Many thanks to Kym Masera Taborn ktaborn@lightspeed.net
This interview's transcript appeared in the Xena Media Review

 [434] 08-14-96
   WGN. TV interview.
   COMMENTARY: Interview of Lucy Lawless on WGN TV. 
   TRANSCRIPT: 
   REPORTER: Well we got better than Don Johnson.  You
can feel the presence [laugh] everyone's been calling. 
A little disappointed about the outfit...
   LAWLESS: I'm wearing it under this... show you
later.
   REPORTER: Really cool.  Oh Lucy you don't know what
you're talking about. It's getting hot in here... Lucy
Lawless, we'll be right back...
   REPORTER: Wow.  That hurt.  There she is in action. 
Lucy Lawless who plays Xena.  What do you think?  Are
you impressed?
   LAWLESS: I'm very impressed.  With you, with you
guys?  You're stunning.  You're stunning.
   REPORTER: What's it like watching this, because
really this is your first big role.  You've got your
own show here.  Has it changed things for you?
   LAWLESS: It's changed everything.  I don't live in
the same house REPORTER: Bigger one?
   LAWLESS: Yeah, it is bigger.
   REPORTER: Did you get as many strange phone calls
about Xena as we have the past few days?
   LAWLESS: My parents do.  My parents get people--
don't ring my parents, leave them alone! People from
New York saying, "We really need to get a hold of Lucy,
some important business from the states." And my dad's
just going, "What the hell are you talking about?
   REPORTER: Do they get the show in your native New
Zealand?
   LAWLESS: They've just started getting it.  Up until
then it was total anonymity and it was the perfect
working enviroment really --
   REPORTER: Oh you liked it like that?
   LAWLESS: Yeah, oh yeah, but it's all over now, baby
blue.
   REPORTER: Someone might think that you were a tomboy
growing up, doing these dangerous games on TV.
   LAWLESS: I was.  My mother said that I didn't know
that I was a girl until I was 8.  Nobody told me! 
   REPORTER: What would you refuse to do?
   LAWLESS: Something's missing!  Something's missing!
   REPORTER: But you have four older brothers though so
it kind of came natural.
   LAWLESS: There was a lot of squabbling, it was a
really good, loving home but you had to be kind of
tough to survive.
   REPORTER: And is there home videos back from New
Zealand some of your brothers there?  How much work
goes into the stunts there?  Obviously there's a lot
of, you know, you gotta be precise when you're swinging
those swords around.
   LAWLESS: Uh, well I don't want to give away too many
secrets and say that really you could be a foot away
and nobody would know. REPORTER: You've just ruined it
for America. 
   LAWLESS: Yeah, uh sorry. I've been hit a couple of
times 
   REPORTER: Have you?
   LAWLESS: Oh, quite a few times.  I got a beautiful
black eye.  And Michael Hurst who plays Iolaus broke
his arm.  Kevin got 10 stitches on the back of his head
from a metal sword.  
   REPORTER: And he told us that.  You know, Kevin was
here, he told us that
   LAWLESS: Oh Kevin will get that one out at every
opportunity! No it was a really nasty hit actually I
saw it on video, and the next week I did it to him
myself and I just felt terrible! 
   REPORTER: Of course you weren't filming at the
time... out at dinner?
   LAWLESS: It was just fun
   REPORTER: I was going to ask if she could show you a
couple tips... So I could be a warrior princess too? 
'Cause you were whipping that thing around during the
commericial break.... She was not me...
   LAWLESS: Yeah, well these don't have any weight.
   REPORTER: I know that's not up to your normal
standard
   LAWLESS: Oh no, this is about it.  This is about the
size of it.  Uh, see I can't even do it. 
   REPORTER: I'm going to sit over here
   LAWLESS: Oh you don't have to go far
   REPORTER: Oh that was pretty cool
   LAWLESS: You can run but you can't hide. I don't
know if I can, it's kind of difficult... 
   REPORTER: You just stick it in?
   LAWLESS: You just stick it in.  Give it a little
kikokiko.
   REPORTER: Hey that's pretty good... Sonya Warrior
Anchor...  I like the title.  You know what Lucy, you
had an interesting past.  You were a gold miner?
   LAWLESS: Yeah I was
   REPORTER: Grape-picker?
   LAWLESS: That was a fantasy, that was a fantasy.  I
got this idea in seventh form French once that I was
going to Europe and pick grapes on the vine 'cause it
sounded so romantic, you know.  And I got there and
just sat in the city and hung out with insolubriate
company. They were good days but I'm glad they're over.
   REPORTER: I have no idea what it would be like in a
gold mine digging gold and there weren't, I can't
imagine that there were many women down in the gold
mines.
   LAWLESS: There were not.  And again you have this
romantic idea that I'm down underground with a light on
my head picking chunks of gold out the soil, but uh, in
fact they detonate just miles of Australian landscape
and smash it to smithereens.  It's open cast mining.
   REPORTER: So you through with a sifter or something? 
   LAWLESS: Yeah, a very fine sieve
   REPORTER: And somebody watching you to make sure you
don't go home with free samples?
   LAWLESS: That's right, that's right we walk home
laden down with nuggets.  But I'm glad those days are
over, too.
   REPORTER: These days are much better I'm sure
   LAWLESS: These are the best days of my life to date.
   REPORTER: I didn't know we had that kind of
influence.
   LAWLESS: Yeah, this is the best day of my life
Larry.
   REPORTER: It all goes downhill from here
   LAWLESS: Yeah [laughs].
   REPORTER: Well Xena airs on WGN on Saturdays from 3
to 4 in the fall.  It's moved around a little bit
because of baseball in the summer but that's when you
can look for it from 3 to 4. Thank you so much for
being here
   LAWLESS: Thanks for having me.
   REPORTER: Maybe we can work on this in the break,
ok?
   LAWLESS: Ok.
   REPORTER: Stay with us everybody we'll be right back