We are always just trying to be strong and yet in touch with our bodies and the only way you can really do that is to believe in yourself because that’s all that you have.

I've grown so much as a person through playing Gabrielle, much less living in New Zealand and being with all of these people that I can't imagine my life being any different.

When Xena finished I just really wanted to work with Shakespeare's material.

Maybe they say they do but I don't think many actors really enjoy trying to do a Shakespearean play.

I’ve been looking at oil paintings from oriental artists lately, and the one artist who’s inspired me right now is a man named Hokusai and I’ve had his book by my bed looking at how he interprets landscapes – mountains and water and flowers and birds.

I love actors who are wonderful - like John Cusack and Russell Crowe, and wouldn't it be a treat to eventually direct them one day.

But it just comes down to trying to get the work out there and however the team fits together then that's the way it sort of plays into itself.