The Cast Of “Xena: Warrior Princess” Then And Now
For those who weren't around during its heyday in the mid-'90s, it's easy to underestimate what a major cultural phenomenon Xena: Warrior Princess once was. Although the heart of the show could be found in Xena's relationship with her best friend and traveling companion, Gabrielle, its early buzz centered around how tough Xena was as a warrior.
Her swordplay, trademark boomerang-like bladed chakram, and iconic trilling yell all made for easy reference points in other media and established the series as an action-packed (if often campy and silly) affair. But while the show elevated its stars to fame, it's also what many of them are best known for. As such, it's hard not to wonder what became of them.
THEN: Renée O'Connor
After getting her start in a McDonald's commercial in 1988, American actress Renée O'Connor co-starred in the Disney Channel show Teen Angel and secured roles in obscure movies of the late '80s and early '90s like crime drama Black Snow, tennis-based TV movie Match Point, and the baseball-themed slasher Night Game.
After appearing in several of these movies in between occasional TV appearances, O'Connor first made her impression on what would be the producers of Xena: Warrior Princess by appearing in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys a year prior. She played a character named Deianeira. Around the time the showrunners knew who they wanted as Xena, they had O'Connor in mind as Gabrielle.
NOW: Renée O'Connor
O'Connor was supremely likable as the plucky, adorable bard Gabrielle, but her career has largely flown under the radar in the decades since Xena: Warrior Princess ended. But while she largely appeared in obscure films like Alien Apocalypse, Ghost Town: The Movie, and Boogeyman 2 in the immediate years that followed, things would change for her in 2008.
That year saw her star in the movie Diamonds And Guns, but this would be a significant project because it was the first film that she also produced. She was particularly prolific as an actress and producer throughout the 2010s, as she filled both roles in the 2014 short The Usual, the 2015 TV movie Last Chance, and 2017's Watch The Sky.
THEN: Ted Raimi
Raimi cut a comedic figure as the aspiring warrior Joxer in Xena: Warrior Princess, but he was already a veteran actor by the time the show began. Many of his acting opportunities arose from being the brother of producer and director Sam Raimi, as he had small parts in each entry of the Evil Dead series.
Nonetheless, Raimi has amassed a prolific body of work as a character actor in work as diverse as Patriot Games, Candyman, and Twin Peaks in between his brother's projects. By the time he played Joxer, Raimi was in the midst of spending his final year as a star of Seaquest DSV, a show he also wrote for an episode.
NOW: Ted Raimi
After playing Joxer in both Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Raimi's career would continue both with and without his brother's help. He joined the cast of The Man With The Screaming Brain (written by Raimi) and played Hoffman in Sam's Spider-Man trilogy.
Although Raimi would appear in other brotherly projects like Drag Me To Hell and Oz the Great and Powerful, those weren't all of his high-profile movies after Xena wrapped. That period also saw him appear in The Grudge, the Adam Sandler drama Reign Over Me, and the video game The Quarry. Raimi also wrote, acted in, and directed the acclaimed series Deathly Spirits.
THEN: Kevin Smith
Not to be confused with the American director of the same name, Smith was a New Zealand actor who had largely taken film and TV roles in his home country before he played the war god Ares in Xena: Warrior Princess. One of the earliest of these roles saw him appear on the TV series Shark In The Park in 1990, around the same time that future co-star Lucy Lawless did the same.
Smith's credits were few before he played Ares in both Xena and the show's sister series, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, as well as a couple of the latter's spin-off properties. Indeed, he had appeared in just five TV shows and the New Zealand movie Desperate Remedies before Xena: Warrior Princess first aired.
NOW: Kevin Smith
During his time as Ares, Smith also starred as John Lawless in New Zealand's Lawless series of TV movies. The first entry in this series would come in 1999, while Lawless: Beyond Justice and Lawless: Dead Evidence would see their releases right as Xena: Warrior Princess wrapped up in 2011.
Sadly, Smith's Hollywood resume would only include an uncredited role in The Fast And The Furious before he signed onto the martial arts film Warriors of Virtue 2: The Return to Tao. According to The New Zealand Herald, a falling accident sustained while filming this movie in Beijing, China, would tragically cut Smith's life short in 2002.
THEN: Hudson Leick
According to Apple TV, Hudson Leick started off modeling in Japan before she launched her acting career. This started small with a single appearance on Law And Order and the future-minded 1994 TV movie Knight Rider 2010.
But as time went on, her gigs grew more substantial, as she had recurring roles on Melrose Place and the fellow Aaron Spelling production, University Hospital. By the time she joined the cast of Xena: Warrior Princess, Leick had added the movie Dangerous Cargo and the TV movie Hijacked: Flight 285 to her resumé.
NOW: Hudson Leick
Although she only appeared in 12 episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess and five episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys between 1996 and 2000, Leick was a memorable presence as the vindictive but complex villain Callisto in both shows.
She acted in TV shows like CSI and Nip/Tuck after her turn on Xena, as well as in lesser-known movies like 2008's One, Two, Many, 2013's Mid Life Gangster, and 2018's Blood Type. She also lent her voice to the video games Primal and Lords Of Everquest, but her website suggests that her primary passion in recent years has seen her emerge as a spiritual yoga instructor.
THEN: Karl Urban
Although most of Xena: Warrior Princess's cast weren't exactly household names before they joined the show, New Zealand actor Karl Urban is a special case because he wouldn't become truly famous until long after the show ended. Before it began, however, Urban's acting resumé was fairly standard for someone trying to break into the industry where and when he did.
After all, he appeared on Shark In The Park and Shortland Street before doing anything else. By the time he joined the cast of both Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Urban was still a newcomer to the acting world and only had brief appearances in shows based on Homeward Bound and White Fang under his belt, as well as small roles in the movie Chunuk Bair and the series Riding High.
NOW: Karl Urban
Although most cast members of Xena: Warrior Princess grew to find that it was the most famous project they were involved in, the same is certainly not true for Karl Urban. Although he was a relative unknown by the time he played Julius Caesar on the show, his star would only continue to rise in the years that followed.
After playing Eomer in the Lord of The Rings series, the New Zealand actor would rise even further to prominence thanks to his pitch-perfect portrayal of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the rebooted Star Trek film series. Although fans have continually praised his portrayal of Judge Dredd in the underrated 2012 remake, his most prominent starring role lately has seen him play Billy Butcher in the acclaimed series The Boys.
THEN: Alexandra Tydings
Before her memorable appearances on Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, American actress Alexandra Tydings had a fairly scant resumé. Her first gig came in 1993 when Tydings played Cecelia and Lynn in different episodes of The Red Shoe Diaries.
From there, her pre-Xena work got a little more obscure. Aside from a stray episode of the family drama Party Of Five, Tydings's roles consisted of a significant character in the obscure Woody Harrelson vehicle The Sunchaser and the short-lived TV series Vanishing Son.
NOW: Alexandra Tydings
Throughout her recurring run on Xena: Warrior Princess between 1997 and 2001, Tydings played this mischievous goddess of love, Aphrodite. Although she continued to act after the show ended, this period saw her take small roles in Sheena, The Wire, and in the TV movie Just A Pretty Face.
Although she hasn't acted since playing Dr. Kathleen Brady in the movie What Death Leaves Behind, that doesn't mean that Tydings has left the film industry. Instead, she's been working as an intimacy coordinator who ensures love scenes in films are safe, comfortable, and respectful for the actors involved since 2022.
THEN: Adrienne Wilkinson
Compared to more central actors like Lucy Lawless and Renée O'Connor, American actress Adrienne Wilkinson's run on Xena: Warrior Princess was fairly short. She joined the show during its penultimate season in 2000 and did not appear on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, as the show had already ended by then.
After a childhood voice appearance on The Scooby-Doo Show, Wilkinson would take her first on-screen role in the 1996 short film Return. From there, she only had single-episode appearances in the TV shows Sweet Valley High, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, and Chicken Soup For The Soul. In other words, Xena: Warrior Princess essentially gave her a breakout role.
NOW: Adrienne Wilkinson
Wilkinson stood out as Xena's conflicted daughter, Eve, and she's worked steadily as an actress and producer in the decades since. Although her post-Xena career saw her play a disguised version of Phoebe Halliwell on Charmed, among other TV guest spots, her career has also seen her take voice work in video games like Saints Row, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and Star Trek Online for over a decade.
At the same time, Wilkinson started producing her own work in 2006, and her most long-running productions have included TV shows like From the Mouths of Babes and Suspense during the 2010s. Although both of these series ended in 2019, Wilkinson also produced and acted in the movie Burning Dog in 2020.
THEN: Marton Csokas
Like many actors who started their careers in New Zealand in the early '90s, Marton Csokas secured his first roles on the TV shows Shark In The Park and Shortland Street. Soon after, he played Dennis in the 1996 movie Jack Brown Genius, which Peter Jackson partially wrote.
From there, he flitted between various TV shows filming in nearby Australia, which included Flipper in 1995 and GP and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in 1996. After he appeared in the obscure movies Broken English and Chicken, Csokas's impression on the Hercules producers was apparently strong enough to secure a more substantial role in Xena: Warrior Princess.
NOW: Marton Csokas
In the immediate years after Xena: Warrior Princess went off the air and Csokas stopped playing Xena's past criminal love Borias, the Hungarian-New Zealander actor took roles in high-profile films like xXx, Kangaroo Jack, and The Bourne Supremacy while also playing Celeborn in The Lord of The Rings series.
More recently, he played Lameck in Darren Aronofsky's Noah, Damian Lord in Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, and Teddy in the first Equalizer movie. Csokas continues to act today, with his most recent role being 2024's Head South.
THEN: Lucy Lawless
Prior to starring in Xena: Warrior Princess, New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless had a pretty modest career in her home country. From 1987 to 1993, she had small parts in stray TV episodes and appeared in TV movies like The Rainbow Warrior and Typhon's People.
In 1994, however, things would change. Lawless played Lysia in Hercules And The Amazon Women with Kevin Sorbo, who would later star in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Once the idea formed to launch a sister show starring a fictitious former warrior princess named Xena, Lawless's performance in that TV movie was obviously memorable enough to keep her in the minds of producers.
NOW: Lucy Lawless
Both while she was Xena and in the years since, Lawless has made her mark on the worlds of TV, film, and Broadway. But while Xena remains the most famous of her career, it's not the only substantial one she's had since.
Although her immediate post-Xena career saw Lawless appear in stray TV episodes, TV movies, and Eurotrip, she found a more substantial gig as D'Anna Biers on the popular reboot of Battlestar Galactica. The early 2010s saw her appear as Lucretia on Spartacus: Blood And Sand and Diane Lewis on Parks And Recreation, while the latter half of the decade saw her take recurring roles in Salem and Ash Vs. The Evil Dead. Most recently, she's starred in My Life Is Murder as Alexa Crowe.
THEN: Danielle Cormack
Although Danielle Cormack started appearing on Xena: Warrior Princess as early as 1995, her infrequent appearances gave her time to find a host of other acting roles throughout the show's run. And while she's hardly the first New Zealand actress to find one of her earliest roles on Shortland Street, Cormack was unusual among Xena cast members for making that show closer to her day job.
After all, she appeared on 66 episodes of the soap opera between 1992 and 2017. But before then, Cormack got her start on another regional TV series called Gloss in 1987. She also appeared in the movie The Last Tattoo and her first episode on Xena would overlap with her second and final appearance on the TV series High Tide.
NOW: Danielle Cormack
After playing the Amazonian queen Ephiny in Xena: Warrior Princess, Cormack appeared as Tony in the 2004 comedy Without A Paddle. These are far from her only acting roles, but they're notable outliers for Cormack, who has largely worked in New Zealand and Australia since Xena's story ended.
And while they may not be well known stateside, Cormack has secured roles in projects that attracted significant acclaim in her home region. The most prominent examples include the prison drama Wentworth, the legal dramedy Rake, and the multi-award winning series, Underbelly.
THEN: Bruce Campbell
Even before he played the thief king Autolycus in both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, Bruce Campbell had long established himself as a beloved character actor who oozes charisma no matter what wacky movie he's in. He was also already a favorite of executive producer Sam Raimi, who worked closely with Campbell throughout his signature Evil Dead series.
After wrapping up that trilogy with Army Of Darkness, Campbell starred in the TV Western The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. for 27 episodes before appearing in Congo, Escape From L.A., among a dizzying array of obscure movies and TV shows. Around the time he started playing Autolycus, he also had a recurring role on the popular but ill-fated sitcom Ellen.
NOW: Bruce Campbell
With over 160 film credits to his name, there's no way to list the work Campbell has done exhaustively. And that did not stop being true after he stopped appearing on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. But after starring in the TV series Jack Of All Trades, Campbell would make cameo appearances in Sam Raimi's work for decades to come, with the most immediate post-Xena examples being the Spider-Man trilogy.
Some well-known highlights beyond this point include his role as "Elvis" in the modern B movie Bubba Ho-Tep, himself in the self-directed film My Name Is Bruce, and Sam Axe in the popular TV series Burn Notice. He also reprised his most famous role in the series Ash Vs. Evil Dead and played Ronald Reagan in the Fargo TV series.
THEN: Darien Takle
New Zealand actress Darien Takle has been working since the early '80s, as talent agency Kathryn Rawlings Actors described her as playing Edith Piaf in a 1981 production of Piaf and starring in Evita shortly after. Soon after these starring roles, Takle made her film debut with 1983's The Lost Tribe.
More profile roles would soon follow, as she played Louise Carpenter in 32 episodes of the TV series Possession, appeared in the TV movie Typhon's People, and played Miss Stewart in the Peter Jackson film Heavenly Creatures. Just a year later, Takle would film her first scene in Xena: Warrior Princess.
NOW: Darien Takle
Takle played Xena's mother, Cyrene, in Xena: Warrior Princess until 2000 and kept on acting and singing after that. She remained as busy on stage as she did on screen but broke from some of her castmates on Xena by staying in New Zealand.
The rest of the 2000s saw her secure roles in regional movies like A Song for Good, Deceit, and Christmas. According to Kathryn Rawlings Actors, the latter of these three saw her win Best Performance in a Digital Feature at the NZ Film Awards. Takle has continued to do TV work in the years since this award, with her most recent gig being a recurring role on Shortland Street.
THEN: Charles Mesure
Like many of his castmates, British-born actor Charles Mesure got his start in New Zealand. His first-ever acting role saw him play RyanWaters in the TV series City Life for 26 episodes, some of which overlapped with his first appearances on Xena: Warrior Princess.
Before the show ended, Mesure also appeared on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and secured small parts in regional TV shows like The Life & Times Of Te Tutu and A Twist In The Tale. He also played a cop in the TV movie Tiger Country.
NOW: Charles Mesure
Although Mesure played multiple characters in Xena: Warrior Princess, the most well-known among them was the Archangel Michael, who he also played in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Towards the end of the show's run, he also found a steady gig on the New Zealand legal drama Street Legal, where he played Kees Van Dam for 51 episodes.
From there, Mesure split his attention between steady TV roles in New Zealand and the United States, as he joined the cast of Outrageous Fortune and starred in This Is Not My Life in between stints on Crossing Jordan, V, and Desperate Housewives. Some of his most recent roles saw him play Martin Chatwin in The Magicians (pictured) and John Brennan in General History.
THEN: Michael Hurst
After appearing in a music video and a couple of TV movies, the English actor secured his first major film role in the 1983 New Zealand movie Prisoners. After another decade of appearances in that nation's film and TV offerings, including projects he shared with other Xena castmates like Shark In The Park, Desperate Remedies, and Typhon's People.
However, it wasn't Xena that provided Hurst with his most steady work during the '90s, as Hurst is better known for playing Iolaus in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys than any of his roles in its sister show. As shown here, he also played Charon the Boatman in both shows.
NOW: Michael Hurst
After Hurst played both Charon and Iolaus in Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Hurst largely remained in New Zealand. There, he landed recurring roles on Shortland Street and Maddigan's Quest, as well as playing Vexacus in Power Rangers: Ninja Storm.
By this point, he had also developed his directing skills and actually directed more episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess than he appeared in. Some other directing credits include the 2000 movie Jubilee and the 2006 movie Treasure Island Kids: The Monster of Treasure Island. Indeed, many of his TV acting credits, like Legend of the Seeker, Spartacus: Blood And Sand, and even Lucy Lawless's own My Life Is Murder, saw him directing multiple episodes.
THEN: Elizabeth Pendergrast
At least when it comes to the world of screen acting, Elizabeth Pendergrast appears to be a late bloomer. There are no roles to speak of before she came of age, and her first listed acting role was secured by 1992 when she played Frau Schwartz in an episode of The New Adventures of Black Beauty.
Indeed, that was the first of only two roles she signed on for before she first played the eldest of the Three Fates, Atropos, in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The other was a one-episode stint on the Canadian-produced anthology series The Ray Bradbury Theater.
NOW: Elizabeth Pendergrast
Although Pendergrast first played Atropos in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, she would later play this role more frequently in Xena: Warrior Princess. After she worked on seven episodes of this show, however, her acting resumé became a little more sparse and regional.
All of her further credits involved projects filmed in New Zealand, such as Mercy Peak, Shortland Street, and Legend Of The Seeker. After playing Phyllis in her first and only movie role, Rest For The Wicked, Pendergrast would play her final part to date in an episode of The Brokenwood Mysteries.
THEN: Jacqueline Kim
Although Jacqueline Kim's first role came in the true crime TV movie Howard Beach: Making A Case For Murder, she made her first appearance in a major film just three years later by playing Jane in The Mighty Ducks.
Indeed, Kim's career would pick up speed fast as she secured small roles in Star Trek: Generations, Disclosure, and Volcano before her brief but memorable stint on Xena: Warrior Princess. This period also saw Kim play her first TV role, as she was Amy Chen for six episodes of Courthouse.
NOW: Jacqueline Kim
Kim played Xena's spiritual mentor, Lao Ma, in the ambitious two-parter "The Debt" and made similarly brief appearances on ER and The West Wing soon afterward. However, much of her work beyond that point had more to do with the arena of independent film.
However, that's also when she secured some of her most acclaimed roles. Her role as the titular character in 2002's Charlotte Sometimes made her the first Korean-American actress to be nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Kim and her co-writer Jennifer Phang also won a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival for their 2015 film Advantageous, in which Kim also starred.
THEN: Jennifer Sky
According to Yahoo! Finance, Jennifer Sky was scouted by modeling agents at 16 but left the fashion industry a year later due to the predatory and otherwise harsh working conditions she experienced. She then transitioned to acting, first getting small parts in obscure TV shows like Seaquest DSV and Emerald Cove, as well as the TV movie Our Son, the Matchmaker.
She flew under the radar for about four years before appearing as Heidi Barrie in an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. After a couple of more TV appearances and a part in the music video for the Fatboy Slim song "The Rockefeller Skank," Sky found her largest at the time on Xena: Warrior Princess.
NOW: Jennifer Sky
Sky played the Amazonian warrior Amarice for six episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess and starred in the ill-fated campy sci-fi TV show Cleopatra 2525 shortly thereafter. After a small part in Shallow Hal and a more sizable role as Vanessa in the forgotten Columbo TV movie, Columbo Likes the Nightlife, Sky's acting career teetered back toward its humble beginning.
Although she appeared in major TV shows like CSI, Charmed, and CSI: Miami, Sky's roles in these shows were typically limited to one or two episodes. After some obscure film roles during the mid-2000s, Sky's acting work also became more sporadic, with her last role to date being an unspecified part in the 2016 project The San San Trilogy.
THEN: Shiri Appleby
Shiri Appleby started acting from childhood, attaining her first small part on the show Santa Barbara at the age of seven. For most of the '80s, her acting career was split between one-episode roles on popular sitcoms like Thirtysomething and Who's The Boss and more obscure TV shows and movies like Freddy's Nightmares and Curse II: The Bite.
By the '90s, her career started to expand with appearances on the show Knot's Landing and a teenaged role in the star-studded 1990 dark comedy I Love You To Death. Indeed, her part in Xena: Warrior Princess was just one in a list of small TV roles she secured in the '90s, which included spots on Doogie Howser, M.D., Baywatch, and 7th Heaven.
NOW: Shiri Appleby
Although Appleby had a memorable performance as the troublemaking Tara in Xena: Warrior Princess, it wasn't until after her appearances on the show that her career really took off. Two years later, she would find her breakout role as Liz Parker on Roswell, which ran from 1999 until 2002.
After this, she started acting in movies more often, with the most well-known of her efforts in the 2000s being the teen thriller Swimfan. Although she had a small part in Charlie Wilson's War during this period, most of the movies she acted in were fairly obscure. Afterward, she largely returned to TV, with her most sizable roles being in ER, Life Unexpected, and the reality show spoof UnREAL.
THEN: Kevin Sorbo
Before Kevin Sorbo found the role that made him famous, he was largely a character actor who flitted from TV show to TV show. Some of his earliest credits included Santa Barbara, Murder She Wrote, and The Commish, but things changed quickly for Sorbo in 1994.
That's when he first played Hercules in the TV movie Hercules and the Amazon Women, which led to more TV movies as this character before it made him a household name with Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Since that show would soon find a sister series in Xena: Warrior Princess, he played Hercules on that show as well.
NOW: Kevin Sorbo
Although Sorbo only appeared on Xena: Warrior Princess for three episodes, Hercules would see a few collaborations with Lucy Lawless while both of their shows were still on the air. One of which was the animated feature, Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus. Sorbo also starred in the movie Kull: The Conqueror during this period.
After Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ended, Sorbo would star as Captain Dylan Hunt on Andromeda between 2000 and 2005. After that show went off the air, Sorbo started a career path that still describes his work today and secured roles in a vast array of faith-based films, the most famous of which being 2014's God's Not Dead.
THEN: Timothy Omundson
Shortly after getting his first role in an episode of Seinfeld, American actor Timothy Omundson appeared alongside some fellow Xena alumni in Seaquest DSV. Throughout the '90s, he made short appearances on TV shows like Married With Children, Diagnosis Murder, and The Days Of Our Lives.
This period also saw him appear in obscure movies like The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson and Dead of Night, with his highest profile role at the time being an unnamed psychic in Starship Troopers. By the end of the decade, he joined the cast of Xena: Warrior Princess for the first of six total episodes.
NOW: Timothy Omundson
After Omundson played the altruistic healing deity Eli in Xena: Warrior Princess, he found more substantial roles like Sean Potter in Judging Amy and Brom Garret in Deadwood. At the same time, he secured smaller parts in movies like Swordfish and Down With Love while also lending his voice to video games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge.
The late 2000s and 2010s would see another boost for Omundson's career, as he played Carlton Lasseter on Psych since its very beginning and sang as King Richard in the fantasy musical Galavant once that show ended. More recent years have seen him play Gregory on This Is Us and the Greek god Hephaestus in the new series Percy Jackson And The Olympians.
