The actress has an enjoyably self-depracating sense of humour as she discusses Aphrodite's appeal. "It's quite simple: she's funny and she's sexy. Aphrodite just likes to stir things up! My first episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [The Apple] was my first experience with this genre and with doing comedy for televisionk, so it was really, really fun," she says.
Tydings stood out in her first Xena episode, For Him the Bell Tolls, where she casts a spell on Xena's goofy sidekick Joxer [Ted Raimi], making him an irresistable ladies' man even Xena can't resist. "That's a really popular episode," she notes, "and a really funny one too. Lucy Lawless is sweet and very welcoming on the set and generous to work with, and Ted Raimi is a doll. I love working with him when he gets to play all these other characters. He shows such range, it's inspiring."
Born in Washington, DC, "I came to Los Angeles, got an agent, and began auditioning. I started booking things no one had ever heard of, like [Independent movie] Queer Bait and [the quickly cancelled TV show] Vanishing Son. After that, I booked Hercules and I have been doing that ever since," Tydings continues. "The same casting director from Vanishing Son brought me in to meet the producers."
While Tydings has nothing but praise for Xena and Hercules' legendary producer, Rob Tapert, "I have never met Sam Raimi, so I am not convinced Sam actually exists! I saw someone that I was told was him at Lucy's wedding, but I'm not totally convinced," she smiles. "If he does exist, I would love to audition for one of his movies! And Bruce Campbell is charming and fun to work with, although I have never actually been in a scene with him. We have been in many of the same episodes, so I look forward to when we can actually be in the same scene together!"
Recalling her first appearance on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [The Apple], "I really enjoyed it. I didn't know anything about the show, I had never seen it, but when my agents told me it was shooting in New Zealand, I agreed to do it. It was January so it was rainy, cold and dark here in Los Angeles, but 13 hours later I get off the plane in New Zealand and it's a beautiful, tropical summertime! In the winter it's terrible though - working in those outfits is really cold. I missed every modern day episode of Xena and Hercules, but I would love to do one, if only to wear modern clothes!"
CLAMSHELL
Re-enacting the classic painting of Aphrodite emerging from a half-shell was particularly exciting for the actress. "I got to do that on my very first episode, " she laughs. "It was bizarre, stepping out of that clam, Kevin [Sorbo] was working as the show's star and director. He was amazing and great fun. When I come out of the clam shell, he came over to me and said 'How cool is this? I am sure you are the only actress in the world coming out of a clam shell today!'"
Playing Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, as a light-hearted valley girl, "was in the script, so I definitely went with it and added my own thing. Her words, like 'Awesome' and 'Totally', were already in the writing," she reveals. "I haven't had much input with the writing, but I do have a lot of input in terms of how I play the scene. I hardly ever get to see the producers and writers because they are all in Los Angeles and we are shooting out in New Zealand. I probably wouldn't recognize them if I saw them," she smiles. "Basically, they write it and I do it!"
Tydings has also played Catherine, "a pig who Aphrodite turns into a human," Tydings giggles. "I actually play my regular role of Aphrodite and a pig in the same scene in that episode, so it was very strange. It's one of my favourites, a blast. The pig was a fantastic character. Being changed from a pig to a mortal girl had been her big dream in life. It had comedic moments, like in the restaurant scene where I stick my face in a plate of food like the pig I used to be!"
Tydings played an animated Aphrodite in Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus. "That was fun. I thought my cartoon likeness was pretty good and I had a blast doing all that voiceover stuff," she says.
As her mischevious Greek goddess is so popular, one could imagine Tydings getting her own spin-off show. "They talked to me about that for a while," she reveals, "but that was some time ago and I think it went away. I would be happy to do a series but I don't know how they would work it, since she's a really comedic character. What Rob told me - and I don't know if this is true - is that the TV show Cupid [a short-lived TV show starring Jeremy Piven] basically killed the TV show Aphrodite."
As for the future, "I have an independent movie called Barhop coming out, from first time director Haley Fox," Tydings says with a smile, "and then I am supposed to be doing another Xena in a few weeks."
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