How Xena Became Sundance’s Hottest Director

The former Warrior Princess, New Zealander Lucy Lawless, tells Daily Beast’s Obsessed about her unlikely journey to directing the documentary Never Look Away, about fellow New Zealander, intrepid war correspondent, Margaret Moth.

Moth spent years risking her life to capture combat zones in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Israel, working even after a sniper’s bullet shattered her jaw during the Bosnian War.

Never Look Away is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, an institution Lawless, 55, never saw herself fitting into. Almost by accident, she forged a career in sci-fi and fantasy, genres that don’t have much of a footprint at North America’s premier indie fest. Few actors’ résumés are less Sundance-y than Lawless’. Now, the 55-year-old Xena: Warrior Princess and Battlestar Galactica actress is infectiously chipper about her newest chapter. On the morning of the film’s premiere, she deems this her best year yet.

“I made this for New Zealanders to meet the least-known famous person, who was just an outrageous, outstanding character,” Lawless says. “I also wanted to honour her profession.”

Moth died in 2010 at the age of 59.

Original article by Matthew Jacobs, The Daily Beast, January 21, 2024.