't think it was that. I don't
50:21think that if like they asked us to do
50:22that now, if they asked us to go back
50:24and not go back, but we wanted you to be
50:26in these roles and we want you to do it
50:27right now, would you say no? Would you
50:29say no, I will not be crucified at all,
50:32period. Yeah. Really?
50:34I don't think I would. I would be like,
50:36oh, if it serves what the script needs,
50:39I would do it. I would probably have a
50:40different feeling about it, but isn't
50:43that funny? I would No interest.
50:48And I have a feeling when you say would
50:50you do it again, basically what you're
50:52envisioning is six more years.
50:55Oh, no.
50:55Yeah, that that's what I That's why I've
50:57never signed on to Right. No, I'm
50:58talking about say that let's just say in
51:00this world that there was a Xena movie
51:02and you had to be crucified. Would you
51:04do it? Would you do
51:04Oh, yes. I would actually. I would.
51:07I figured you would cuz she would just
51:08do it.
51:09Yeah, and and also it's mind over matter
51:12now, you know, like I'm
51:14a much calmer person. I'm not
51:16I see it just for the gig that it
51:19it is. Yeah, I just don't I think I had
51:22a sense of religion about what I did
51:23before.
51:24you did. You at least you committed to
51:25it, you know what I mean? Cuz if you had
51:27done anything, I don't want to say half
51:29and a half
51:31way manner
51:32it wouldn't have sold. You wouldn't have
51:33been the person you were or the
51:35character wouldn't have come across like
51:37it did, you know? That's right and I am
51:38So at that moment that was really
51:39important for sure. It could only have
51:41happened then. That's right. That's like
51:44It could only have happened to at that
51:45time. Yeah, I suppose if you hadn't done
51:47it the way you did, people wouldn't be
51:48delivering water to the picketers. Yeah,
51:51exactly. Right. Maybe that's the
51:53difference, eh? Maybe that's why you
51:55spent six years on Xena. So the
51:57picketers outside the Buena Vista Disney
51:59would have water would have sunscreen.
52:01Yeah.
52:03But the domino effect. Yeah. Um at the
52:06last Burbank convention Renee, you
52:07talked about um
52:10being at the Roxy. You said, "I had a
52:12great time last night just sitting back
52:14and watching Lucy. I can see why you
52:16guys love her so much." You said you
52:18could see the love from Lucy to the fans
52:20and from the fans to Lucy. And then you
52:23started to cry. Do you remember doing
52:24that and why got you so emotional? Oh,
52:27it's just so moving, you know. It's um
52:29I'm so proud of you being up there for
52:31one, seriously, you know? And I just go
52:34you know, I think that's wonderfully
52:35courageous and
52:37and it's just so fun to see you have
52:39this dream, whether it be for right now
52:41or whenever for however long, and to
52:44bring it out there and share it with
52:45everybody. I loved that, you know? It
52:47was so fun to watch you go for it. And
52:49then um and to see that the fans that
52:52were there just um love you that much,
52:55too, you know? It was just so fun. Like
52:56we're all united in this wonderful
52:58moment.
52:59So
53:00and it's because you stepped up to do
53:02it. I thought that was cool.
53:03Does love make you emotional?
53:06Well, I've I'm
53:08love everything. Everything makes me
53:10feel sensitive, you know? Yeah. I think
53:11I'm very compassionate
53:13Yeah.
53:14Well, you talked about you know, you
53:16just did a an on an online interview and
53:18you said you had a colorful childhood
53:20and you also mentioned in Chicago, I
53:22think it was, that there was some you
53:24know, there was some abuse in the family
53:25and what have you and
53:27I don't know, has that made it harder or
53:28easier for you to be open as a person or
53:30as an actor? Um I think I've just this
53:33last year I started to realize that if I
53:35can
53:37own up to who I am
53:39It gets me upset. that I can be a better
53:41person.
53:43Yeah.
53:45I feel like I'm a Barbara Walters.
53:46Barbara Walters. Wait a minute. I don't
53:48do these things anymore.
53:49what I want to say is yeah, the more I
53:50can share Yeah. the more I get to um
53:55wow, live this really great life. And
53:57what's good about it is just not
54:00being so emotional about it really. Even
54:02though I am right now, usually I'm not.
54:04Yeah.
54:05I don't know. Maybe because you put your
54:06butt
54:08So I think I think
54:10Renee was very buttoned down
54:13for a long time, right? You were very
54:15keeping a lid on everything and now
54:18you're able to like let it up a little
54:20bit and
54:21and and allow these things to express
54:24cuz otherwise it's impressed in you.
54:25But I expressed it in my acting. I
54:27always knew what I was doing as an actor
54:28that you know, you let the demons come
54:30out, you know, and you express yourself
54:32and that always worked for me, which was
54:33so great about Xena, you know, it
54:34There's so many ways to explore
54:37different feelings, you know?
54:38But um
54:41so I always knew that, but to actually
54:43share stories with people was a whole
54:45'nother thing because you're so ashamed.
54:48You know, and to not and to go what? Why
54:50am I ashamed, you know? Yeah. Yeah.
54:53So I don't know. It's really cool and
54:55I'm writing about it. Oh my gosh, it's
54:57so incredible. Yeah. I had this wild I
55:00had such a wild life. You have no idea.
55:02No one has any idea really what it was
55:05this world I was in. So bizarre. But I'm
55:08starting to write about it and the more
55:09I write about it the more I realize how
55:11absolutely ridiculous it was and that we
55:14lived this life and that people it's so
55:16ridiculous. It's like J.R. Ewing, you
55:18know, lived was our
55:20the man who run down our our world.
55:22It was like I swear it was like this
55:23Texan crazy crazy man, you know? And I'm
55:28so absurd to me that
55:31he got away with it and that we all had
55:33to be dragged along the way and no one
55:34did anything.
55:36is so amazing to me. So I'm starting to
55:38write about that. Keeping up
55:39appearances.
55:41That's what it was all about, you know?
55:42We were basically the appearance of a
55:43normal family. So even as a young kid I
55:47had the insight to know this was wrong,
55:48but I hadn't a voice to say
55:51what the hell, you know? What can we do
55:52about it? But now I do have the voice.
55:54This is all so new for me. So I'm just
55:56going to see where it goes and
55:58Mhm.
55:59Yeah, we'll see. Cuz there's nothing to
56:02fear now
56:04by um letting it out. Right? When you're
56:06a kid, you feel like you have to You
56:09think you're going to be punished. Yeah,
56:10that you're something so terrible is
56:12going to happen if you
56:15even admit something to yourself.
56:19So anyway, it's good. It's good. It is
56:21good.
56:21And I don't normally get emotional about
56:22it cuz I'm cuz it's it's a it is what it
56:25is, you know? And and I realized that if
56:26I didn't live the childhood I had, I
56:28wouldn't be on the TV show I was on. I
56:31wouldn't have the ability to have the
56:32exposure I have to
56:34let other people know, you know,
56:36have faith. And help so many people the
56:38way you have
56:38them, yeah. through that. But it's taken
56:40me a while to get there. Yeah.
56:42So the answer to your question is yes, I
56:43was closed off because I didn't want
56:45people to hear all the bad stuff, you
56:47know? Yeah. Now it's like, okay, well,
56:49that's life. I'm you know, it is what it
56:51is.
56:52So.
56:56But he had crazy brothers when they were
56:58growing up and so, you know, you had
57:01five older brothers, right? Four older
57:04brothers and brothers, right? Yeah. And
57:07you know, being the the girl in the in
57:09the family can be a you know, I they can
57:12be teasing and there were you know, some
57:13quite some age differences and I
57:15wondered if that affected kind of the
57:18way you look at the male of the species
57:20as you when you were a kid.
57:24No, I went out um with Marisa yesterday
57:28and we were canvassing around
57:30like frat houses around the university
57:32campuses.
57:34Um
57:35and she was terrified. She's going oh,
57:39no, don't don't give them one of these
57:41flyers. We're
57:42um I get a bad feeling about him.
57:44So I and I'd go, "Hey, dude, you want to
57:47give him blah blah blah blah blah." So
57:48I'd turn and he would, you know, smile
57:50and he was totally human, but I realized
57:53that some people are very very just
57:55deathly afraid
57:57of strangers.
57:59And these are not It's not like
58:01I mean, this person could be her
58:04brother.
58:06Sort of thing. So I'm same ethnicity so
58:07but just a stranger.
58:11And um I I'm not
58:13afraid of your of men at all
58:17because I've had so much exposure to
58:19them, good and bad and whatever. So you
58:21think it made you stronger and more No,
58:23no, I'm not I'm not prejudiced against
58:25them. Put it that way. I'm not
58:27not afraid of them. I'm
58:29um
58:31Yeah, I I don't have a chip on my
58:32shoulder about men.
58:36I uh
58:38or women, you know, I just you kind of
58:40see the human being behind I don't care
58:42what their gender is.
58:44I don't care what they who they sleep
58:45with. I don't care.
58:47Don't it's not my daughter.
58:49Um
58:52Rob was asked recently in answer to Rob
58:55answered recently in how close you guys
58:57are to your characters that Renee is
59:00probably more like the character that
59:01Gabrielle became.
59:03I also suspect and perhaps he was
59:06looking at your socks
59:08that Renee is wilder than Gabrielle, but
59:10that is just speculation, Rob said.
59:14It's my socks.
59:16Oh, those socks aren't wild. No, they're
59:19they're
59:19that's her face side. She's also quite
59:22girly. Yeah. I like uh
59:25colorful socks and anyway. No, but was
59:28he talking about my belly button ring?
59:29What is he talking about? Or I like to
59:30dance on
59:32Perhaps you're wilder than
59:35people do.
59:36I told him.
59:36Probably. I don't
59:38You gave it away. I told him.
59:41Um that's def- I'm sure that's true,
59:44yeah. I don't think every other was But
59:46I'm sorry, she's an They're all awesome
59:49characters and they've been on
59:50television for a long time, 6 years, to
59:53develop. But it's still a television
59:54character, so a human being is always
59:56going to be more complex and infinite.
1:00:00But I guess the reason that um Gabrielle
1:00:03and Xena are have some sort of infinite
1:00:05possibilities is because it's in the
1:00:07imagination of the audience. Right. But
1:00:10no writer can write can capture the
1:00:13essence
1:00:14of
1:00:16Renee. They can only suggest certain
1:00:18things for the character.
1:00:19They might have ideas of backstory, but
1:00:20I guess you then You know what I mean? I
1:00:22know some writers will write a whole
1:00:23treatment just on a character
1:00:25development. You know, sometimes that
1:00:27happens, but
1:00:28um
1:00:30I know what you're saying. Yeah.
1:00:32Anyway, that was just my other
1:00:35But you still have to bring the essence
1:00:36to life. The soul has to come out,
1:00:37right? That's what you're saying. Yeah.
1:00:39I know what you're saying. I'm just
1:00:41blah. That's right. Yeah. Me, too. I was
1:00:43just thinking I've lost the thread of
1:00:44what we're talking about.
1:00:45Oh, that thought's gone. Next. going to
1:00:47one last peaceful thought here,
1:00:50which caught my attention. You said in
1:00:53that online interview that I I feel a
1:00:54sense of grounding in the desert where
1:00:56there aren't any people.
1:00:59Mhm. You want to explain more about
1:01:00that? I just I loved Egypt. I loved
1:01:03Israel. I'll never forget being in the
1:01:06Dead Sea looking out over the mountains
1:01:08and just feeling such a sense of peace
1:01:09and serenity. So, when I think of
1:01:12like what's the the most expansive I can
1:01:14feel outside my body, I think of the
1:01:16desert.
1:01:17I don't know why, but
1:01:18I love that.
1:01:19And where's your most peaceful place,
1:01:21Lucy?
1:01:25Um
1:01:30I'm pretty peaceful, right? This morning
1:01:32I
1:01:33These days, I mean I just power down
1:01:35wherever I am.
1:01:39I'm okay. Except inside your exciting
1:01:41closet, babe.
1:01:43I I mean she's got an exciting
1:01:46I come in, she's got this, you know,
1:01:48great house here and she says to me,
1:01:49"You got to see the closet."
1:01:52So, I open the door and it's a room.
1:01:55And she's just giggling like a little
1:01:56kid. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:02:00outrageous. But you're really peaceful
1:02:02now, just hanging out with your family.
1:02:04I mean Yeah.
1:02:05Yeah, that's really great. I've stopped
1:02:07thinking that I can't live without
1:02:09the acting or the money or the fame or
1:02:13whatever it is. None of that stuff is
1:02:17um
1:02:18None of that is is rel- In fact, that
1:02:20will get in your way of being happy and
1:02:22being peaceful as if you think
1:02:25that without these things you can't
1:02:27exist without a certain job, without a
1:02:29certain person. When you realize, "Oh,
1:02:31no, I actually don't need any of that to
1:02:34be happy."
1:02:35then um
1:02:37Yeah, your natural state is peaceful and
1:02:40free.
1:02:41And and um joyous. It's your natural
1:02:44state.
1:02:46And you're one of your natural states at
1:02:48the moment is running around college
1:02:49campuses, as you said, with the mission
1:02:51Yeah. asking people questions. Well,
1:02:53you've got someone here.
1:02:55Yeah. Well, uh I was going to
1:02:57ask you, Renee. Will I?
1:03:01Uh-oh.
1:03:05So,
1:03:07hooking up with a much older partner,
1:03:09what's so wrong with that?
1:03:12Have you ever uh
1:03:14you know, dated somebody much older or
1:03:17much younger than yourself?
1:03:19Would you?
1:03:21Mhm.

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