TV Guide
(Canada)
July 8 - 14, 2000
by Brian Hartigan
MEN may have traditionally been the headliners of action series, but over the past five years or so, WOMEN have increasingly become the tube's buff and brawny heroes. This week, TV Guide profiles six of the toughest babes on television.
Lucy Lawless as Xena
XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS
(Global, Saturdays; also syndicated)
BREAKOUT ROLE: guest starring as Lyla on
an early episode of Hercules: Legendary Journeys, which led to a return Herc appearance as
the warrior Xena and her own spinoff.
PREVIOUS BUTT-KICKING EXPERIENCE: as an undercover cop on the short-lived 1994 action show High Tide.
OVERVIEW: Xena is the yard stick by which all other female action stars are measured. When she arrived on the scene in 1995, no one knew quite what to make of the leather-clad, sword wielding heroine. Was she a goddess? Good or evil? Both? Lawless, 32, combines athletic ability with cold heroics and hidden tenderness in a way that makes her a fan favorite.
QUOTE: "People assume that I'm a total amazon, like I have to duck to get through doors." she told Maxim magazine last year. "I've never been that physically co-ordinated or good at sports, so the last thing I figured I'd become is an action hero. I thought I'd be doing Shakespeare".