Lucy Lawless

Lucille Frances Lawless (née Ryan) is a New Zealand actress, singer, and director born on March 29, 1968. She is best known for starring as the title character in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess. She is also well known for her roles as D'Anna Biers in Battlestar Galactica, Lucretia in Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and Alexa Crowe in My Life Is Murder, which she has starred in since 2019.

Lawless was born in Mount Albert, Auckland, to teacher Julie Ryan and banker and mayor Frank Ryan. Raised in a large Irish Catholic family with five siblings, she performed in her first musical at age ten and began acting in secondary school. She attended Marist College and studied languages at Auckland University. At 18, she traveled through Europe and Australia, and in 1989 won the Mrs New Zealand competition.

Lawless made her television debut in the New Zealand sketch-comedy show Funny Business before studying drama in Vancouver, Canada. In 1994, she appeared in Hercules and the Amazon Women and subsequently returned to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as the warrior Xena in 1995. The character's popularity led to the spin-off series Xena: Warrior Princess, which ran for six seasons from 1995 to 2001, bringing Lawless international fame.

Her television career includes recurring roles on Parks and Recreation, Salem, and Ash vs Evil Dead. She also starred as Lucretia in the Spartacus franchise, winning a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2011. Her guest appearances include CSI: Miami, The L Word, Flight of the Conchords, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Film credits include Adam Sandler's Bedtime Stories.

Lawless made her Broadway debut in 1997 playing Betty Rizzo in Grease. After finishing as runner-up on Celebrity Duets, she launched a solo singing career with sold-out shows at the Roxy in 2007. Her voice work includes roles in Justice League: The New Frontier and Adventure Time. In 2023, Lawless co-wrote and directed her debut film, Never Look Away, a documentary about photojournalist Margaret Moth that premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Lawless serves on the board of trustees for the StarShip Foundation and became a Greenpeace climate ambassador in 2009. In 2012, she participated in a 77-hour Greenpeace protest aboard an oil drilling ship, pleading guilty to trespass charges. A public supporter of LGBT rights, she received the Ally of the Year award at the 2017 Australian LGBTI Awards.

In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Lawless was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Astronomer Michael E. Brown initially nicknamed the dwarf planet Eris "Xena" after her character, later naming its moon Dysnomia in tribute to her surname. Lawless was married to Garth Lawless from 1988 until their divorce in 1995, and they have one daughter. In 1998, she married producer Robert Tapert, with whom she has two sons.