NEW ZEALAND HERALD, June 18, 1998
Life is a journey for the traveling companion and best friend of a wandering Warrior Princess. Young Gabrielle has come a long way since she first set off on her odyssey with the sword-spinning, high-kicking Xena. And Reneé O'Connor, the Texan who plays Gabrielle, has covered quite some distance of her own for the role in the action adventure series which is filmed in New Zealand.
For, at the show's base in West Auckland, shooting is months ahead of local screen-time. From her vantage point in the future O'Connor's looking back down a steep learning curve for Gabrielle.
"Its so funny to see how naive, how young my character is on television now compared to what I'm doing at the moment says O'Connor, fresh from a morning's hard work on set.
"She's changed so much. And she's moving to a point where she either has to become more like Xena or leave Xena because she's losing her own identity."
Gabrielle is at a turning point, a stage the Houston born actor is all too familiar with. Both acts of her overseas experience in New Zealand have had one. She first came here to play the young Deianeira in the feature length Hercules and the Lost Kingdom.
"When I came in '93 I had a change in my life that was extremely profound... a dear friend of mine passed away while I was here and it was extremely frustrating because I was so far away."
"That sense of isolation, yet being with people who were incredibly supportive and understanding. They just took you as you were, and were there if they needed to be. And I loved New Zealand because of that. New Zealand had left such an impression on me when this job came up I thought I wonder if I'm going to have another turning point in my life. Sure enough, I've met this incredible man who I know I'll spend a long time with."
Before she met her New Zealand boyfriend (no, he's not part of the film and television industry) the role had a strong attraction. It gave the actor, then in her early 20s, a chance to move away from playing teen to something more challenging.
"I thought it would be a great way to go to another country to practice my craft and to basically grow up and mature. I don't know if I have- I'm still here."
Accent aside O'Connor suddenly sounds like one of us. That last quip was pure self-deprecating Kiwi.
As well as mastering new skills for the role, there was an alien mentality to come to grips with. O'Connor had to pick up the local sense of humour and the shock of being called "Shorty".
"I didn't get it at first and I took things literally. Then I realized that when someone is putting you down it's actually a compliment in a strange way. They're just teasing you because you're one of the group. Everyone was just trying to make me feel comfortable. I found that with my boyfriend as well. The first couple of times I met him he would say something and I would go extremely quiet, you know."
Once she got her humorous barbs sharpened, O'Connor found there were other combat skills to acquire. She's been honing her fighting moves now Gabrielle is getting a taste for battle. But she still knows what she'd do in an ugly situation in real life - run.
"But if that ever were to happen, I'd probably try to bluff my way out saying I'm on the show Xena: Warrior Princess, you better leave me alone or I'll take you out!- and then run."
Her character may have a new-found maturity but there are limits to her aspirations. O'Connor says Gabrielle definitely does not harbour any breastplate envy over her bosom buddy Xena's armour- plated front guard.
"Breastplates! I don't think so, I can't imagine that. It would be like a tortoise shell or something. No no no. What would I have? Probably just height envy," says the woman who makes Lucy Lawless look Amazonian.
But Gabrielle's kit has gotten sassier. And along with the upwardly mobile hemline, her fan base has shown some interesting shifts.
"It started off with young girls writing to me and it ended up being strange men in prison in the States. Now it's mothers whose children are watching the show, wanting to let me know how much they appreciate the influence on their children."
What did those prison guys appreciate? "'We like the fact your skirt's getting shorter.' No, actually they like my vulnerability, which is very scary, very scary. We try to keep a lid on that."
There's no such lid kept on the show's lesbian following. "We're very grateful for them because they've helped us develop another layer of the show. If you're looking for the subtext it's there and we've definitely catered to their needs."
Having said that , O'Connor is keen to emphasize Xena is a family show. And she does wonder whether the really avid fans - the sort who treat her like a rock star at those Xena conventions in the States - are not a bit soft in the head.
"I think it's quite strange because I've never been like that over a television show. And it's hard for me to be that polite and gracious and say, 'thank you, I appreciate it,' when I'm thinking, you know, 'Are you OK?' It's an extreme world to come to from New Zealand."
Some legs on the journey can end in weird places, but hasn't O'Connor got her perspective inverted? That's Stateside she's calling strange.
After three years in New Zealand the Texan appears to have more than adjusted, spending most of her time here. With the job, her boyfriend and the new house in the country, things are looking stable.
"It's just another part of the States to me," she says, then pulls herself up. "Oh I don't know how people will take that."
You know what she means. O'Connor's feeling right at home.
-- FRANCES GRANT