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Lucy Lawless: 10 Facts You Need To Know

By Angela Woods
Published on: 04:34 PST, Nov 1, 2015

It seems that the Hollywood Powers That Be have finally heeded to the cries of fans and resurrected the she of Xena: Warrior Princess, Lucy Lawless. The actress is slated to play a lead role in a new venture, Ash vs. Evil Dead.

There are a few facts that you need to know though before you cheer Lawless on in her latest project. At least, inquiring minds might want to know.

  1. In real life, Lucy is now a blonde. That’s right. You really did read it right. The kick-villains-take-no-prisoners-fearless-warrior has switched sides and changed her signature brunette look to that of a more flaxen persuasion. Most fans did not know that her natural hair color is actually an ash blonde.
  2. Lawless is a passionate activist. There’s more than just “pretty” behind her offline persona. According to Wikipedia, in 2009, Lucy became a “climate ambassador” for Greenpeace’s “Sign On” campaign. In addition to that, in February, 2012, she was arrested and charged with burglary for boarding an oil drilling ship in New Zealand with five other Greenpeace activists in an effort to prevent it from leaving dock on an oil exploration. She remains passionately committed to Greenpeace.
  3. And speaking of New Zealand, Lawless’ bio on IMDb reports that that is where she lives. Both of her sons were born in New Zealand, and she was born in the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert under the birth name of Lucille Frances “Lucy” Ryan. She is married to producer Robert Gerard Tapert, and also has a daughter, Daisy, from her first marriage.
  4. When Lucy consented to join the Evil Dead series originally, she really didn’t really have a full grasp of what her role would entail. She told E! News that it wasn’t until episode nine that things became clear.
  5. Lawless’ mother was a teacher and her father was not only a banker, but he was also mayor of Mount Albert for a period of time. She is Catholic and has four brothers and one sister. Her family origins are in Quilty, County Clare, and when her great-grandfather arrived in New Zealand, he was a convict.
  6. Her first television appearance was on a comedy series. She later went on to study drama in Vancouver.
  7. In October, 1996, while still starring in Xena: Warrior Princess, Lucy made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. While taping her appearance, the horse that she was riding lost its footing and she suffered a fractured pelvis. In order to give her time to heal, Xena writers rewrote several episodes of Season 2 so that background characters would fill in lead time.
  8. In addition to her other impressive screen credits, Lawless had a recurring role on the popular Battlestar Galactica series from 2005 to 2009. She played D’Anna Biers, a reporter with the Fleet News Service who was later revealed to be one of the evil Cylon.
  9. A planet was nicknamed after Lawless’ most popular TV character, Xena. In 2005, astronomer Mike Brown nicknamed a newly discovered dwarf planet. The name was subsequently changed to Eris, but Brown later permanently named one of the planet’s moons, Dysmonia, after the Greek goddess of lawlessness. He purposely did this as an indirect tribute to Lucy Lawless. It is said that she phoned him to thank him for the homage.
  10. Lucy can sing! She also is a songwriter. Her singing skills were showcased in some of the Xena episodes. She also played Betty Rizzo in Grease in 1997. She was encouraged to pursue a singing career after appearing as a contestant on Celebrity Duets, where she finished as runner-up to Alfonso Ribeiro.

Any facts about Lucy Lawless that you would like to share?

[Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images]

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