What was the last movie you've seen?

[marurun]

For all her "acting chops", which basically consist of her one facial expression that she always uses when she expresses emotion, Lucy Lawless is still only known and remembered for Xena, a role she never would have had were it not for Kevin Sorbo's success with Hercules.

I thought she was also outshined by Hudson Leick, who would have been a better Xena than her (Callisto was BY FAR a cooler character), Bruce Campbell, and Renee O'Connor, but I guess that's all subjective.

Don't get me wrong, Hercules was a fun show. All those Action Block shows were pretty campy. Bruce Campbell was probably the best actor out of the bunch and even he struggles with anything that isn't steeped in camp. And I don't see an issue recognizing that a better show (Xena) was launched by a lesser one (Hercules). Honestly, I think all the sidekicks were more interesting characters than the leads. Michael Hurst was better than Sorbo and O'Conner was better than Lawless. Still, I do think Lawless is a better actress than Sorbo, even if she's not remembered for much else (she's been in other stuff and was praised for it, but nothing stuck like Xena, which was pretty popular and iconic). Kevin Sorbo isn't remembered for much else, either. His sci-fi show was panned as being pretty crap (and I agree) and even many genre fans don't see it as worth remembering. Lawless has at least been in some GOOD stuff since Xena, unlike Sorbo who has made only questionable decisions since then.

[REPO Man]

Like doing a Christian film that framed the ideas of people being inherently good and that men and women are equal as "lies", not to mention a film where the idea of Christians being "oppressed" while non-Christians are petty and cruel is depicted as a fact.

[Ack]

We're forgetting Lucy Lawless being in Ash vs Evil Dead, Spartacus, and Battlestar Galactica?

[marurun]

We're forgetting Lucy Lawless being in Ash vs Evil Dead, Spartacus, and Battlestar Galactica?

I wasn't (well, I didn't know about Spartacus...) She hasn't showed up in as much stuff as Sorbo, but her track record for quality is quite a bit more consistent.

[Limewater]

I think Lucy Lawless would have found a career even without Xena. She has a modicum of charisma and talent. Xena eclipsed Hercules spectacularly, and there's few doubts about why.

I'm not sure she would have.

I've liked her in everything she's been in, and in my opinion she had one of the best celebrity cameos in the history of The Simpsons, but there are so many other factors besides charisma and talent.

But that's a tangent from the discussion of whether she's a better actor or more likable than Kevin Sorbo. She's talented and beautiful and fun to watch. I like seeing her in stuff.

[Limewater]

Like doing a Christian film that framed the ideas of people being inherently good and that men and women are equal as "lies", not to mention a film where the idea of Christians being "oppressed" while non-Christians are petty and cruel is depicted as a fact.

I'm not a big fan of Kevin Sorbo or "Christian" films in general, but the idea that people are not inherently good is a core central tenet of Christianity.

[marurun]

I'm not sure she would have.

I've liked her in everything she's been in, and in my opinion she had one of the best celebrity cameos in the history of The Simpsons, but there are so many other factors besides charisma and talent.

You make a good point. Also, she was in NZ, and while that's absolutely a destination for filmmaking, I imagine there's also competition for roles. It's not like she picked up and hiked to LA to find her chops there.

[Ack]

It's certainly possible she could have gone over to Australia and done work there, though eventually yeah, if they want to be in Hollywood, they have to move to LA. Even the US is like that. Despite the vast number of productions not filmed in LA, studios prefer to hire actors out of LA instead of locals, so much of the acting talent drains out of production areas as folks feel they have to relocate to southern California to get roles that are actually filming right back where they came from. It's a frustrating experience for actors who have lives in other cities to deal with the gatekeeping that the studios do.

[marurun]

It's certainly possible she could have gone over to Australia and done work there, though eventually yeah, if they want to be in Hollywood, they have to move to LA. Even the US is like that. Despite the vast number of productions not filmed in LA, studios prefer to hire actors out of LA instead of locals, so much of the acting talent drains out of production areas as folks feel they have to relocate to southern California to get roles that are actually filming right back where they came from. It's a frustrating experience for actors who have lives in other cities to deal with the gatekeeping that the studios do.

I think in NZ and Vancouver and England they do have local talent pools that companies hire from for supporting roles, but I suspect that has a lot to do with the costs of transporting any more people than necessary out-of-country.

[REPO Man]

I recently bought the new 4K Blu-ray from Shout Factory and if you haven't seen this creative cult classic throwback to '50s sci-fi, you are missing out.