The series brought Lawless an immense amount of attention and she became an international celebrity. Xena: Warrior Princess, like its parent programme, was a huge hit and achieved high ratings and cultural significance, lasting six seasons. The character was popular enough that a spin-off series was created: Xena: Warrior Princess debuted on 4 September 1995. Lawless returned as Xena in two more episodes of the first season of Hercules, which portrayed her turn from villainess to a good, heroic character. To differentiate between Xena and the similar Lysia, Lawless's hair, previously an ash blonde, was dyed black. Vanessa Angel was originally cast in the role, but she fell ill and was unable to travel to New Zealand for shooting.
"Rob" Tapert commissioned John Schulian to write. Stewart, one of Pacific Renaissance Pictures's in-house writers, dramatised the teleplay from a story that Robert G. She first appeared in the episode "The Warrior Princess" which aired in March 1995. Lawless received her best-known role as a heroic warrior woman named Xena in the first season of Hercules. Lawless at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010 She went on to play another character, Lyla, in the first-season episode "As Darkness Falls." In that episode, she played a man-hating Amazon named Lysia. In 1994, Lawless appeared in Hercules and the Amazon Women, a Pacific Renaissance Pictures made-for-television film that became the television pilot for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Then she studied drama at the William Davis Centre for Actors Study in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her debut on television was 2½ seasons as a cast member in the New Zealand sketch-comedy series Funny Business. Lawless has said she suffered from bulimia as a child, but she was able to overcome the illness. At 21, she won the 1989 Mrs New Zealand competition. At 18, she went on her " overseas experience", travelling through Europe and Australia with her future husband, Garth Lawless. She attended Marist College, Auckland, and began studies at Auckland University in languages. Her first musical was at age 10 and began acting in secondary school. She has described her family as "this big, sprawling Irish Catholic family", and while filming in Ireland for the Discovery Channel in 2004, told Ireland on Sunday that her father's family originated in Quilty, County Clare. She is the fifth of six siblings (four brothers and one sister). Lucille Frances "Lucy" Ryan was born in the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert to teacher Julie Ryan (nee Haynes) and Mount Albert's mayor, banker Frank Ryan.