Renée O'Connor
Renée O'Connor | |
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Renée O' Connor in Xena: Warrior Princess |
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Birth name | Evelyn Renée O'Connor |
Born | February 15, 1971 Katy, Texas, United States |
Spouse(s) | Currently Single |
Renée O'Connor (born Evelyn Renée O'Connor on February 15, 1971 in Katy, Texas) is an American actress, producer and director best known for playing the role of Gabrielle on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess from 1995 to 2001.
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Biography
Renée O'Connor was born to Walter and Sandra O'Connor. Her mother and stepfather, Sandra and Eddie Wilson, own a famous restaurant called "Threadgill's"(Janis Joplin's forst gig) in Austin.[1] She has an older brother named Chris, who is a grocery store manager, and her biological father Walter is a finance manager.
Since her first role at age 8 as a caterpillar during a Theater on Wheels production, Renée has had a passion for acting. At age 12, she began studying acting at Houston's Alley Theatre, and later attended The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston. So that she could graduate with her friends, she transferred back to Taylor High School.
Career
She began her real career at the age of 16 in a commercial for McDonalds, later for Exxon. A string of other commercials followed (as well as a string of odd jobs such as Porky Pig at Astroworld and an aerobics instructor in L.A.) and in 1989, she landed a recurring role in a serial called Teen Angel featured on the "New Mickey Mouse Club." This led to another Disney serial called Match Point and an episode of Tales from the Crypt (directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger), though it was later cut. O'Connor then went on to portray an imperiled student on an NBC special called "The Flood", Cheryl Ladd's daughter in Danielle Steel's "Changes", a woman captured by Shawnee Indians in ABC's Follow the River, an actress who hires Rockford as her bodyguard in The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise, Julia Wilkes in Disney's "The Adventures of Huck Finn", and the daughter of a murdered couple in an episode of NYPD Blue. O'Connor then came to the attention of Xena: Warrior Princess executive producers Robert G. Tapert and Sam Raimi with an "over-the-top" audition that won her the role of the young Deianeira in their two-hour "Action Pack" adventure "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom." They were so impressed by her performance opposite Hercules: The Legendary Journeys star Kevin Sorbo that they signed her for a starring role in "Darkman II: The Return of Durant." She was later cast as Gabrielle, Xena's sidekick on Xena: Warrior Princess. During the filming of Xena, O'Connor lived in Auckland, New Zealand where she still owns a home.
She was voted # 3 of the most intriguing people in 1996, # 2 in 1997, and one of the most beautiful people of 1997, by People Online. She made the cover of TV Guide on the July 29, 2000 to August 4, 2000 issue. It was one of eight collector's covers. In January 2007, O'Connor topped the 2006 annual list of LesbiaNation.com - establishing her as the longest reigning queen of their top ten list of "Women We Love". O'Connor has a cult following in the lesbian community, that begain her co-staring role as Gabrielle in Xena: Warrior Princess and her ambiguous relationship with her traveling companion Xena. Although O'Connor is heterosexual, she loves her gay and lesbian fans and has appeared at gay pride events such as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and the , which was held in Palm Springs, CA at the Doral Resort. O'Connor was the guest star at the White Diamonds Dance.
On 27 June 2002, O'Connor played Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare by the Sea's version of Macbeth. The play ran for five weeks and was initially located in San Pedro Point Fermin Park and toured the beach cities in Los Angeles.
On 31 May 2003 O'Connor participated in the Firefighters Burn Relay to benefit the Alisa . The event took place in Burbank, California. She took place in the parade of fire engines. They made stops in several areas, including Beverly Hills, Burbank, Long Beach, and Santa Monica, allowing the public to make donations at each stop. Working with firefighters, educators, and burn care professionals, the foundation helps to develop new programs and services. O'Connor volunteered again with the foundation in 2005 raising funds washing cars with others. They raised $2000. She was back in 2006, appearing for the first time with her new baby daughter Iris. On 28 April 2007 she again climbed into a fire truck, this time with her son Miles, and a parade of fire engines made a tour of fire stations all across LA county, ending up at the Southern California Burn Relay that was held at LA County Fire Station #118.
Lead role in Eric Escobar's Sundance Short One Weekend A Month (2004) and co-starred with Bruce Campbell in the Sci-Fi channel movie Alien Apocalypse (2005).
O'Connor produced and starred in the film Diamonds and Guns (2007), an independent film and the first feature film made by her film production company, ROC Pictures. Joseph LoDuca, who composed the music on Xena and Hercules, composed music for this film as well. The film is a romantic comedy about two friends who go to Las Vegas to find true love. It was shot digitally. O'Connor has been raising funds for the movie selling numerous photos of herself with autographs and a few of her personal paintings on eBay. She has raised about $75,000 from eBay alone as of March 2006. The film is now finished and she hopes to have a contract signed for distribution in 2007.
O'Connor recently completed the film Ghost Town (2007) for director . In Ghost Town (2007) she plays the tomboy character Little Jack. The film held its World Premiere at the Eaglenest Entertainment Center in Maggie Valley, NC on 02 June 2007. A Hollywood premiere is planned for early 2008.
January 2007 - Renée O'Connor was selected number one in LesbiaNations.com's poll of the for the year 2006 and continues to dominate the same poll in 2007.
On she began shooting on the movie Boogeyman 2 (2008) for , executive producer Robert G. Tapert. In this feature production she plays the part of Dr. Ryan, a psychiatrist whose mother had schizophrenia. The patients she works with have phobias that deal with the fear of the boogeyman. Differing from the original Boogeyman film’s scotophobic plot, Boogeyman 2 focuses on a young woman with a more defined fear; that of the boogeyman himself. The story is about a young woman with a life-long phobia of a supernatural boogeyman, in this case a demon that lives in her closet and springs out at night to attack her. Trying to face up to her terror and get some help, she voluntarily checks herself into a mental health facility with the hope of conquering her overwhelming fears. However, she soon discovers that some things are terrifying for a reason and confronting her demons was not the best course of action because it brought back the titular demon. A movie clip of O'Connor in production on this film can be seen at, http://ghosthousepictures.comingsoon.net/news_article.php?articleid=68. Shooting wrapped on 24 May 2007 and Boogeyman 2 will be released early in 2008
O'Connor appears at Xena conventions (a.k.a. CON'S). They have been held annually in Burbank and Pasadena, but have also taken place in Florida, New Jersey and London. She's known for coming dressed in costumes she wore on Xena for her "photo-ops" with fans. She has also performed skits and readings onstage. People who are a fan of the Xena series are known as "Xenites" while people who are specifically a fan of Renée are known as "ROCkers". Threadgill's in Austin, TX was the location of the first "Xenafest".
She joined close friend Lucy Lawless for a two night "sold out" performance at the Roxy in Los Angeles during the annual Xena convention in January 2007. Lucy sang and Renée danced. O'Connor again made dance appearances during Lawless' three concerts (May 31 to June 2, 2007) at the in New York City, which coincided with the east coast Xena convention held in Secaucus, New Jersey. Both Renée and Lucy joined fans at this CON. She will next appear in the area at the on Sat. & Sun. October 6 - 7, 2007. Renée will appear on-stage Saturday with Lucy Lawless. She will also be appearing with at Lucy's Concert "Lucy, Chicago, The Blues: We're There" at 754 South Wabash Avenue, Fri. & Sat. October 5 and 6, 2007.
June 2007 Renée O'Connor was named to the AfterEllen.com Hot 100 List. During a recent interview with the staff of AfterEllen.com, O'Connor laughed. “Yeah, when I was voted … what was it, number one lesbian of the year …” Lucy Lawless broke in, also laughing, “Yeah, yeah, you're lesbian icon number one.” O'Connor said, “That's it. And when I posted a thank you to ‘the girls,' a lot of guys posted, ‘Wait a minute, we voted for you, too!'”
O'Connor flew to Sofia, Bulgaria on 20 July 2007 to began filming a new TV Movie for SCI-FI. Production on will start 23 July in Sofia, Bulgaria. The film production company is UFO is an original film production company with facilities in Burbank, California and Eastern Europe. Renée has the lead role in this production and will play the part of Eva Solomon. Buried under the sands of Iraq world famous archaeologist Nicholas Solomon has found a clue to the one of the ancient mysteries of the Old Testament. Solomon’s discovery leads to a remote desert which contains the remnants of an ark. The team must fight off insurgents as they uncover the mystery. Things turn deadly as they discover this ark didn’t carry animals, it carried something evil. Eva is stunning and sophisticated. She's an accomplished scientist that specializes in carbon dating and translating ancient documents. She's confident, cocky and at the top of her game. She also can't stand Nicholas Solomon, even though they were married for five years. Now that they're divorced she likes him even less. Although SCI-FI has not set a date for airing it is expected to be ear;y in 2008. Filming lasted five weeks. This was the third movie for Renée in the last 12 months
When Renée O'Connor returned from Sofia, she begin the long awaited release of the film she produced: . It is the first full length feature film made by her film production company, ROC Pictures, Inc. The distribution of will be through two sources. A limited, autographed release is now being sold by Renée at the movie's website, "Diamonds & Guns, LLC" [1] with additional information available at her website [2] Each limited copy will will have a personal Renée O'Connor autograph on the cover under the shrink wrapping, along with comments on the movie by Renée, Helena Beaven and Dawn Higginbotham as well as a Behind-the-Scene Music Video. That DVD is now available for purchase (as of 09/12/07) at "Diamonds & Guns, LLC" [3]. A second version of will be available through a International Distributor at retail outlets world-wide. The retail DVD edition of will contain even more bonus features along with new artwork and will be released in January of 2008.
Private life
Renée married New Zealand native and restaurant manager Steve Muir on October 14, 2000. They have a son, Miles William Muir (born September 22, 2001). The couple divorced in 2005. Renée became involved with Jed Sura, an actor she met while filming Enter in 2003 and later Diamonds and Guns in 2004. She and Jed have a daughter, Iris Sura O'Connor (born March 19, 2006).
- Renée owns her own film production companies. ROC Pictures, Inc. and ROC Productions, Inc. She would like to someday return to New Zealand and start a full time film production studio.
- Has appeared in productions with: Anthony Quinn, Ellen Burstyn, James Gardner, Dennis Franz, Sheryl Lee, Pernell Roberts, Roy R. Chider, Elijah Wood, Michael A. Goorjian, Robert Conrad, Jason Priestly, Kevin Sorbo.
- Has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
- Is an accomplished artist with a showing at the Submerged Art Gallery in Los Angeles, June 2005.
- Renée is proficient in several forms of martial arts including Taekwondo, and Shinkendo. She is also trained in the use of several martial arts weapons including the , the Nunchaku, the Sai and . Her son Miles is also a student of Taekwondo.
- Is still very close friends with Xena star Lucy Lawless.
- Enjoys jazz dancing, kickboxing, rock climbing, horseback riding, water skiing, and painting.
- Nicknames are "Ren", "ROC", "Stumpy", and "vertically challenged".
- Favorite movie is The Piano.
- Has a cat named Kia Ora, which is Māori for "hello".
- Loves Mexican food. However, her favorate dish is country fried steak.
Filmography
Starring Roles
Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
2007 | Eva Solomon | Release 2007/08 TV (SCI-FI) | |
2007 | Boogeyman 2 | Dr. Ryan | Release 2008 Theaters & DVD |
2007 | Ghost Town - The Movie | Little Jack | Released June 2007 Theater & DVD |
2007 | Diamonds and Guns (Production: 2004/2006) | Ashley | The DVD was first released 09/12/07 by ROC Pictures, LLC - There will be a International DVD Distributor release January 2008. |
2005 | Xena: The 10th Anniversary Collection | Gabrielle | Video |
2005 | Alien Apocalypse | Kelly | TV (SCI-FI) |
2004 | One Weekend a Month - (A short film) | Meg McDermott | TV - DVD - Film Festival Winner |
2003 | Enter | Short Film | Anita Jessie 2003 Film Festival |
2000 | Rubbernecking | Ashton | DVD |
1998 | Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus | Gabrielle (voice) | Video |
1995 | "Xena: Warrior Princess" 1995-2001 | Gabrielle | Co-Star of this TV Series for 6 yrs. |
1995 | The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise | Laura Sue Dean | TV Series |
1995 | Follow the River | Bettie Draper | TV |
1994 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Hercules and the Lost Kingdom | Deianeira | TV & DVD |
1994 | Darkman II: The Return of Durant | Laurie Brinkman | Video |
1994 | A Place For Sara | A film about a mentally ill woman | Educational Distribution |
1993 | The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children? | Leslie | TV |
1993 | The Adventures of Huck Finn | Julia Wilks | Walt Disney Pictures film |
1993 | NYPD Blue - Oscar, Meyer, Weiner | Rebecca Sloane | TV |
1993 | Sworn to Vengeance | Julia Wilks | TV |
1992 | FBI: The Untold Stories - Blue Fiber | Ofc. Renée Lanot | TV |
1992 | FBI: The Untold Stories - Millionaire Murderer | Ofc. Renée Lanot | TV |
1991 | Stone Cold | Tinselteeth | TV |
1991 | ABC Afrer School - The Less Than Perfect Daughter | Linda | TV |
1991 | Changes | Jessica Adams | TV |
1990 | False Identity | Angela Errickson | TV |
1989 | Night Game | Lorraine Beasley | TV |
1989 | Black Snow | Jennifer Winslow | TV & DVD |
1989 | Match Point | Robin | TV |
1989 | "Teen Angel" | Nancy Nichols | TV Series |
Guest-starring Roles
Year | Title | Role | Episode |
2002 | Mataku | American Buyer | 1.2 "The Heirloom" |
2001 | Entertainment Tonight | Herself | Episode dated 17 February 2001 |
1999 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Sunny Day | 5.9 "For Those of You Just Joining Us..." |
1999 | Entertainment Tonight | Herself | Episode dated 16 October 1999 |
1998 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Gabrielle | 4.14 "Armageddon Now: Part 2" |
1998 | Entertainment Tonight | Herself | Episode dated 16 October 1999 |
1997 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | The Executioner | 4.5 "Stranger in a Strange World" |
1997 | E! News Daily | Herself | Episode dated 18 October 1997 |
1997 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Gabrielle | 3.15 "Judgement Day" |
1995 | Entertainment Tonight | Herself | Episode dated 21 August 1998 |
1993 | NYPD Blue | Rebecca Sloane | 1.10 "Oscar, Meyer, Weiner" |
1992 | Arresting Behavior | Jade Pearl | |
1992 | FBI: The Untold Stories | Ofc. Renee Lanot | "Blue Fiber" |
FBI: The Untold Stories | Tina Marie Risico | "Millionaire Murderer" | |
1990 | Tales from the Crypt | Waitress (scenes deleted) | 2.2 "The Switch" |
Director
Year | Title | Other Notes |
2001 | "Xena: Warrior Princess" | TV Series episode "Dangerous Prey" |
1999 | "Xena: Warrior Princess" | TV Series episode "Deja Vu All Over Again" |
Producer
Year | Title | Other Notes |
"Diamonds and Guns" | Production: 2004/2006) A ROC Pictures, LLC Production |
Miscellaneous Crew
Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
1998 | StarCraft | Thanks | Video Game |
Live Theater Roles
Year | Title | Role | Location |
2002 | McBeth | Lady McBeth | Los Angeles, CA |
References
- ^ threadgills.com. Retrieved 4 October 2006.