Xena: Warrior Nutballs

Whānau, GET FIZZED, because this week Lou and Shell kōrero with Xena stunt legend Zoë Bell! 🔥YES! You read that right - ZOË BELL!!! 💪💥👊   Before she was stunt doubling Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Cate Blanchett in Thor: Ragnarok, or making her mark in Hollywood as a director, producer and stunt coordinator, Zoë was helping bring Xena to life. As Lucy Lawless herself puts it, Zoë was one half of Xena - she was the WARRIOR part! ⚔️💜   Zoë takes us back to some of her proudest moments of what she calls her "Xena-versity", including that brutal fight with Varia (the formidable Tsianina Joelson) in Path of Vengeance (S6E14) which she performed with a broken, dislocated big toe. We revisit a hilarious one off where she stunt doubled for the legendary Kevin Smith as Ares, and talks about just how hot she reckons she looked as a dude. She also chats about the time she got kicked off the Xena set. For possibly the most understandable reason ever: Bruce Campbell was just too funny. 😂   But stunt doubling is no joke. Zoë also chats about fracturing her spine while working on Xena, sharing some of the wisdom her dad passed on to her which helped her out. There's some seriously valuable kōrero here about understanding your limits and knowing your body.   There is SO MUCH aroha in this interview for our favourite show, and the role models Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor gave her on set - setting her up for her enormous Hollywood career.   From Aotearoa to Hollywood, this Kiwi legend has one hell of a story to tell. Settle in, whānau. 'Tis a yarn to cherish! 💜⚔️   ⚠️ A heads-up: Lou and Shell proper bro out with Zoë in this one, and there's strong language throughout. Forgive us. We were just pal'ing down in true Kiwi and Aussie fashion. 😂🤘   🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts!   📸 Find us online: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xenawarriornutballs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/61578930248317 Website: https://xenawarriornutballs.com   💥 Follow Zoë Bell: Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealZoeBell/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealZoeBell/   💜🌿 AND NOW, WHĀNAU, WE NEED YOUR HELP! 🌿💜   Please nominate Xena: Warrior Nutballs for the Listener’s Choice Award at the New Zealand Podcast Awards!👉 https://www.nzpodcastawards.com/nominate   It takes just one minute! Follow the link and enter our podcast name, Xena: Warrior Nutballs. Then share it with your fellow Xenites! ⚔️   Let's remind Aotearoa of Xena's place in the legacy of our screen industry, celebrate the incredible Kiwi talent behind the show, and give this little independent podcast a fighting chance. 💜🌿   Ngā mihi nui, whānau. 💜

🚨 Rerelease!🚨 Thanks for bearing with us whānau! ⚔️💜...now on with the podcast! ___ 🏆 This week, Lou and Shell are chatting with Sir Richard Taylor (KNZM), Co-founder and Creative Director of Wētā Workshop, a five-time Academy Award winner! 🧌⚔️ Based in Wellington, Wētā Workshop is an award-winning special effects and creative company who have worked on some of the biggest franchises in the world, including The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Dune, Star Wars, DC, Indiana Jones, and Avatar🎬 Richard takes us back to his work on Xena: Warrior Princess, sharing stories of working with Lucy Lawless before she was cast as Xena, his admiration for Renée O’Connor as Gabrielle, and the challenge of bringing centaurs and even centaur babies to life! 🐎👶 Plus, we chat about how the opportunity to work on Xena helped pave the way for Wētā Workshop’s future success with The Lord of the Rings. Turns out, the road to Middle-earth had a few stops in ancient Greece! 🗡️💍 Join Lou and Shell as we chat with Sir Richard about the creatures, creativity and connections which helped shape Aotearoa’s screen industry, and the legacy of a little Kiwi ingenuity that went a very long way. 🧙‍♂️✨   🎧 Follow Xena: Warrior Nutballs 🌐 Website: https://www.xenawarriornutballs.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xenawarriornutballs/ 💜 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578930248317   🛠️ Find out more about Wētā Workshop 🌐 Website: https://www.wetaworkshop.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wetaworkshop/ 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WetaWorkshop/   Vote for "Xena: Warrior Nutballs" in the New Zealand Podcasting Awards - Listeners Choice Category: https://www.nzpodcastawards.com/nominate 

This week, Lou and Shell are heading into the costume department, getting sized up and squeezed into our own leather corsets and miniskirts with the wonderfully talented Kiwi Jane Holland - Costume Designer for Xena: Warrior Princess Seasons 5 and 6! 🧵✂️🪡⚔️💜   Jane is responsible for creating some of the most memorable looks in the entire series, including the iconic pregnant Xena costume 🌀(which Jane designed while pregnant herself!), Gabrielle’s later looks 🐯, Athena 👑 (yes! THAT costume, the one that made us all a little gayer!), Xena's daughter Livia, and more. ❤️⚔️🏹   But Jane’s Xena story goes even further back. She worked alongside Barbara Darragh, the costume designer who created Xena’s original look, when Xena first appeared on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before helping shape the world we know and love.   Jane takes us behind the sewing machines to talk about creating costumes in Aotearoa, and how the people and places of New Zealand informed her work. 🌿🧶🥝   We are so honoured to welcome Jane into the Nutball whānau. We ADORE her. She is an absolute joy and sends a whole bunch of aroha back to us Xenites. 🥹💜⚔️   Plus, Jane still has some of her original costume drawings tucked away in her archives... which we chat about. ✏️📜👀   Tighten your corsets, Xenites. This is a real proper special one. 💜   Come join our whānau! ⚔️💜 Follow Xena: Warrior Nutballs: 🌐 www.xenawarriornutballs.com  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xenawarriornutballs/ 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578930248317   Also, whānau, we need your help! Vote for our podcast in the New Zealand Podcasting Awards - Listener’s Choice! Follow this link and enter our podcast name “Xena: Warrior Nutballs”: https://www.nzpodcastawards.com/nominate   It takes 1 minute, please share with Xenites and mates. Let’s make sure Aotearoa is reminded of the importance of Xena in the legacy of it’s screen industry!

This week Lou and Shell go deep behind the scenes as we kōrero with legendary Aotearoa casting director Diana Rowan, who tells us exactly what she saw in Lucy Lawless which made her push for her to become Xena: Warrior Princess. 👀⚔️ AKA that “don’t fuck with me” energy she owns. 💜💪🌶️ Xenites, you might recognise Diana for another reason… she played The Shepherd in Xena: Warrior Princess Season 5, Episode 22, Motherhood! 🐑🏜️ But, Diana’s casting legacy goes WAY beyond Xena - She has been shaping New Zealand's screen industry for decades! Casting countless Kiwi performers, including Michael Hurst as Iolaus in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and is the only casting director in the world to have cast multiple child actors who went on to receive Oscar nominations: Anna Paquin for The Piano (winning at just 11!) and Keisha Castle-Hughes for Whale Rider. We talk about the building blocks of casting the right person for the role, and what it takes to spot a future star before everyone else does. ✨ Whānau, this interview is an absolute one-off, one-of-a-kind. Diana doesn’t do these, so we are bloody thrilled she chose to kōrero with us. 💜    Follow Xena: Warrior Nutballs: 🌐 www.xenawarriornutballs.com  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xenawarriornutballs/ 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578930248317   Come join our whānau! ⚔️💜

This week Lou and Shell are welcoming into the whānau Eric Gruendemann - Producer, Supervising Producer, Co-Executive Producer, and founder and Managing Director of Pacific Renaissance Pictures!🎬🌿⚔️😮‍💨    Some people think the story of Xena: Warrior Princess begins with Hercules: The Legendary Journeys... but they'd be wrong. The real origin story starts years earlier, when Eric boarded a plane and headed to Aotearoa New Zealand to see if this small country at the bottom of the world could become home to an ambitious new television series.✈️   Eric didn't just help make a television show - he helped build an entire industry. 🎬💪 His vision and belief in Aotearoa put New Zealand on the map as a world-class television production destination, paving the way for countless international productions that followed.    Join Shell & Lou as we travel right back to the VERY beginning and hear the incredible story of how one scouting trip changed Aotearoa New Zealand’s television history forever. 🌿✨   Follow us: 🌐 Website: https://xenawarriornutballs.com 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xenawarriornutballs/ 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578930248317