From battling alongside Xena to painting with beeswax,
here's what the actor who played Gabrielle has been up to lately.
Just as "Xena: Warrior Princess" helped put Renée O'Connor on the map, it also kick-started
her love for directing. The actor got the opportunity to direct the "Xena" Season 4 finale,
and she later helmed an episode in Season 6. After her time on "Xena: Warrior Princess,"
O'Connor founded ROC Productions and went on to direct award-winning shorts,
as well as some lesser-known full-length films.
She co-directed "Diamonds and Guns" as her first feature film directing
credit while starring in the project and acting as executive producer.
"Do you recognize me?"
According to O'Connor, the move from acting on screen in a TV show for six years
to the production side of things came with a steep learning curve.
She produced a number of shorts, including "Words Unspoken," which won her awards for
Best Short Film and Best Actress at the West Hollywood International Film Festival.
When asked what inspired her to direct "Words Unspoken," O'Connor told Film Nut:
"I wanted to direct something where I didn't have to compromise to a studio, such as to a television
show. I could really just be authentic in my own voice and in my own visions."
It seems like she ran with that wish, as O'Connor went on to direct her second feature film,
"Broken Things," a few years later in 2015.
In 2017, "Watch the Sky'' was released. O'Connor played a dual role in the family sci-fi film,
appearing on screen while also acting as executive producer.
Somewhere between beasting out as Gabrielle on "Xena: Warrior Princess" and diving into
different roles on movie sets, Renée O'Connor tackled the biggest job of all: creating and
raising a family. She married her first husband, Steve Muir, while still playing Gabrielle,
and she gave birth to their first child, Miles, shortly after the series ended in 2001.
The transition to motherhood wasn't an easy one. In an interview with Camera Conversations,
O'Connor explained:
"I had been busy for so many years ... for six years, working 80 to 90 hours a week,
and then suddenly that was all gone and it was just a baby and myself."
After her marriage to Muir ended, O'Connor married Jed Sura,
who has partnered with her on many projects. The two share a daughter: Iris Sura O'Connor.
Both of her children inherited the acting bug, performing in her production "Watch
the Sky" alongside their mom. Iris also had a role in ROC Productions' "Infinity,"
and Miles was in an episode of the show "My Life is Murder."
After the finale of "Xena: Warrior Princess," Renée O'Connor acted in a number of low budget
B-movies and monster films. One such flick was "Alien Apocalypse," in which she starred opposite
horror and B-movie legend Bruce Campbell. The film is exactly what it sounds like:
An apocalypse movie that takes place after aliens have taken over Earth.
The two stars shared a kiss in the film, which Campbell deemed "Sa-weet!" in a tweet.
"Isn't she something?"
Unsurprisingly, fans were graced with this union of cult icons because the two have a
solid connection with Mr. Sam Raimi, executive producer of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"
and "Xena: Warrior Princess." And it's thanks to Campbell’s long professional
relationship with Raimi that he landed the recurring role of Autolycus in both series.
"Well, let's hope he's at least as debonair and charming as I am or no one will be fooled."
Renée O'Connor also branched out into live theater.
She took on the role of Lady Macbeth in 2002,
but, according to Broadway World, she didn't fully get into a theater career until 15 years later.
In addition to playing Lady Macbeth more than once, O'Connor has played the Nurse in
a production of "Romeo and Juliet," in which her son Miles Muir held the role of Romeo.
Though she's had roles in multiple Shakespearean plays and classics like "Annie,"
"Mary Poppins," and "The Wizard of Oz," she's also starred in more modern dramas. In 2017,
O'Connor joined the cast of "Dinner with Friends" at Little Fish Theatre. She has
played a number of roles at the venue, including the lead in Steven Dietz's "On Clover Road."
Just like her Hollywood career, O'Connor expanded her live theater one by sitting
in the director's chair. She helmed a production of "Romeo and Juliet,"
sharing the experience with fans in an Instagram post of herself directing onstage.
Next, Renée O'Connor founded her own nonprofit theater company:
House of Bards, located in San Pedro. In addition to producing, she typically takes a dual role,
either acting in or directing the productions.
According to Broadway World, House of Bards Theatre Company's first production was "Macbeth"
in 2019, starring O'Connor and her husband Jed Sura as the leads. Sura co-founded the theater
company with O'Connor and has been partnering on projects since well before its conception.
House of Bards presented its second play with "Romeo and Juliet" — the
same production O'Connor directed, which had its last show in May of 2022.
Renée O'Connor’s artistic ability goes beyond the screen and stage. During the lockdown,
she updated her official website with an art page
full of paintings she made. She would use a mixture of beeswax and resin crystals
combined with pigments to create layers of translucent colors that form an overall image.
This wasn't the first time O'Connor has demonstrated her love of painting.
In an interview with Hobo Trash Can, she revealed that she used the money
she earned from selling paintings to help fund her first production venture,
"Diamonds and Guns." That film came out in 2008, so it's clear that painting has been
another creative outlet for the former "Xena: Warrior Princess" star for quite some time.
If you assumed that spending six years opposite each other on a world-renowned hit TV series
would make Renée O'Connor and Lucy Lawless pretty tight, you aren't wrong. While the "Xena:
Warrior Princess" stars can go years at a time without seeing each other,
they have nonetheless stayed good friends following the series.
When asked about their relationship in an interview with the Toronto Star,
Lawless revealed that, very much like their "Xena: Warrior Princess" roles:
"It’s a sisterhood. It’s beyond friends, forged in the heat of battle."
"Xena: Warrior Princess" was filmed in New Zealand — Lawless' home country and
where she still resides. O'Connor, on the other hand, is an American who relocated to transform
into Gabrielle for the series. She returned to the States after the show ended, which put quite
the physical distance between the two stars, but they've always found ways to reconnect.
Renée O'Connor traveled to New Zealand during the lockdown to reunite with her former co-star when
she accepted a one-off role in Lawless' Acorn TV mystery series "My Life Is Murder." In 2021,
O'Connor appeared in an episode as the wife of a health guru who ends up dead. The "Xena:
Warrior Princess" alums found themselves going head to head in "My Life is Murder"
rather than fighting together like the good old days — a refreshing change for the two friends.
According to an interview the reunited stars gave to Entertainment Weekly,
it had been a while since they had seen each other. This — combined with O'Connor
wearing a mask — made it so Lawless didn't even recognize her at first. Despite that and the fact
that O'Connor hadn't been on a TV set in quite some time, the onscreen reunion was easygoing.
"It just felt like walking into Lucy's living room
and having friends over. It was so charming and loving. And it was like that all the way
to the very end. I actually had a little withdrawal when I finished filming."
"My Life Is Murder" isn't the only recent collaboration between the former "Xena:
Warrior Princess" stars. Prior to their reunion on Lucy Lawless' show, the two actors reunited
remotely for their series' 25th anniversary. Syfy Fangrrls put together a five-episode podcast
that was a total blast from the past for both fans and those involved in "Xena."
Just as stars like Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi returned to talk about their time on the show,
O'Connor and Lawless have their own episode together. In Episode 2 of the "Xena:
Warrior Princess" 25th Anniversary Podcast,
the two reminisce about all the less-than-ideal conditions of filming the series in New Zealand.
Lucy Lawless recounts the time rats were dumped on her while filming an uncomfortable scene, saying
she had them up her Xena skirt and spiders in her mouth. While that might sound like a horrifying
day, looking back on the situation together seems like it was a lot more fun for the co-stars.
Renée O'Connor and Lucy Lawless seem to have gone through the wringer when they were filming "Xena:
Warrior Princess," but you wouldn't expect anything less from two killer Amazonian warriors.
As it turns out, the stars also became lesbian icons after they appeared as
Xena and Gabrielle. O'Connor was voted LesbiaNation's Most Loved Woman in 2006,
beating out Lawless, who still came in second. In 2007, their places swapped.
The series hints at a romantic relationship between Xena and Gabrielle,
even though it never became canon that the two were together. However, after the series ended,
Lawless made the truth about the relationship clear, telling SiriusXM in 2010 that,
"Xena and Gabrielle were a couple."
“I love you Xena.”
When speaking to Page Six about the lesbian undertones of "Xena:
Warrior Princess," O'Connor said she felt that if the show were on today,
the characters would have no need to only hint at their relationship.
“Are you in love with Gabrielle?”
Although it was only implied, it was still groundbreaking for the time — something that
the LGBTQ community could latch onto as a kind of representation in mainstream media.
Although Gabrielle and Xena's relationship was a hot topic back when the show was on the air,
the characters are still very much beloved by their loyal fanbase. O'Connor and Lawless have
both attended their fair share of conventions for "Xena: Warrior Princess" over the years,
giving the former co-stars opportunities to catch up with fans and each other.
Fan events and conventions take O'Connor and Lawless all over the map, but for two
people who live thousands of miles away from each other, they're pretty much the perfect excuse to
be in the same city. During multi-day events, the two actors tend to appear on the same day
to greet fans and answer questions. This was exemplified by Creation Entertainment's 2022
Salute to Xena event, which celebrated the series' quarter-century milestone.
Both actors enjoy interacting with the convention crowds. During the
2018 Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, Lawless thrilled attendees by calling O'Connor her "screen wife."
All these years post-"Xena," the two stars still have a great time together — and with their fans.