Lucy Lawless was not a particularly burly woman, but somehow she made Xena seem like a fucking tank and I don’t understand how.
Don’t get me wrong—she was strong, and certainly not a waif, but more than almost any other female superhero actress I’ve ever seen, Lucy Lawless exuded physical power and weight that I actually believed (when she wasn’t somersaulting in front of a ridiculous greenscreen).
that’s a damn good point
INTENSE FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
COSTUME EMPHASIZING BREADTH OF SHOULDERS
THEM THIGHS
WHATEVER THE FUCK THIS IS ABOUT HOLY SHIT
JAWLINE
EVERYTHING. ALL OF IT. I DON’T KNOW I’M JUST FEELING EXCEPTIONALLY WARM RIGHT NOW.
I LOVE HER
This is because the tank is not concerned with muscle or endurance. Tank is purely a matter of 60% attitude, 30% mindset, and 110% fuckaroundandfindout.
I've also seen another version of the commentary on this post speculating that she was also SHOT like male action star at the time - which has nothing to do with size, but with posture and staging and yes, attitude. 😊
Just to say, don't minimize the Lucy Lawless of it all. She's properly amazing.
Lucy and I met on a five minute bus ride in San Diego in 2017. She had no idea who I was, but we liked each other, and I met and liked her husband Rob. Lucy and I started following each other on Twitter. In March 2020 when my family got caught in New Zealand lockdown in NZ she reached out and offered us a place to live if we needed one. We didn't, but when Amanda would go to Auckland to record, she would stay with Lucy and her husband Rob.
When I came out of quarantine after returning to New Zealand in January 2021, Lucy picked me up, took me back to their place and she and Rob put me up for 24 hours while I adjusted to being around actual human talking people for the first time since April 2020 . The next morning she got me to the ferry, and sent me off to see my wife and son for the first time in 9 months.
She and Rob have become actual friends, and every time I meet them I enjoy who Lucy is -- funny, sensible, grounded -- and how she makes the people around her feel. She has presence, and enormous kindness, and you don't mess with her. She's one of the stars -- the people you are glad exist because they make the world better, not the silly Hollywood kind.
