She accepts, but her real concern is for the defiant young peasant who has just been wrongly imprisoned.

In just seconds of dialogue, already there is enough to suggest that the Philistine has got it coming. For in this mythical world of monsters, demons and rotten people, you don't mess with Xena.

Filmed in Auckland on farmland made treacherously muddy by torrential rain, the scene is part of the second series of Xena: Warrior Princess, the Hercules spin-off which has already made a US star of Kiwi actress Lucy Lawless, and the first series of which makes its New Zealand debut as a two-hour episode on TV3 at 8:30pm, Wednesday, June 19.

The scene over, Lawless--onetime Air New Zealand Holiday presenter and Stanley's mum in the ASB Bank ads--picks her way through the mud to talk to TV Guide about the biggest role in her career.

"This is not bad, really," she says as film crew squelch past. "After last winter we know to value the days when it's either not cold or not raining. One is fine, but both is a drag."

It is also hazardous for a big-budget series like Xena, with a huge cast and crew working to a tight schedule.

"Physically, you have to stay very healthy," says Lawless. "If something goes horribly wrong and you break your leg or something, we're all in big trouble."

Keeping fit is less of a problem now than it was 18 months ago. When Xena got her own series, Lawless was sent to martial-arts training in Los Angeles to prepare her for the role.

"I used to not like the action scenes," she says. "They were very difficult, but through martial arts--and getting hit a lot--I've developed much quicker reflexes and better skills."

As with Hercules, the emphasis in Xena is on action, and on spectacular special effects. But when Lawless first played Xena on Hercules, there was no hint that she would end up with her own series and her initial reaction to the proposal was disbelief.

"First of all, I tried to remain very cool and not say anything to anyone. And then this wave of nausea overcame me and that ruined my lunch.

"But now it's thrilling-what more could you ask for? It's the best role I've ever had on television and I work with these wonderful, creative, funny people every day."

It has also brought some bizarre new skills to her acting repertoire-such learning to blow a fire. ("Quite a trick", she says, "and not to be done without expert guidance.")

So far, Xena is getting the thumbs-up from American viewers and Lawless is recieving "buckets" of fan mail, some which reveals how desperately some people rely on their television for company.

"With some people, you're in their living room and you're the brightest spot of their week," she says. "They want you to solve their problems or be their friend. I find sometimes it's tremendously sad."

Of course, it is not Lawless that those particular viewers are relating to, but Xena--a character Lawless describes as "the one with the devil on her shoulder".

"She's very dysfunctional, to use the American term. She came from the right side of the tracks, but she just ran amok in early adulthood; and then the old way of living wasn't working for her any more and she had to make some major changes."

Xena's adventures range from comedy to tragedy, but Lawless warns to expect a darker, more adult series than Hercules.

"It's not, in my opinion, a kid's show. My eight year old daughter has seen a couple of episodes, but by no means at all. I advise parent discretion for young children," she says seriously, adding with a grin: "They should be in bed at that time, anyway."

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