ORBzine - 2000.09 Adrienne Wilkinson

ORBzine Adrienne Wilkinson September 2000

ORBzine - Adrienne Wilkinson [Saturday]

The hour started with Sean Harry, the announcer/organiser, explaining that Adrienne [pronounced Adrian] had a bad cold but would carry on regardless. She apologised for her voice.

Did you like playing Livia?
Adrienne hated the Livia costume - it was always falling to pieces. Her first day was on monstrous - while she was fighting Kevin Smith her pants fell down. She enjoyed working with Kevin - she laughed I'm talking about it like it's some horrible chore.

How did you get the part?
The part was originally cast NOT as Xena's daughter. The Livia audition was a couple of scenes with Ares. They had been looking for a whole month for someone. They had called Adrienne twice, but she had previous commitments.

Did you deliberately base Livia's fight moves on Callisto's?
Adrienne studied 3 episodes - she admits didn't watch it before she got the part. The episodes featured:

  1. Evil Xena
  2. Evil Callisto
  3. Baby Eve
Adrienne gave full credit to the choreographer, who inserted Xena and Callisto moves.

Do they cast shorter people in supporting roles?
Adrienne did notice that she's inches shorter than Hudson and Lucy.


In one scene Adrienne had to throw props, and they broke - there were only 3 of them, so they only had 3 takes.

Is it fun being villainous?
Yes! TPTB made Eve very pacifist, but sometimes Adrienne makes Eve more aggressive in the voice-over.

How do you find the fights?
They were terrifying at first, now they're physically exhausting.

Joxer's death scene was hilarious. The sun made his make-up melt - it took 3 hours to put on. Ted was surrounded by people with sun-shades and fans. When it came to shoot the scene, Ted ran at Adrienne but kept tripping.

How did you do the scene where you are stabbed?
Renee scratched Adrienne's back to let her know when to act like she had been stabbed. When shooting stopped, they discovered Adrienne's back was covered in scratches.

Will Eve get any fight scenes?
Eve can fight, but has no weapon - she should have something.

How did you like working with the spider?
It took a whole extra day to get used to it. They told Adrienne It'll have its own trailer. There was even a spider wrangler - it is an endangered species. If the spider is nervous it will jump - Adrienne had to MOVE it, and had to cup her hands over it. The problem was, the spider was so light she didn't know if it was still in her hands, or if it had jumped away or if she had squished it. And she had to shoot the scene several times.

Adrienne expected the difficult stuff would be CGI and stunt- doubles, eg burning set, dragged around desert. She had to do it herself. Her hair got caught in the 4x4 that was dragging her. She shouted Stop, the cameraman went Yeah! That's great!
There's something they call the Montage of Eve's misery - in the desert. They had a wind machine that blew sand into directly into Adrienne's face. There was a nurse on set to flush her eyes between takes. However, sand came out of her eyes for days later. Her skin had sand embedded in it.

What was your favourite scene?
Adrienne's favourite scene was the Eve intro where she sacks a village and decapitates someone. There were buckets of blood - literally - and lots of splatter. It was censored for USA TV. She chopped the guy's neck off-screen [they used a head of cabbage] and someone used a syringe filled with blood to shoot a stream of blood past her.

What are the actors like in person?
Lucy brings snacks to set.
Renee's very supportive.
Kevin Smith is very funny and self-depreciating
Ted's hilarious
Everyone's good, so everyone is relaxed.

Every episode filmed that year is out of order.

Will there be an Eve spin-off series?
There are rumours of an Eve spin-off series - but no truth to it. yet.

Despite the gruelling regime of episodic TV [1 episode per week], Adrienne would love to sign up for 5-7 years! Xena is filmed with a non-union crew - they work from 7am to 7pm. The actors work 14 hours per day.

Were there any big problems shooting the show?
THAT scene - 11 mins long! Nice idea ... didn't work out too well. They shot for DAYS, then the Second unit shot for DAYS!

Livia's horse, Blackie, was a recently-retired race-horse. Filming was difficult - a horse can't hit a mark! Somehow the horse knew the word "action", and bolted every time the director said it. In the end he had to use a different word! You don't see the horse from the shoulders down because there are wranglers holding its feet.

Will you get to do a Musical episode?
There is a studio rumour that Season 6 is Drama only, not Comedy or Musical.

Have you still got the Livia costume?
After the last episode Adrienne and her costume lady destroyed the hated Livia outfit!

Is there an Eve & Virgil romance?
They are only in 2 episodes together, with no romantic involvement. The fact that she killed his father is a bit of a turn-off.

Eve is jealous of Gabby's relationship with Xena, her mother.

What is Rob Tapert like?
Robert Tapert is very laid-back. He reminds Adrienne of her dad - it's a midwestern thing. He's very unlike LA people.

How is your music career going?
Adrienne's music career is still bubbling under.

Did anyone explain Eve's parentage?
No, it wasn't relevant.

The show's Producers are impressed by the fanbase and the worldwide audience.



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Adrienne's appearances
  • Xena: Warrior Princess
  • NTSC - USA Francais PAL - UK UK Videos

    ORBzine - Adrienne Wilkinson [sunday]

    Adrienne started by saying she felt better, but sounded worse. In this writer's opinion she had a lovely husky voice.

    You play Xena's daughter. Do you look like Lucy Lawless' RL daughter?
    Lucy's daughter looks like Adrienne, only the daughter is blonde.

    What about the Season 6 episodes you've filmed?
    They told Adrienne that Season 6 would be half-budget - just Lucy, Renee and a horse, no extras or costumes. However, when Adrienne finally worked on it there were lots of extras and some beautiful sets.

    The story is about their families, and coming to terms with the fact they've been away for 25 years.

  • Coming Home warps up Season 5, and Xena fights the devil!
  • Haunting of Amphipolis is scarily good! There are great performances, thet worked in water tanks. Renee gets covered in a mixture of asparagus and pea soup and vaseline - it's foul-smelling but visually it's very nice.

    The conflict is about Eve's pacifism.

    How do you co-ordinate the fights?
    The actor fights the other person's stunt-double. You can spot Lucy's double - she's a couple of inches shorter than Lucy.

    How would you like your character to be developed in Season 6?
    Adrienne wants Eve's plot to be resolved. This Season will in all probability be the last one. She is not on permanent contract to them, she just works on an episode-by-episode basis. When Adrienne is on-set they never mention future episodes to her. Usually when she gets home from filming an episode they phone her, and tell her they want her in a couple of months time.

    Did you know much about the show before you started working on it?
    Adrienne had seen about 20 seconds of the show while channel-surfing. She knew the general characters, but not the plot.

    Which of the cast is the best fighter?
    Renee is probably the best athlete on the show. She often doesn't use a stunt-double for her fights, she's that good. A fight between Eve and Gabrielle would be a good idea.

    It says in you bio you have a pop group ...
    Adrienne can sing and dance. Her pop group are all professional dancers, and they do their own choreography. The only time Adrienne ever sang with Lucy was while learning the Anthem of Amphipolis - it was cut from the episode. Lucy sings all the time.

    Is it difficult working in New Zealand?
    Not really. The only problem is that the Kiwi directors tell the Americans to pronounce words in Kiwi fashion.

    Do you have anything in common with Eve?
    Well, they both look the same! It's been said Adrienne looks like Liz Hurley circa 1980. Renee is a lot like Garrielle in RL - a protector and a friend. Lucy is very light-hearted, not at all like Xena. Eve makes choices that Adrienne wouldn't.

    How do the cast get into character?
    Renee works constantly, and always challenges herself. Lucy memorises the script, and knows the character very well. The costumes are very important - Eve's new costume is nothing fierce, and it's hard to be confident in it.

    What's your favourite line?
    Adrienne's favourite line is in a scene with Octavius in Livia that was cut from the episode. It shows how cunning Livia is. You see the differences when Octavius is facing her and when he turns his back to her. Livia is pretending to be this loving wife type, but she's really thinking what is this guy?

    Are there any rumours about Season 6?
    There is a rumour that a couple of episodes are set in Japan. But there is no rumour as to how it will end.

    How are things going with your pop group?
    The bigger and more famous a pop group gets, the less control the members have over stuff like choreography. Adrienne recently turned 23, and the others are aged about 20. The company decided to market them as aged 15.

    Did you get to meet Hudson Leick?
    Adrienne officially met Hudson at the autograph session yesterday [Saturday]. Hudson agreed that some of Livia's mannerisms were similar to Callisto's.

    Do you have any siblings?
    Adrienne has a couple of sisters - Tracey attended the Con with her.

    Is there a dream role you would love to play?
    Adrienne has recently become very interested in Mata Hari, and would love to play her. Mata Hari was executed as a spy by the French, but she was really the world's greatest con artist. She pretended to be an Asian princess, although she was really a European and had no royal blood. She was eventually executed for something she never did.

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