LN: It was kind of an innovative idea for the show, a little unusual.
LL: Yeah, no, god no. I was always just like running to keep up with the demands of my job, I never stopped to question what
the wider world would think of anything. You just try to make every day as good as you can and have as much fun as you can
while you're doing it. So, for the most part we really succeeded. And you know, some of that was just genius, you know all of
that stuff in the beginning with the Tarot and Hudson popping up. That was just fantastic work and really a lot of that credit has
to go to Rob (Tapert) and the writers.
LN: When I talked to Renee (O'Connor) a few months ago, she said she loved doing the commentary for the DVD sets because
she got to hang out with you. Was it a lot of fun for you too, or was it kind of like just another day at the job?
LL: No, 'cause when do I ever hang out and talk about Xena? Never. Renee and I talk on the phone and she was supposed to
come over and stay the night the other day, but her little boy got sick and so they didn't come. Yeah, I spent six years of my life
side by side with her, you know, so she's really a sister to me and we miss each other. We grew together. We are very different
people and we have very different brains and the way we look at life is almost diametrically opposed, but because we were... I'll
finish it with "forged in the heat of battle" that's all I can say.
LN: You've got two movies coming out that you're appearing in - Eurotrip and The Boogeyman. What can you tell me about your
roles in those projects?
LL: Well, I'm going on Jimmy Kimmel and they tried to find some clips from Eurotrip of my stuff and they realized that the
standards and broadcasting authority, whatever its called here, would never allow any of it.
LN: Oh my.
LL: Yeah, Because it's an R movie, you know, its a little grown up and also my role, I'm playing Madame Vandersexxx, a dutch
brothel keeper. One of the boys falls into her clutches and she proceeds to show him a good time, in her very own special way...
it is quite racy and I think that's only going to help cement this rauncy image people have of me. What are you gonna do?
LN: Now, in The Boogeyman, you're playing a completely different kind of character.
LL: Right, I'm playing a drug-addicted mother who gives up custody of her son cause she just can't leave her addiction along and
that causes him problems in later in life, of course, its always the mother's fault.
LN: So what are the other projects you have coming up?
LL: Oh, I'm in very delicate negotiations about television shows... and that's kind of killing me. And I'll either end up with
everything or nothing, like I said before. I'm having some great meetings, I met with Mike Judge yesterday on something he's
doing. It was funny, they sent me the script, which is just the scenes you'll be auditioning for, and at 10AM in the morning I
said: "Yes I'm going to drive right down there now and meet this guy... I want to make sure this happens today." So I went
down there and finished reading the script while I was sitting outside. And I said: "oh this is great, Mike Judge wants to meet
me, they finally found out that I'm a comedic genius." And then I read down the screen directions and it says 'huge Chyna-like
woman' - -- "oh my god they only want me because they think I look like Chyna!" No offense Chyna, but its nice to be known
for what you do, rather than who you look like, you know.
LN: You'd think your comedic genius would be established by now, you had the best roles on Xena doing such great bits.
LL: You know, people don't know that though, the show was more known than it was watched. So they don't know it was a
comedy show. They think it was a serious, kung-fu stupid drama, they don't realize that it was all... how do you describe it,
cause it was dramatic in places, but it was also incredibly kitsch and tongue in cheek and we never pretended to be serious
anything. We were just serious about making a kooky show.
LN: The drama was wonderful, but it was the comedy that really got the fans engaged; the people who watched it all the time.
LL: And the friendship. It worked on a lot of levels other shows don't, and I guess that's why the show has such legs. The
demand for things like the DVDs, and the cyber community that still exists in the name of the show, they just continue and its
still pulling in new fans - it's quite amazing.
LN: I know your family is very important to you, do you find it hard to maintain a balance between your work and your family
sometimes?
LL: Well, its been all family for a long time, and now I've just seriously gotten back... I've gotten hungry again, let's put it that
way. I can only cross that bridge when I come to it. So far we're doing okay.
LN: You're known for being rather adventurous sometimes. What do you like to do best when you're not having to work, when
you're on holiday?
LL: You know, I can't stand being on holiday, I cannot stand it. Don't want it.
LN: That's unusual.
LL: Yeah, I just want to hang out with my friends; eat and drink. I just discovered skiing this past Christmas, we went up to
Canada, that's something new for me. I like to have short holidays and pack a lot in, and then I want to get back to work
because my hobby is performance. Well, not just my hobby, it's my work, but it's also what I love to do and I can't stand to be
away from it for too long.
LN: There speaks a true performer.
LL: (Laughs) Yeah.
LN: Is there anything you always wish people would ask you about, but never do?
LL: No, you just get sick of talking about yourself. I wish they would ask me more would you come and do my comedy movie.
Would you come and work with Martin Scorsese?
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