Many thanks to Cat for this transcript.

Here's a nice interview with Renee, which was conducted while she was at VF
by Toni Yates of WB17.

RENEE O'CONNOR INTERVIEW
INTERVIEWER: TONI YATES - WB17 NEWS AT TEN


Toni: What do you make of all the hype the show is generating? 

Renee: This is the first trip back to the states where people are actually
recognizing me, and I have people go, "yo, Gabrielle!" There is a following
for the show, but it's strange for us working in New Zealand -- not many
people talk about the show, not many people approach you, so it's always
different when you come to the states. People are much more friendly and
accessible, so it's just bizarre. But it's exciting. It's nice to know
that, you know, we have a large age group. We have children. We have older
men. I had a man in his 60’s talk about how much he enjoyed the show and
the friendship of the two women and it's just nice to see that it crosses
both gender lines. 

Toni: Do the producers play up the sexuality between the two characters? 

Renee: It's funny because we started off completely platonic and then we
noticed there's an interest in what our sexuality is so we play it up a
bit, but then we've also decided that we don't want to stereotype our
friendship one way or the other as, obviously, the gay community doesn't
want to be stereotyped. So we just want to concentrate on the friendship,
the love between friends, maybe a mother/daughter, sisters and try to
condense that into these two women's lives. It was a surprise, and we did
play up to it, but I think it's more -- just a friendship. 

Toni: Is there any controversy surrounding the show?  

Renee: Definitely. There are a couple of scenes, for instance, where
Gabrielle and Xena possibly kiss or were bathing together, that a lot of
people were shocked, and um, some mothers wouldn't let their children watch
the show any more. Whereas in the gay community, people embraced us, saying
"yes, finally!" You know we wanted to make sure that we kept it open to all
the world, you know, all ... all the different brackets. It’s a fine line.
And since we are friends we have to keep true to our friendship and not
just play to one side or the other. 

Toni: What are Xena nights? 

Renee: We actually heard about that. The Meow Mix in New York, they have a
Xena night, and we heard about that the first season and we were all
completely blown away. We had no idea that people were really embracing the
characters like this. Now I think we're a little more used to the fact that
they have look-alike contests, and Lucy and I always joke that we should go
and try to participate 'cause we'd probably lose.

Toni: Do you have a message for fans? 

Renee: I just appreciate all the support. I know that Gabrielle is going to
be changing this next season where people might question her morals, which
is a big dilemma for my character and I hope people are patient and just
realize that everyone is human and that she’s going to make mistakes and
hopefully we can all learn from it.

Toni: Are you tired of playing the good girl? 

Renee: The first season I definitely wanted to. I didn't want Gabrielle to
be too perfect, but then I I appreciate the fact that Gabrielle has strong
moral beliefs and she's a wonderful role model for a lot of young people,
young women, and now that she's changing, I almost, I wish that she could
stay the same, you know, like I’m her mother. I don't want Gabrielle to
change, but she will and it’s a nice challenge for me as an actress. I’m
playing dilemmas that I don't agree with. Gabrielle makes choices that I
possibly wouldn't make. Everyone changes, everyone learns and grows through
life experiences. Some are right, some are wrong and I’m learning with her.  

Toni: Where else have you worked? 

Renee: I worked in a lot of TV movies. Luckily I’ve been working with a lot
of older actors -- James Garner, Ellen Burstyn; these people that I’ve
learned from. I’ve usually been the baby on the set, so I quietly just
observe everything and I’ve tried to absorb different acting techniques.
I’ve actually learned a lot through Lucy because I’ve never worked with a
woman before who's been so strong, so beautiful as a person and on the
inside, and I’ve um, I’ve changed by working with her. I’ve become, I don't
know, just more of a person, more of a complete person, more of a woman. 

Toni: What is it like to work with Lucy Lawless?  

Renee: She’s very charming. Lucy's very accessible. People can walk up on
to the set and she greets them. She’s always willing to just give more of
herself than you'd expect. There was a woman, she's our horse wrangler, and
Lucy works a 12 hour day and then after work she went and visited this
woman at the hospital, took her home, took care of her, and after 12 hours
of filming, all you want to do is go home and go to bed. So, she's like
that. There’s another side to her that people don't know. She’s very warm. 

Toni: How do you train for those physical action sequences?  

Renee: I actually get nervous right before the fight scenes, because
although I’m comfortable with it, I know I’m going to end up hitting
someone so I have to, but it's part of it, they're pretty tough. I started
taking kick boxing classes as my character started to fight more and I’ve
always been spoiled by the fact that the stunt men take your punches and
take your hits and they don't hit you back. And my first boxing class, I
was sparing with this woman who must have been in her 50’s, a little thing,
shorter than me and spunky, and she was -- she hit me! I said, "wait a
minute! That’s not what’s supposed to happen here," you know. It was just
funny ‘cause, you know, you're not surprised. Usually it's all staged, but
it’s different when you're in the ring and people come at you. 

Toni: Are you having fun fighting?  

Renee: I love it. I do. Even though I’m nervous I still love the adrenaline
rush of fighting. Especially being a woman and being short and small you
love the fact that you can be tough and staunch and men go flipping across
the room, you know. 

Toni: How do you like working in New Zealand? 

Renee: New Zealand’s wonderful. It’s like going back to the 1950’s. People
there are very warm, they have moral values, a lot of family events. It’s
funny, their Christmas is different, and this is always strange for me.
Christmas will be their summer, so usually they have barbecues on the
beach. And this year will be fun, just to have a different sense of a …
more like a 4th of July picnic for Christmas instead of the white snow
Christmas. 

Toni: What does the future hold for Gabrielle and Xena? 

Renee: I know the writers are working on our friendship this year where we
might split up. Our friendship will be tested. And I think every year no
one really knows what we'll do. I think the … audience plays into that. I
just hope that we continue to be strong and to try new, to embrace our
characters in a new way. I think the friendship of the characters will be
tested and, I think, I hope that we'll always be true to each other and
have a friendship that will be a part of history -- that everyone can say
these two women were good people, you know, influenced our lives in some
way. It’ll be interesting to see.  

Toni: Do you enjoy the Xena conventions and meeting the people at them? 

Renee: This is my first convention, so I really don't know what to expect.
I’ve been told that it's like a rock concert where everyone loves the same
thing and everyone's excited and having a good time but I get nervous
getting up in front of a lot of people so it’ll be interesting to see if,
you know, it's something that I really love or if I become a bit more shy.
It’s different, it's like going to a different world. Everyone speaks in
Xena language and knows the costumes and knows every character that's ever
been on the show and that's almost strange for you because they know it
better than you do. There's a group of people who love Gabrielle and
they’re having a picnic tomorrow and they're going to have a squid toss …
and that's really funny because they took one aspect of the show that
Gabrielle hates, you know, hates fish, hates to be on a boat and embraced
it and created this wonderful wacky world. 

Toni: Are you afraid of being typecast?  

Renee: I didn't worry about it at first because I didn't think I’d be on
the show past the first season, and obviously the character’s grown and now
I worry because everyone calls me Gabrielle -- that there may not be an
acting career after Xena, but I’m learning so much and I appreciate the job
… Who knows, I might not want to act again, you never know. I’m just really
enjoying it now.  

Toni: Have your expectations changed since when you first started? 

Renee: I’m very true to Gabrielle … I wanted to fight, I wanted to get us
involved in every part of the show Xena as I could, which is very much like
the character. Gabrielle was Xena’s tag-along and wanted to be in the
middle of the action. So that was very much a part of me. Now I’ve become
much more mellow and just enjoy the storylines, the different characters
that come on the show, which also helps Gabrielle because she's more
centered. She’s more philosophical ... I would like to see Gabrielle become
more passive, more of a mentor to other people, just to be the opposite of
Xena. But who knows … the writers are always changing everything.  

Toni: What's it like to see yourself animated on the new Hercules/Xena
cartoon? 

Renee: That was strange! I saw the Gabrielle sketch for the cartoon and
everyone agreed that my cartoon was closer to me than everyone else’s.
Lucy’s character has this red triangular head with red hair, raven hair and
it's great! It’s so funny to see us all as a cartoon. It's interesting
because it's someone's interpretation of you and your character. Gabrielle
in the animated feature is much younger than I’m playing now and a little
more naive, because my character grows every season. It’ll funny to look
back on what she was like the first season. We’ll have to look for all the
people tomorrow dressed as Xena and Gabrielle and find a 6 foot Gabrielle,
so if we could find one, that would be funny! I guess it's similar to the
Star Trek phenomenon. I don't know if Xena will ever be a cult where we're
part of history like Star Trek, but right now there's a following. Ten
years from now we’ll really see the difference and see how we've affected
peoples’ lives.  

ENDS