Frederick M. Brown/Getty ImagesAlmost 20 years after it first premiered—and 14 years after it went off the air—Xena: Warrior Princess is still a hot topic. The syndicated series starred Lucy Lawless as the sword-wielding titular hero and Renee O'Connor as her companion, Gabrielle. Lawless has been open about wanting to revisit the role, much to the delight of Xenites everywhere. Shortly after making the rounds at Comic-Con where she talked about being Xena once again, news of a reboot broke. News Lawless apparently wasn't aware of.
"If there is currently, I don't know anything about it. I know they all think I'm pretending. I'm not. If there is something, I don't think my husband is hiding anything from me, that's not the kind of relationship we have, but it's like the rumors have gotten out of control," Lawless told E! News at TCA. "I think what they're…somebody's obviously fit…either it's an old document that is being portrayed as current, which it's not, or they're doing it without us. That's all I can say."
However, E! News learned NBC is indeed plugging along with a reboot. But Lawless maintains neither she nor husband and co-creator Rob Tapert are involved, reiterating what she said on Twitter after the news rocked the Internet.
"There was talk about it a year ago, but it was a year ago and nothing came of it. But I've been pitching it like a mad woman, because I think it's awesome, and it really could happen, and it will happen," Lawless told us.
While discussing a potential return to the butt-kicking character, Lawless has said she wanted to reprise the character and get the gang back together, including herself, O'Connor, Ted Raimi (Joxer on Xena) and her Ash vs. Evil Dead costar Bruce Campbell (Autolycus on Xena). You may recall Xena died at the end of the series, but when has that ever stopped these characters? They'd bring Xena back and then she'd pass the torch. But a reboot is a whole different thing and there are a lot of factors that have to be right to get Lawless on board.
"Depends who," she said when asked if she'd be involved with a reboot. "It's got to honor the original kind of legacy of the show. It's got to be true to the original. I would not stand by just anybody's take of it. I wouldn't make it hard for them. I think NBCUniversal really does want to make it, and they have every right to, but if somebody made it and I thought they were doing a s--tty thing to those characters, I'd take that a little personally."
Lawless set the Internet ablaze yet again shortly after the reboot news broke by posting a photo with O'Connor. It trended across social media. "I heard this today! I haven't been on, because I've been busy," Lawless confessed. "I love that! And I'm really grateful."
But almost 20 years since its premiere, does the fanbase come as a surprise to her?
"It's gotten more fervent, it's gotten so fervent, just lately. Like it's kinda red hot. That's why I don't want to hurt them. I wouldn't lie about these things," Lawless said about the reboot/revival potential. "I'm not lying, sadly. I wish."
More from Lawless about Ash vs. Evil Dead coming soon!
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)