The statuesque New Zealand actress, who has just made her stage debut as tough-girl Rizzo in the classic rock 'n' roll musical Grease! in New York, has taken an individual stand when many celebrities are shunning the paparazzi in the wake of Princess Diana's heart-breaking death.

For the opening of the Broadway hit, red-hot Lucy actually invited the paparazzi to take pictures of her!

On the Sixth Avenue sidewalk luscious Lucy camped it up for the cameras, flashing her famous smile.

She stretched across the luxurious black leather of a 1987 Harley Heritage motorcycle and asked, "Get what you need guys?" before heading inside to party the night away.

"She was great, very co-operative," says Mitchell Gerber, a long-time paparazzo. "People have no idea how orchestrated all of this is. Hollywood stars want us here, sometimes even more than we want to be here, I think."

Auckland-based Lucy, 29, who dazzles her fans every week on TV3's top-rating Xena: Warrior Princess, agrees. "Show business is a business of back-scratching," she says. "There's no reason to be at odds. If they like you, maybe they'll pick a better photo... where you look a little nicer."

Lucy, whose role as sexy Rizzo was formerly played by actress Brooke Shields and comedian-turned-talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell, doesn not live in fear of celebrity photographers.

But she admits she is wary of notoriously harsh Broadway theatre critics, although her loyal following in the US is ensuring the seven-week season of Grease! is a sell-out.

Ironically, Sleepless In Seattle star Rosie was the catalyst for Lucy landing the sassy role. "I was on Rosie's show and we were talking about Grease! and she said in that tough accent she puts on: 'Sing a song, babe'. And it went from there."

Although Lucy had never performed in a musical before, her voice was professionally trained years ago.

"I'm a quck study," she said after landing the role. "You have to be to do a series. There's only two weeks for rehearsals and previews, then I'm doing the play for seven weeks."

"There is a run-up to any show where I realise I can go up there and be fantastic or I can completely fail. I haven't [failed] yet, but I live in fear," she says.

Lucy spends as much time as she can with daughter Daisy, 9, and new love Rob Tapert, executive producer of Xena. Xena: Warrior Princess looks set to be a big part of their lives for years to come, with the announcement the show has been renewed until the year 2000.

"Rob and I don't talk about work a lot. Occasionally, he wants to direct and then I have to see him as the director and not whoever's cooking dinner tonight!" she laughs.

At first lukewarm to the attention her gorgeous mother attracted, Daisy is now proud of her. "She doesn't mind Xena, but doesn't like fame or having to share her mummy," says Lucy. "These days, though, she's really proud of it. But she can't understand why anybody would make a fuss of boring old mum."

To her fans she is anything but boring. Physically impressive as well as beautiful, she runs the risk that other women may be envious of her.

Meanwhile, Lucy has joined millions of women, men and children all over the world in mourning the loss of Princess Diana, and sees lessons in her tragic passing: "Don't drink-drive; don't race in a car; and wear your seatbelt."

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