Forget Eve and Eden, Give Me Adrienne

Written: 2002
© Julie Ruffell 2002
Description: This article was published in Nikki Stafford's "How Xena Changed Our Lives" book in 2002.

"Forget Eve and Eden, Give Me Adrienne"

Everyone has a celebrity story. Those chance meetings with someone we've seen on TV or in the movies. The story we tell our friends, family and just about anyone else. "I bumped into David Duchovny!" "Arnold Schwarzenegger tossed a Planet Hollywood hat right to me!" "I saw Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor at a convention!" They are usually simple stories but, of course, they expand into huge tales when we tell them.

Why do these chance meetings amaze us so? It might not even be an actor we watch, but we'll still tell the story. When Hilary Swank come into the Starbucks I work at, we all noticed it and told people how nice she was when she complimented her server on a perfect cappuccino.

Well, I've got a whole bunch of those "little encounter" stories since I am the president of the Pacific Northwest Online Xena Fan Club. Being "Xena Torres" has granted me the chance to speak to Bruce Campbell, Robert Trebor, Claire Stansfield and Jeremy Roberts in private interviews. Three of these were conducted over the phone. Believe me when I say there's nothing like picking up your phone to find a Xena actor on the other end who is calling to speak with you!

However, as cool and amazing as these interviews were, and though I kept in contact with most of these actors, the interview and encounter I want to write about is Adrienne Wilkinson. Why? Because I want to talk about Adrienne the person, not the Xena actor.

Adrienne played the fierce Livia and then the loving Eve, Xena's daughter in 10 episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess. Eve's addition to the show had the same impact on the Xenaverse as Ted Raimi's Joxer. You either loved or you hated her.

Whether you hated Eve or not isn't really the point of this write-up. This is about the relationship I share with the multi-talented Adrienne, who can act, sing, and dance. She also writes and would like to direct and produce as well. I use the word "relationship" to describe my encounters with Adrienne because after numerous e-mails, two phone interviews, an in-person interview and brunch together, it's not an encounter between fan and star anymore. It's Julie and Adrienne.

For my 20th birthday, my friends got me tickets to the big Xena convention in Pasadena. I was excited not just because I would see Lucy and Renee, but because there were several friends going whom I would otherwise not be able to meet. I got to finally meet Mark and Kim, and I was reunited with Jen, a friend whom I had previously met at the second Pacific Northwest XenaFest.

It was a great thing to be able to hang out with my online friends, but the stars attending were a huge part of this convention. Lucy Lawless is my idol and I was torn, because I knew this would be my only chance to see her, but I always said that if I couldn't meet her, I didn't want to see her. It was like a, "Close, but not close enough" sort of thing. So I had to do something that would be as amazing if I was to go.

Adrienne and I had already completed an interview and she has agreed to do another with me. It took me about three months to finally work up the courage to ask her, and I was worried the whole time that she would think I was some crazy fan, and would then block my e-mail address and never talk to me again. Nope. She said yes. Oh...my...gods.

We met on Saturday, May 5, at 10 a.m. at the hotel where she was staying, the Ritz Carlton. I was waiting in the lobby with my camera, my bag, and my recorder, and just trying to look like I belonged there. I kept taking relaxing breaths, because I was trying to remain composed for when Adrienne entered the lobby. She entered wearing hip-hugging blue jeans, and a red, semi-sleeveless top. While in that Livia costume Adrienne looks like someone not to be messed with. In person she looks like an incredibly nice woman who rescues lost puppies. And that's pretty accurate; Adrienne is one of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of meeting.

When we sat down to conduct the interview, I kept losing my place with my questions, and then I would pause or blunder during the opening of the interview. I apologized for my mess-ups, and Adrienne replied, "Hey that's cool, you can edit." We both laughed and from that point on, I was completely at ease and the rest of the interview was much more like a friend telling another a really cool story. Adrienne didn't hold back at all, and was animated for every story, talking with her hands, explaining how the actors did certain things, and the two of us were laughing the entire time.

I was then fortunate to join Adrienne and her fan club in meeting a small group of Adrienne fans for brunch. This brunch amazed me, with Adrienne sitting at the table with her fans, eating with them and answering all their questions, just as animated and entertaining as she was during our interview. After brunch, she signed autographs for everyone, took pictures and even performed everyone's favourite Eve scene from "You Are There". She finally dismissed us with a hand wave and "Leave me" as Livia did to her me in "The Path of Vengeance". It was great.

As we were leaving, I walked over to Adrienne and said, "Ms. Wilkinson, I just want to thank you again for agreeing to meet with me today. This was fabulous." Adrienne then told me not to call her Ms. Wilkinson, but rather Adrienne.

On May 13, I called Adrienne at home and we continued our interview. Though most of the questions revolved around actual moments on the show, my last question asked her if she and the other stars of Xena realized the impact that they had made on the world.

Adrienne replied, "I'm still at this place where every time I go to a convention, I'm shocked people showed up to meet me. I know that my family's interested, but the fact that people I've never even met love it so much, that's something that really is hard to comprehend. But on the other hand, absolutely, I see it everyday. I can think of at least three times off the top of my head when I've had people tell me that the show has stopped them from committing suicide, which is such a huge, shocking thing to me.

"I met someone in New York about a month ago who was just weeping, saying that she was a recovering addict and that's how she saw Eve. Se had the episodes on tape and she would watch those for inspiration because if a character can change that completely, then a real person can too. It's shocking but you know that it's possible.

"In some ways, it's overwhelming and it's hard to comprehend that you could mean that much to people and that you had that much of an effect, because it's not directly. The fact that I'm helping you through the day, every day, and I've never even met you, that's a hard thing to wrap your brain around. Each and every one of us that's on the show knows from other experiences, from the things in our lives that affected us in that way. So even if the show doesn't have the same impact for us individually, we know things that do, so in that way you can have it make sense for you. It's just such an amazing thing."

I then thanked Adrienne for the interview, to which she said, "I will say again that you have one of the best interviews that we have on the site and we're so glad to have it. So thank you again for you taking the time as well."

I hung up the phone, floating. Adrienne is such a warm and friendly person who just knows how to put you at ease, and she treats you like an equal. Like you're someone she's known for years.

Our idols make us want to reach for something more, though very few of us get the chance to be directly influenced. When you're with Adrienne, her energy, enthusiasm, excitement, and spirit rub off on you. You're laughing, you're having fun and you feel you can reach for anything and get it. As a 20-year-old who dreams of creating and being executive producer of her own television show, I felt like Adrienne's zeal made ma want to shoot for it even more (and hoping she'll be interested in a role I wrote for her). Adrienne helps you keep it real though, keeping in mind that things don't come right away, but in 10 years, who knows what will happen?

This little story could never express the power of meeting with Adrienne in our continued contact, but trust me when I say it is the biggest influence over my dreams. Thank you Adrienne. You inspire.

And by the way, all hail the Bitch of Rome!