Whoosh! Interview with Deborah Abbott
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Whoosh! Interview with Deborah Abbott |
| Interviewer: | |
| Interviewee: | Deborah Abbott |
| Date(s): | posted October 1997 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | Xena: Warrior Princess |
| External Links: | An Interview With Interview With Deborah Abbott, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Whoosh! Interview with Deborah Abbott is a 1997 Xena: Warrior Princess fan interview at Whoosh!.
Author's Note: "Deborah Abbott is a Xena look-a-like who comes from Texas."
Series
For others in this series, see Whoosh! Interview Series.
Some Excerpts
What attracted you to the show?
First and foremost, I am attracted to strong female characters. There is depth to the story that hooks you into continuing to watch every week, and the show has good looking, healthy actors and actress dressed in eye candy costumes.
How did you create the costume?
I am not a trained seamstress or costumer. I just put costumes together visually. I look at photos and cut fabrics from patterns I make, and piece them together on my body. At the time I didn't have photos of Xena to work by so I freeze-framed the VCR and drew quick sketches of the costume. I then went into my closet and dragged out any thing that might work: purses, jackets, belts, roller blade knee pads, a frisbee, 2 plastic bowls, hangers, old dresses, pipe putty, and wood and threw them all on the bed and started cutting. I was like an obsessed mad-man at work. I wanted it to look just right. It took me 3 months to make the outfit. I worked on it during work brakes and after work.
I made the breastplates at work out of two plastic bowls and had to cut them down because they were about the size of Dolly Parton. I asked my colleagues: "Does this look about the right size"? After I got it down to the correct size, I used a sharpy to make the design of the swirly things in her armor. For those who have worked with pipe putty you know you need to work fast because it dries in seconds. On my first attempt, the breast plates looked like whipped cream. I almost cried and I had to start over. The thought even crossed my mind to just forget it, put cherries on it and leave it at that. I took a deep breath and decided to start over.
I must say besides the breastplates, the chakram was the hardest part of the costume. I used a rubber frisbee. Paint does not dry right on rubber. It takes days to dry and when it did it cracked.
What conventions have you attended in costume?
The first one was World Con in Aug of 1997 in San Antonio. A friend of mine had an extra ticket and asked me to come along and dress in a costume. I was still working on my Xena costume, the knee pads were not done, but I was dying to dress in it so I wore it.
[25] Well, I had no idea that, by dressing in a Xena costume, my life was about to change. As soon as I stepped out of my car to cross the street to get into the convention center I was mobbed. People thought I was Xena or Lucy Lawless. I was being asked for autographs left and right. It was overwhelming! I guess the show was still new and people didn't quite have Ms. Lawless' image memorized in their minds so they mistook me for her.
I finely got into the building and, lo and behold, there before my eyes was a booth set up just for Xena. Anything I could imagine with Xena on it was at this booth, so I went crazy buying merchandise. The company was called Creation. The two very sweet women behind the booth told me they thought I was Lucy Lawless from a distance and that I was making a surprise appearance. You see, at the time, not many people were dressed as Xena, if any were at all. They informed me that they held Xena conventions and there was one coming up in Valley Forge on Oct. 4-5 and Renee O'Connor and Hudson Leick would be there.
I was hooked, line-and-sinker. I booked that baby that weekend, there was no turning back. After the convention I walked around the riverwalk and people were following me. Oh, what Lucy Lawless must go through!
I went to the Valley Forge, Burbank, NY, Pasadena, Plano, Santa Monica, and Dragon Cons.
Do you compete at conventions? If so, what prizes have you won?
Yes. The first time was at the Valley Forge convention in 1997. I was really nervous at first to put the Xena costume on because I thought there were a lot of Xena fans there and what if they laugh at me? But when I walked in, I didn't see any other people dressed in costumes. A few people started coming up to me telling me that I looked like Lucy Lawless. I thanked them and said that I had a costume in my room and should I put it on? Of course, they said, and I was encouraged to put it on. So I did and I entered the contest. Kimmy Kat, dressed as Gab, and I came in first place. Now I compete at all of the Xena conventions I go to. It really does not matter if I win or not; it's not about that, it's about having fun. Sure, you win prizes and they vary from convention to convention. Sometimes they are great prizes like Xena mugs, or plaques.
Have you ever been paid/been offered to be paid to do a Xena appearance?
I dress as Xena mostly for free. I do the WB commercials, books, pictures all for free. I have been paid twice for dressing like Xena and that was through Universal to promote Argo, Xena's horse, at Toy Fair and at a horse show. Both were very long hours, but I loved every minute of it.
On the Jenny Jones show, you had a friend along with you who had very negative attitudes about Xena, and your dressing up as the character. Does this happen often? What do other friends and your family think? How do you deal with negative opinions professed by other people?
My family thinks it is great. They do not have a problem with it. I do come in contact with people who do not care for the show, like my friend Dan, who was on the Jenny Jones show with me. He worked with me at an animation studio in Texas while I was making the costume. He was not a fan of Xena at all, in fact he down-right hated the show. He would make fun of me the whole time I was making the costume. I have heard other negative comments, but just ignore people who want to nit-pick because they usually just want to start an argument. I watch Xena because it makes me happy and feel good and that is all that really matters.