Creation and Production
Xena was developed in 1995 by John Schulian as a secondary character for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, although Lawless had already appeared as the character Lyla on the episode "As Darkness Falls", on February 20, 1995. Xena was originally conceived to die at the end of the third episode, "Unchained Heart", but when the studio decided they wanted to do a spin-off from Hercules, the producer Robert Tapert said that Xena was the best choice, since she was largely well received by television critics and fans and had a full story to be explored. The studio wanted to do something about Jason and the Argonauts, but Tapert said that show would have too much of the same feel as Hercules.
The original choice to play Xena was the British actress Vanessa Angel, but she fell ill and was unable to make it to the set. Ultimately the role was given to Lawless as she was already a resident of New Zealand. Lawless had several problems playing the character due to the violence scenes, getting cut by swords and being hit in the head, and also in 1996 while rehearsing a skit for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, she fractured her pelvis when she was thrown clear from her horse. As a result, several episodes of Season 2 had to be edited to accommodate her recovery, and some of them were changed so Lawless could have a very slight appearance, and the crew created some brand new episodes.
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Famous quotes containing the words creation and/or production:
“Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the weight of evidence for determinism notwithstanding, he believes he has free will.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)
“An art whose limits depend on a moving image, mass audience, and industrial production is bound to differ from an art whose limits depend on language, a limited audience, and individual creation. In short, the filmed novel, in spite of certain resemblances, will inevitably become a different artistic entity from the novel on which it is based.”
—George Bluestone, U.S. educator, critic. “The Limits of the Novel and the Limits of the Film,” Novels Into Film, Johns Hopkins Press (1957)