Lucy was chosen Mrs. New Zealand in 1989. She did a "really bad, cheesy commercial for travel" which led to her first real acting job in a New Zealand comedy troupe show called "Funny Business." Later, Lucy landed the job as co-host for Air New Zealand Holiday, a travel magazine. Lucy worked in numerous television and film productions. Finally, she got her breakout role of Lysia in "Hercules and the Amazon Women" (1994) (TV). Shortly thereafter, the producers needed someone to play Xena. Lucy, tall (5' 10-1/2"), athletic, with brown hair and blue eyes, was perfect for the part. But there was a snag: at first, the producers (what do they know?) did not want Lucy for the part of Xena-- after all, she had played a different character already. So, Lucy dyed her light hair a dark brown, making her look a bit different, and history was about to be made! Lucy, in her leather outfit and armed with her mighty Chakram, was thus cast in her signature roll of Xena in 3 episodes of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" (1995)-- "The Warrior Princess"; "The Gauntlet" and "The Unchained Heart"-- that would lead to her own spin-off series, "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995).