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Karl, Hudson, me and Adrienne |
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Jennifer (Dark Angel), Ted, me and William (Greg) |
First up were Kate (from NZ) and Darryl who are part of the Xena magazine team. They showed clips from several episodes and explained what actually happened on set. Kate was allowed on set with a dictaphone and often taped the actors for interviews.
In the close-ups the chariots were pulled by farm bikes which looked very comical! In the actual race with the horses, the chariots were driven by stunt doubles. When close-ups of the actors were required, they were strapped into the chariots and then placed on the back of big trucks and filmed that way. The explosions seen on screen actually happened, but the fireballs were put in post-production.
The cave scene was in a very small set (Kate demonstrated - about 10 to 15 feet, curved, slightly tubular, with several 'entrances'). Lights were shone from various places through coloured gel for effect. The chakram bounces were initially traced out by a tecchie carrying a throwing star and walking the set. He was CGI'd out afterwards, the chakram superimposed over the top (and speeded up!). At the end, Lucy got the chakram thrown back from a tecchie just off camera.
The monster scene where Gabrielle is dragged through the floor was filmed in a tank about 8 or 9 feet high by 15 to 20 feet long. With Renee in the tank were 2 to 4 'ghouls', a camera man and a boom mike man!
In the scenes where 'Horace' had to lick Ares, Kev had melted butter, dog food and honey spread on him to encourage the mutt! (And I bet Kev wasn't popular when he went home that night!!).
The two characters who were 'thrown' upwards and then dragged sideways were in flying rigs for 2 hours whilst the actress was standing behind them getting the scene right.
As he came on, Ted made two deliberate prat-falls over and through the scenery. He was wearing dark-rimmed glasses which made him look rather like Marge Proops! He seemed to like his visit to the British Museum which was 'pretty cool'. Real Greek stuff for a change! Whilst out and about in London, he'd purchased several packets of sweets/chocolates which had caught his eye because of the 'groovy' names. Magic Stars (he wondered if these were drugs!), which he didn't like; Skittles, which are somewhat similar to M&M's and a Tracker bar, which one Brit (when asked) correctly identified as 'squirrel food'. Not that we give it to squirrels - it just has stuff in it that might appeal to the animals!
He claimed his best moments on set were the fight scenes (though I think he might have been pulling our legs) and doing the computer 'IBM' scenes in Seaquest DSV. His most scary moment was anything to do with horses. Growing up in New York, he hadn't seen that many (!) and was no rider, so getting on one safely and hoping they didn't bite were his main worries. His favourite episode was definitely 'For Him the Bell Tolls' because he was a true hero for once plus he loved the message - 'the person you want to be is inside you right now'. He also had to spend a long time in make-up when playing the older Joxer - 5 hours to start with, but this got whittled down to 2 1/2 eventually. And he really is clumsy - he always knocks things over when he's not concentrating.
We...ll, you know you make me wanna shout! |
Ted wants to be excused |
His biggest laugh came with Renee when neither of them could get to the end of a particular scene. It was so comical for them both, that it had to be cut from the episode in the end. The dialogue went something like:-
Joxer: I don't know what I'm going to do, Gabrielle.
Gabby: You'll figure it out.
Joxer: I just feel there's this big gap...this big hole inside me.
Gabby: We'll find some way to fill it.
Joxer: It's so big; I don't think anything can fill it.
Although he did comment on New Zealand frock day as being bizarre - with big, burly tech guys in frilly dresses! After some prompting (but not much!) he described his eye injury on set and the consequences in full, gory detail.
As far as post-Xena activities are concerned, he is playing Hoffman in the 'Spiderman' movie, completed two other films and directed a music video for VH1, called 'Close to You' (I think - it's not the Bacharach song, anyway!). He'd also like to do a biopic about Harold Lloyd at some point if he can get the backing.
This Q&A was fully two-handed by the stars, so I'll try to attribute their comments as accurately as possible.
William (though he seems to like being called Greg), has hairy arms [I've seen hairier....!], doesn't like dancing and was very complimented on being compared to Brad Pitt [Yes, kinda...]. He said it would have been nice to come back after 'The Abyss' and described Kiwis generally as being nice and phenomenal [we have a convert!].
Adrienne definitely preferred being Livia - the costume was nicer for a start! When they were filming the ship scenes, it was really good, but local craft would often sail up to get a closer look and thereby ruin the shot! Adrienne started on set with Kevin (whom she enjoyed working with particularly) for 6 days before she met Lucy. She commented on how scary Kevin looked at first, being so muscular, but he soon put her at her ease saying all the women on set beat him up and not to worry! She went on to comment warmly on Kevin's evident love for his family and his sense of humour. Adrienne finished off her initial 'session' by revealing that in the opening scene of 'Livia', Greg split his pants in two! If she could play anyone else, she'd love to have the skills of Jeanna Jolson (Varia). Greg plumped for being Joxer.
And firstly... |
Rose? What rose? |
Gimme the gun or the cute guy gets it! |
I'm leaning on a mikestand at the |
Well, he has longer (brown) hair with a slight beard and looked rather as if he could do with a good wash and iron! Initial reaction - very Kiwi and definitely not Cupid or Caesar! He apologised if he came over as suffering from jet-lag. His take on his two characters was that Caesar was bad and dared to do what he wanted to do and for Cupid, Karl needed a month in the gym! Caesar is all about economy of movement (Karl did the slow calculating turn here) whereas Cupid is always ready to go (again, he moved like Cupid for a moment). Cupid is full of 'energy' and then there were the wings which were glued on to his shoulders and caused terrible blisters. He also had some difficulty in looking Alexandra in the eyes, due to her costume, and reminded himself that she was supposed to be his mother! His funniest memory from 'Xena' was watching Kevin Smith 'chatting up' Hudson Leik and getting completely blown out of the water! (I can imagine.....!) He said that Kevin was very 'switched on' (yes, lots of tamed energy on stage).
When asked, he was very complimentary about the Caesar (a different one, of course) in 'Gladiator'. Before taking the role of Caesar, he was recommended by Rob Tapert to read Coleen McCulloch's books on Rome. Karl commented on what a brilliant tactician Julius was, even as a young man. He recounted the story of how Julius was abducted for ransom by pirates. When he was set free, Julius used his memory of counting the bays they'd passed in order to re-find the pirates' lair and meet out revenge. Karl very much appreciated being brought back for 'When Fates Collide'. His favourite line as Caesar was 'Divide a woman's sensibilities from her emotions and you have her!' When asked who was most like Caesar today, he mentioned Bush, Slobodan and Saddam Hussein as prime candidates.
As most people know, Karl secured the part of Eomer in LOTR and will be seen in two of the three films. When asked about other parts he would lke to play, he said anything which is challenging, surprising or moves him. Some wag wondered if he'd like to be James Bond (hmmmm; Kevin Smith would be better physically, but I can't see him accepting the role, unfortunately). Karl recalled when he's had to do the 'Caesar; Julius Caesar' line to Lucy, he once put in 'Bond; James Bond' quite deliberately which earned him a withering look from the lady!
Yes, my shirt could do with an iron... |
And I was trying for shy, too... |
'I'm having such a bizarre time right now..' This about sums up my first experience of the lady. Hudson is beautiful, charming and outrageous all at the same time. She also seems to enjoy channelling Callisto (or someone very like her) on stage! 'Where else do you get to act like you're insane and get paid for it?'
A gentleman who probably should have known better, given how she answered some questions, enquired how qualified she was to teach Yoga. She asked him if he wished to find out, at which point he went up on stage and was manhandled into a rather uncomfortable head down and bottom up position and told to 'just breathe, honey...' I suspect this made his weekend!
Here are some random interchanges:-
"Can you scream like you did last year?" (Yes, she could and did!).
"What makes you able to play the role of a happy psychotic bitch?" ('My upbringing').
Asked about 'Liz Friedman'. ('She smoked way too much!').
"What have you been up to recently?" ('Fun').
"Did Xena ever thank Callisto for killing Perdicus?" ('She was very grateful. She didn't pay me with money, though...').
Towards the end of the talk we had some major cross-dressing for charity: - Ted in Hudson's dress (quite a good fit, actually) and then Sean Harry in another one (worryingly good fit). We all also had to scream with her - three times! Then William Gregory Lee came on with Jennifer and got down to his undies at which point coherence somewhat goes out of the window....
Aren't I just the cutest thing...? |
Is it getting hot in here? I need a drink!! |
A second shot at talking with this lovely young actress. She started off with Michael Hurst and how his young son can do vast swathes of 'Hamlet' and Jennifer (Mrs Hurst!) had been seen and much appreciated by Adrienne in a production of 'Into the Woods'. She recalled that Michael had got grass stains on his trousers in 'You Are There' which led us back to Xena.
Adrienne hated what she described as Eve's 'rag' - the wide burlap bit got snagged on just about everything, especially in 'Coming Home'. It was also bad insulation material and she was always freezing in it. She felt that eve could be too judgemental sometimes and played those lines as an ex-addict to violence - that Eve was so scared of being tempted back that maybe she'd gone too far the other way. She'd like to know what happened to Eve. With Livia she could swagger, plus she had a cleavage - 'fun little toys to play with while I'm working!!'. She had fun with Kevin (he gets another honourable mention!). Adrienne described him as huge (hmmmm...big around the shoulders and upper arms, but I've seen wrestlers!). He told her 'every girl on this show kicks my ass!' and she was very warm in her description of him as funny and self -deprecating with a great love of his children and wife. As Adrienne said, he has the looks for drama but is such a riot (note to TPTB - please SOMEONE - cast him as Sky Masterson, Harold Hill and Billy Bigelow PDQ! - oh, and he's a big Sondheim fan, so I suggest 'Passion' and 'Anyone can Whistle' as well!).
Adrienne also commented on how Renee always gives 100% with every take (sensible - you don't always know which one the director is going to 'print') and how they were all terrified during filming 'Haunting of Amphipolis'.
First off they sang 'Happy Birthday' for somebody in the audience, which melted into a funny slo-motion fight sequence pretty rapidly. After William's earlier outing, someone asked K &T if they would get down to their underwear too!
Ted: "I think that's a big 'no'"
Karl: "Or a small 'no' - and believe me, I know!"
They were both asked about doing Bond, at which point Karl did a tolerably good Sean Connery impersonation. The Kiwis must share a LOT more of our Brit-slang than I'd realised because Karl went on to comment that he felt like a plonker wearing Caesar's big hat. (Either that or they've had 'Only Fools...' down there). The worst thing about Cupid's costume to start with was that it had no fly (this was quickly remedied!). Towards the end of their 'set' they decided to do some improvisation and gave us 'Chinese Horror Movie' (hysterical) and 'Swiss Action Movie' (silly). I had a Chinese friend in the audience so asked her teasingly later how their language skills were (I was really hoping they'd accidentally said something naughty in Chinese!), but she couldn't understand a word!
Well, now you mention it... |
The giant crane's coming to get you!! |
"Dad!" "Son!!" |
Ted's secret fetish revealed... |
Is this the right way up? |
I'll get you for this later... |
Sean really shouldn't have had that second drink. |
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On being asked to characterise actors/acting in NZ in two words:- 'Super fun'; 'Really neat'; 'Lotsa swords'; 'Hurts a lot'; 'That's lunch everybody'; 'That's a wrap'.
On what Ted would miss most about Xena - 'Honestly? New Zealand. And how to drink 10 beers with one hand.'
Karl - 'What about the sheep?' (Silly sheepy voice) 'Where's Ted gone? Are you my father?'
Ted was also told by a taxi driver on his first day, 'Watch out for the wheters, mate!' He had no knowledge of the term and shrugged it off until he came virtually eyeball to eyeball with a giant grasshopper in his trailer (Ted miming here - a good 6 inches long), at which point he ran screaming from the scene and soon found out that these where the wheters he'd been warned about. (I had heard from an ex-pat Kiwi that these creatures live largely out in the boohai and are in fact edible, but just don't be expecting me to get anywhere near one any time soon...).
She came on the second time in a dress which looked like a petticoat, complete with long black gloves, popsocks and a feather boa. She described it reasonably accurately as her 'slut' look. We had more screaming and more off the wall interactions, but most of these have been wiped from my memory by what happened at the end... Karl, almost wearing Hudson's dress (it was tied to him, rather like an apron and wasn't quite long enough!), complete with those black gloves and the boa. If that wasn't enough, someone shouted something about his pecs, so Karl obliginly removed the dress to one side and slowly stroked his right nipple. This image has been seared onto my brain and will stay there along with Kevin Smith, having his Celine Dion moment plus his bubble wrap story until my dying day...
Hello, everyone and I love you all! |
Here's a nipple I prepared earlier... |
And a little closer... |
And you do the hokey-cokey... |
You vurr fabulous, darlink! |
When Ash met Auto! |
Brisco County, Junior as well! |
A happy Auto with two Gabbys and two Xenas! |
I've won a double date with Ares and Iphicles? Whoopee!! |
Let's get Ares out of that tomb! |
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