The continuation of Spartacus on Starz is inherently bittersweet because of the loss of Andy Whitfield, but Lucy Lawless can keep things light. When Starz presented the new “Spartacus: Vengeance” to the Television Critics Association, Lawless took questions about her Honey Badger segments. I followed up with Lawless about the new and crazier Lucretia in the current season.
Crave Online: Lucretia looks crazy. Is she a little crazy this year?
Lucy Lawless: Well, you would be crazy, wouldn’t you? Your unborn child has been unceremoniously stabbed within yourself. You’ve lost your husband, you’ve lost everything, so she may or may not be crazy. I’m going to let you decide.
Crave Online: Do you get to play that the whole year?
Lucy Lawless: No, because that would be very tiresome very quickly. Somebody’s crazy, that’s interesting for about three seconds, but you quickly want to get back to the characters you know and love. That took a bit of doing actually, figuring that out. I found that extremely challenging.
Crave Online: Are they making Lucretia pick up some weapons and get her hands dirty?
Lucy Lawless: No, but I am on the receiving end of some very bad treatment this season.
Crave Online: We love how outrageous the show can be.
Lucy Lawless: Yeah, continues to be completely outrageous, I promise you. Again, they even manage to shock me.
Crave Online: Do you find yourself topping yourself and the things you’ve done earlier?
Lucy Lawless: Yes, I did, and very recently too. Before I came over here, I went through something that was down such a dark tunnel. It was a bad experience and I was so proud of it, and I hope that it comes out on screen as good as it felt terrible to make.
Crave Online: Which episode is that in? We’ll look for it.
Lucy Lawless: Six.
Crave Online: Is Honey Badger more famous than Xena now?
Lucy Lawless: [Laughs] I don’t know. It’s a threat. It’s a serious threat.
Crave Online: Xena is on Netflix now. Do you hear from new viewers and fans who are seeing it that way for the first time?
Lucy Lawless: I don’t hear anything. I’m analog but it stresses me out. I don’t Twitter or anything because to try to promote a virtual self is so stressful to me, therefore I’m not going to do it. I’d rather go and make Honey Badger and be a dork and laugh my ass off. That’s the real me.
Crave Online: If this is the last season for Lucretia, what kind of character would you like to play next?
Lucy Lawless: I continue to want to play morally imperiled characters, people that you guys think are bad. You know what? I’d love to play a victim. I love to play the vulnerability and that’s what I love about Lucretia, is her vulnerability.
