You can't keep a bad girl down. Hudson Leick has lost count of how many times she's died on Xena: Warrior Princess. She came aboard the series without ever having seen an episode, and she still seems a little skeptical of her own fame. Jeanne Wolf talked with the actress between deaths. -- John Walsh

A: I don't know how itís changed me as a person, but it's certainly given me a lot of attention. It's not overwhelming, but it can be a little awkward in public places at times.

A: I don't know. Sure, my ego wants to be recognized. But, personally, I don't think that I would like that for a long period of time. No. I want to have a life and I want to have a craft and I want to be proud of something. Do you know what I mean? I can't just be on and glitzy all the time. That's not my personality. I can do it for short periods of time, but not for the rest of my life.

A: No idea. When I took the job, I had never seen Xena. I had seen Hercules. The women on Hercules were scantily clad, and that didn't interest me. Going to New Zealand -- that really interested me at the time. When I auditioned, I wore this long dress, down to my ankles. And when I read for them, I just curled up like in a little gnarled ball and directed this crazy energy at the other person. And they didn't know what to make of me, because everyone else had these little outfits on and they were doing these high kicks. And I was just really against that. I didn't want to be a little bimbo, running around. It just wasn't interesting to me. I wanted the part, but I didn't want to give up that. And the thing I really like about doing Xena is, yes, my character definitely is a femme fatale. And, I'm aware of that. I'm alive. I see it. But I'm not made to feel that way at all. I'm really not. I don't feel like it's this cheesy, little bimbo fighting. It's fun and it's big and it's campy but there's truth in it, for me.

A: Yeah, they did. They said, "Can you kick?" And I said, in this snarling character, "Yeah, I can kick." I had this huge dress on but I did it. I kicked up. And they said, "OK, throw the chakram." So I threw the chakram, and that was it. And what I heard later was that I really scared them. They thought I was really -- off. I was auditioning for a roomful of people -- maybe 15 people -- and I made them all introduce themselves to me. I wanted to know their names. That made me feel in control of the situation. But what I heard later was that after I left, they were like, "God, she's scary." And they realized, well, if she's scary and we're afraid of her, shouldn't she get the part? That was pretty unsafe, really, but also very cool of them. They took a chance on me.

A: I studied kung fu for three days -- a real crash course. And I was supposed to be able to ride. The only way you could get this part is if you could ride. Well, I hadnít ridden since I was 12. But when I was twelve I could ride very well. So, of course I said -- like any good actor that wants a part -- "Yes, of course I can ride." And Iím a quick study. But when I got there -- well, to ride a horse, is one thing, but to stop a horse on a mark and have a sword in your hand, with another horse coming at you, with Lucy on the horse trying to hit you -- well, there was much more to it than I expected. And the horse, of course, knows that I donít what Iím doing, so -- it was a little hairy at times. Now they donít put me on horses a lot, strangely enough. Imagine that.

A: No, actually, the horse people were wonderful to me. They were confident that I would learn really fast. Same thing with the fight scenes. Peter Bell, who is the stunt coordinator, looked at the director when I first arrived. There I was, this skinny little, scrawny frame and he was like, "What are you doing? She's gonna be fighting Lucy?" But the director said, "Give her 10 minutes, she'll learn the routine." He didn't know me, but he had faith. So I learned the routine.

A: I don't know. That's an interesting question. I guess she does. I mean, to be able to do anything I want, 'cause basically I can. I can do anything I want. I can spit, I can snarl, I can hiss, I can scream, I can do whatever comes into my mind. I mean, there's really almost nothing I canít do. I had to play Xena for a few episodes, and that's hard. That is so hard. I would not want to do that again. Because she's very sedate and calm and focused and her voice is very low. And her energy is just completely different than mine as a human being anyway. For me, it's just easier to play a psycho. To play a good guy you need dignity and you have to be aware that you can't look stupid.

A: I'm really thick. I'm so slow. I didn't get it till I went to the convention. I went to the first convention. And I was so nervous and I thought, nobody's going to know who I am. They're not gonna care. And everyone's gonna hate me, because I mean, I can't replace Xena. But I got myself out onstage at this convention, and there were, I don't know, something like 2,500 people there, and I said, "My name is Hudson Leick and I play Calisto on Xena: Warrior Princess." The thing is, nobody heard me because they all were cheering so loud. And the people in front who heard me were like, "Duh! We know who you are." And I didnít know what to do. I had no idea that they would know me. And I just kept saying, "Wow, this is, really freaky. This is so uncomfortable. Hi!" What could I say? Eventually I just started taking questions and it was fine.

A: Well, Xena has a big lesbian following. The women are fierce. I like the women that watch the show. They're very strong within themselves, or at least they appear that way to me. And I like that. Our show is about women having our own strengths. Not about beating men or anything like that, but just owning who we are as women. I love that. I don't feel like a little bimbo running around in leather and studs. Although I look like a little bimbo running around in leather and studs. But I'm not. Callisto's not. And Xena certainly is not.

A: Yes, absolutely. There's no way that I can say that if I was less attractive I would be where I am now. I've used the way that I look to get where I am. I'm aware of it. I see it. But it makes me sad. It's the way it is. I have played it to the best of my ability. But if I rely on being pretty or trying to be pretty -- there's no future in that. First of all, I'll lose it, because we grow old. We don't keep it and there'll be nothing inside. And that's not a life. I don't want to do that. I want more.

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