‘Gay icon’ Lucy Lawless can’t believe she was in The Simpsons-Rachel Corcoran-Entertainment – Metro

Lucy Lawless talks to Metro about being seen as a gay icon and her climate activism (Picture: Metro.co.uk/ Getty)

The TV actress, 54, on Xena: Warrior Princess being ahead of its time, the biggest dangers facing the world from climate change to nuclear buttons, why she tries not to fly and season three of My Life is Murder.

You’re in your home country of New Zealand now. How are things over there?

Lovely. The summer is about to happen. I hear it’s quite warm in the UK too, which as a climate activist horrifies me.

I keep a toe in with Greenpeace and there’s a lot we need to do to put pressure on our government, like every government, to do the right thing.

Climate change is the biggest thing facing us, other than lunatics and the nuclear buttons. We’ve passed a really grim milestone in terms of our carbon emissions. S***’s aboutto get real.

Do you travel much these days?

I lived in America for about nine years and worked in Vancouver and all over the place. I wanted to be a vagabond my whole life.

But now I try not to fly for no reason, mostly because of the climate change thing. I can’t use all those climate miles just to make bucks if I don’t strictly need them. That’s not right.

You’re showing off Auckland in your detective series My Life Is Murder.

Aucklanders are a bit titillated by their town looking cool on TV. Part of it was that I really wanted to invite people to my town and make it look ‘sexy urban’. I’ve engaged in a lot of sex and violence on TV and it’s nice to be part of something that’s kind.

It’s been called a mix of Sex And The City and Agatha Christie.

Oh, really! Yes, it’s aspirational and a celebration of singleness. All four of the leads are not attached and don’t have any problem with it. Even a lot of married people fantasise about that – sorry, but it’s true! Everybody wants to have mental space from time to time.

Alexa is a cop turned private investigator – she’s single in her 50s, at the peak of her career and having fun. It’s a rare role!

It’s true. A lot of women I know who are in their 50s finally come into their own because if they have children, the children don’t need them any more.

Suddenly they’ve got all this mental space and clarity and skills – they’re hungry to take on the world again on their own terms.

Seeing myself play a role that’s close to me is interesting, as is speaking in my own accent.

Is your wardrobe as big as Alexa’s?

No, I’m not a clothes freak! I like nice design and fabric and stuff, but I just want to move, which often means not thinking about clothes too much.

How did the role of Xena change your life?

Lucy Lawless as Xena: Warrior Princess, a gay icon (Picture: Getty Images)

Oh, it changed everything. What was very surprising was to find myself in action television.

My dream was to be Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler or Lady Macbeth. Instead, I was playing Xena and Lucretia from Spartacus. I didn’t see myself doing anything that was cultish or cheesy good fun. But it turns out that I love cheese.

The show was quite progressive…

Really progressive. Long before diversity in film was a buzzword, Xena had African-American lovers and transgender stars and guest stars. It was gender-bending and sexually progressive – sex positive without ever saying the word or showing it.

It was about people who feel put-upon but with a bit of help are able to raise themselves above their state. And that’s the kind of fan base it drew.

How did you feel about becoming a gay icon?

I thought that was bloody great. The 
gay community, particularly in New York, made the show cool first. And 
so we always tried to remain faithful 
to them.

Is there really a Lucy Lawless Feel The Love Day?

I don’t know if it’s still going but the fans ran this incredible day where they do good in their community. They used to ask me, ‘What’s your charity?’ And much to the chagrin of my charities,

I’d never say what they were because my fans are not moneyed people. The idea was they would do something to enrich their community, which might just be an act of kindness. And that became a movement.

Lucy can’t believe she was on The Simpsons (Picture: Fox)

What can’t you believe you’ve done?

I was on The Simpsons a couple of times and Lisa even said my name. That was cool. If you’re a kid from New Zealand, you think ‘What the hell am I doing being painted yellow as a Simpsons character?’ Doing Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David, I felt so lucky.

Flight Of The Conchords was funny. Instead of Chinatown or Little Italy, we had New Zealand Town, which was the saddest little strip of one block in New York with a few Latinos dressed as Maoris and a couple of sheep!

I’d seen Richard Griffiths in Equus the night before – I was jet-lagged and must have had a couple of wines, so the next morning I was so hungover. There’s one scene where I face-plant the table – and it’s truly what happened!

My Life Is Murder Series 1–3 streaming now on Acorn TV.

Series 1 and 2 DVD box sets are also available

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