Lucy Lawless Moving From "Spartacus" to "Parks and Recreation"
8/15/2012
by Lesley Goldberg


Lucy Lawless is going from the violence (and nudity) of "Spartacus" to Pawnee.

The former "Xena: Warrior Princess" star will explore her comedic side on NBC's "Parks and Recreation", The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.



Lawless will play a single mom in Pawnee who turns to the Parks Department to help with a neighborhood problem. After Ron (Nick Offerman) and Andy (Chris Pratt) are distpatched to help her, Andy picks up on the chemistry between Lawless' character and the always surly Ron.

Lawless, who is currently slatted to appear in two episodes, broke the news via Twitter. "I am so thrilled to work with the #ParksandRecreation crew. I am always amazed by the Acting and writing. It's kooky, ironic and elegant," she wrote.



Her first episode is scheduled to air Oct. 4. Sadly, her character is not named Tammy (it's Diane).

The role marks Lawless' first TV gig since her "Spartacus" character, Lucretia, died in the season finale.

"Parks" returns Thursday, Sept. 20 at 9:30 p.m. on NBC.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/lucy-lawless-spartacus-parks-recreation-362775

Nick Offerman on Lucy Lawless
09/19/2012


Congratulations on getting a new love interest who is not named Tammy.

Thank you! Yes, it's very exciting.





I talked to Lucy back in February and she said she was up for the role of Tammy 1, but "Spartacus" got in the way. I'm really excited she's finally able to be on the show.

That makes two of us.





She's in how many episodes?

I'm not sure, honestly. I know at least three or four. I'm not positive because it's an ongoing -- we make it up as we go along. I'm not sure what her contract says, but hopefully 28. [Laughs]





What's it been like shooting? It's a new dynamic for Ron.

It is, honestly. Having Ron have a chance at something real actually made me kind of nervous in the scenes because it was a new side of Ron that we haven't explored. I felt like a high school kid at a dance or something, maybe asking a young lady to dance for the first time because usually when he gets involved with a woman, it's because he can't control himself and there's some sort of impulsive sexual mania taking him over.

But in this case, they sort of meet and see in each other the possibility of something through much more down to earth, realistic means and so it was really quite fun. It was really fun also to just have someone who has such a statuesque presence.

Lucy is such an incredible leading lady that I haven't had the opportunity in my entire career to stand next to someone like her and speak dialogue, so it's pretty exciting. [Laughs]





So you were a fan of hers before?

My favorite work of hers has been "Battlestar Galactica". It's been one of the many incredible boons of my dream job is I get to work with people who walk among the giants. [Laughs]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/nick-offerman-parks-and-recreation-season-5-ron-swanson_n_1894467.html?

Thank you for sharring