Xena: Warrior Nutballs

This week Lou and Shell are joined by the amazing Kiwi, Sandi Rayner 🐎🌟 We talk about her time as riding double for Lucy Lawless and Horse Wrangler on Xena: Warrior Princess.   Before CGI, before green screens, and before technology could solve every problem, there were talented people like Sandi behind the scenes working with incredible horses, and a whole lot of Kiwi ingenuity to bring us Xena...

This week Lou and Shell are joined by the wildly talented Joel Tobeck, yes whānau, that chaos gremlin you love to hate (but MAINLY love) 😈🔥🤪👺   You’ll know him as Deimos and Lucifer in Xena: Warrior Princess, but he’s known in the wider Xena-verse as Strife from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Young Hercules, serving pure foolishness with a smirk 😏😉   Xenites might even recognise him fr...

*Coo! Coo! Amazons, attack!* This week Lou and Shell welcome the incredible Danielle Cormack into the whānau! The Kiwi legend who brought the stoic, fiercely loyal, and beloved Amazon Queen Ephiny to life 👑⚔️🐴    Long before she became television royalty as Bea Smith in Wentworth, Danielle was ruling over the Amazon’s in Xena: Warrior Princess. In this kōrero, we talk about the REAL stuff - givi...

This week Lou and Shell are catching up with the number one warlord, King of the Horde - Jay Laga’aia AKA the delightfully dark Draco! 🎶 😏⚔️   Jay, the iconic Kiwi-Aussie, takes us right back to “Sins of the Past” (S01E01), sharing what it was like stepping into the Xenaverse as the very first villain, including the very moment he saw Lucy Lawless in full Xena glory and knew this show was someth...

*Lou, Shell, and MaryD have entered the 90s AUSXIP chat room*   This week we’re diving into the fandom itself with a true OG Xenite - MaryD! The absolute powerhouse behind AUSXIP 💻⚔️ Before socials, before streaming, there was AUSXIP… and MaryD was the Aussie legend running the show.   We yarn about the wild west days of the internet and her work creating the 25th anniversary book “Xena: Their Co...

OMG babes 💖✨ we are, like, SO excited because this week, we’re adding the divine Alexandra Tydings 💘👑 to the whānau!!! Aka Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love from Xena: Warrior Princess 💕 Tubular right?!   We go FULL Gaphrodite 💞🌈 yes babe, that kiss 💋💖 diving into Alex’s thoughts, angles, and all the deliciously sapphic vibes 😍💓It’s flirty, fabulous, and totally dripping in looooooooove 💕...

Golden curls, heroic biceps, and a whole lot of Kiwi charm, this week we’re joined by Aotearoa legend Michael Hurst (ONZM) ✨   Xena fans will know Michael across the wider Xenaverse: from his iconic turn as the ever-loyal hero Iolaus in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys 💪⚔️, to popping up in Xena: Warrior Princess as Nigel and the delightfully grumpy ferryman Charon ⛵🔥. But his impact on the sh...

In this interview, Lou and Shell find themselves sitting down with one of the biggest legends in Aotearoa’s creative industries: Jennifer Te Atamira Ward-Lealand (ONZM, CNZM). 👑🎭   The 2020 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year, honoured for her contributions to the arts and advocacy for Te Reo Māori, Jennifer reflects on her time in the Xena-verse.⚔️🥝    She stormed onto our screens as the fierce...

He’s the co-creator, executive producer, writer, director and yes, an avid fisherman 🎣 - the one and only Rob Tapert (eeeeee!!!!!) joins us for a kōrero/chat about bringing Xena: Warrior Princess to life ⚔️   Rob takes us back to the very beginning, what drew him down to Aotearoa New Zealand, the magic of building something wildly ambitious on the other side of the world, and how a scrappy team o...

This interview we’re joined by the utterly hilarious kiwi Jodie Dorday ✨🎭   Xena fans will know Jodie best as Solari, the fierce Amazon warrior from “The Quest” (S2E13) and “A Necessary Evil” (S2E14). Yes, THAT Amazon, the one that serves Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, the kind of stink eye you feel in your bones 🔑☠️ 🤣   As a multiple-character actor on Xena: Warrior Princess, Jodie shares what...

We’re extending our whānau/family as we are joined by the one and only - Hudson Leick! The ultimate Xena: Warrior Princess villain, Callisto 💀⚔️    We dive deep into everything Callisto: from that iconic campfire scene with Gabrielle in “A Necessary Evil” (S2E14) 🔥🏕️, to exploring the sexual tension Callisto had with Xena ⚡💋 and her reaction to discovering Callisto would become the mother of X...

This interview we’re joined by Kiwi legend Murray Keane AKA ‘Howar’ from fan-favourite episode “A Day in the Life” (Season 2, Episode 15) ⚔️📜   Shell and Lou dive deep into one of the best episodes of the entire franchise with Murray, he talks about working within the subtext (yes, everyone knew), working with Lucy Lawless, Renée O’Connor, Michael Hurst, and the hysterical Alison Wall who played...

This episode we chat with Tammy Barker, the legendary Aussie stunt double for Renée O’Connor | Gabrielle across Seasons 3, 4 and 5 💪   Tammy is the stunty who takes Gabrielle from the sweet, scroll-carrying bard 📜 to the fully fledged warrior, the “Battling Bard of Potidaea” ⚔️. This is the woman who did the hard yakka: the hits, the falls, the fire, even copping a broken nose at the end of (an...

This week we're pulling up our director’s chairs as we sit down with Garth Maxwell, the Kiwi filmmaker who brought us absolute bangers like "Mortal Beloved" (S1), "Lost Mariner" (S2), "Devi" and "Endgame" (S4), "Seeds of Faith" and "Looking Death in the Eye" (S5), and "The God You Know" (S6)…and honestly, the list goes on, the man does not miss! 🎬✨   He reflects on working with Alexis Arquette (...

This week we get a behind-the-scenes look at what it was really like to be one of those brilliant Kiwi actors who popped in and out of the Xenaverse as completely different characters, the ultimate ’90s TV shapeshifters.   We're chatting with Doug Kamo, the Kiwi character actor who perfected the fine art of playing, as he so quaintly puts it, 'dicks' of Xena: Warrior Princess. You may recognise hi...

This week we’re chatting with the ever chic and impossibly talented Tracey Henton, Makeup Artist and Hairstylist for Xena: Warrior Princess seasons 5 & 6! She served looks for Livia, Eve, Aphrodite and so many more 💅⚔️   When recalling a wig flying off mid-stunt, Tracey sums up the entire spirit of our podcast in one glorious battle cry, a perfect blend of hard yakka and Kiwi ingenuity:   💥...

This week we pull up a chair in Cyrene’s Tavern and chat with Kiwi legend Darien Takle!    She is the impossibly talented actor behind Cyrene, Xena’s fierce, funny, and warrior-in-her-own-right Mum 💜   Darien opens up about the raw connection she feels to Cyrene as she reflects on the emotional truth she brought to the role, the magic of filming in Aotearoa New Zealand and even a slightly prophet...

It’s The Bitch of Rome! AKA Xena’s daughter, Livia/Eve! 🔥☮️ In this kōrero/talk we welcome fan favourite Adrienne Wilkinson (aka Livia/Eve) into our extended whānau. She shares what it was like coming to little old Aotearoa New Zealand as a young American actor to work on one of the biggest shows of its time.  From stepping onto set with legendary Kiwis and Aussies to finding her place in the Xen...

This week we dive headfirst into the underworld with Erik Thomson, AFI winner, Logie winner, and all around Kiwi Aussie legend ⚡👑 Erik takes us back to the 90s to share what it was like working on such a huge international show as a local actor, and how Xena: Warrior Princess shaped Aotearoa's TV and film industry for years to come.  Tune in for some seriously fun Xena chats with the man who mad...

In our very first interview we sit down with the legendary Kiwi, Donny Duncan, the Director of Photography for a whopping 77 episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess. From epic battle shots to those dark grungy tavern scenes, Donny’s eye shaped so much of the world we all love. We dive into how he captured the magic, filming in Aotearoa in the 90s. His influence went far beyond the screen, to this day,...

Join Lou (a Kiwi newbie) and Shell (an Aussie OG fan) on their quest to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Xena: Warrior Princess. In this first episode they nerd out about why Xena still matters, what the show’s all about, and the Kiwis and Aussies they dream of chatting with who made the ‘90s cult classic legendary. 🌈⚔️   Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578930248...