Muck Raking: Alison Bruce
Alison Bruce, memorable as Amazon Queen Melosa in Hooves and Harlots, reveals her innermost secrets to K. Stoddard Hayes.
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 10
Full name given at birth: Alison Mary Kay Bruce.
Nickname: Allie.
Favourite word: Loquacious. I think the sound of it is beautiful; it's such a full, fat word.
Hometown: Auckland
Current Residence: I was born in a very small town in Tanganyika, and we emigrated to New Zealand in 1970. [How old were you?] Seven, just going on eight.
Croutons or Bacon Bits? It depends on how I'm feeling. I'm a bit nutty about croutons, actually.
Favourite Salad Dressing: Balsamic and olive oil.
Shampoo or Conditioner? Both. These are deep and meaningful questions, aren't they? [Have we ever seen your real hair in any episodes?] No. My real hair is about shoulder length and it's dark and wavy.
Have you ever gone skinny dipping? Yes, and the best part was that it was very late at night, about midnight, and we drove back [to Auckland from the North Shore] over the Harbour Bridge naked. That was in my youth.
Do you make fun of people? People I love, yeah.
Favourite Colour: That changes constantly. What will it be today? Red.
Have you ever been convicted of a crime? No.
One pillow or two? I have nine pillows. [How much space is there left on the bed?] Some of them slip down the side. It's very indulgent.
Have you any pets? No, I found a child enough.
Favourite music? That's a really hard question. I listen to a show called The Audible World on the radio and I get to hear music from all sorts of obscure places in the world. I love that. I love anything with cellos, like Elgar.
Hobbies: Yoga, when I get to do it.
Which toothpaste do you use? At the moment, baking soda toothpaste.
Favourite food? What will it be today? I used to be nuts about muffins.
Favourite town to take it easy in: A place north of Auckland called Leigh. It's a harbour on the east coast, and all around that area is a marine sanctuary. It has an incredibly calm atmosphere. The east coast doesn't get wild like the west coast of New Zealand, so it's very tranquil, with very blue, white sand, gentle rolling waves, and nice big trees you can loll around under.
Favourite ice cream flavour: Hokey Pokey. You don't have it [in the US/UK], do you? It's like French Vanilla with pieces of toffee, and my friend's father invented it.
Favourite non-alcoholic drink: Grape juice.
Adidas, Nike, Reebok or other? Nikes. They're pretty tired now, though.
Favourite perfume/cologne: I don't wear perfumes. They smell horrible on me, so I wear oils. Rose or tea rose.
Favourite subject in school: English.
Favourite sport to watch: Synchronised swimming or gymnastics.
What is your most humiliating moment? (loud cry:) Oh, God!! It was during Cyrano de Bergerac and I was playing Roxane. I was about to go and do a drama for television and the director was there, and she was really supportive and she'd got me champagne. I felt very uncomfortable in the role and I was so bad, I'd got really confused and didn't know what I was doing. I got offstage and just wept, and I couldn't go out and see her. It was one of those really horrible times. I loved the role after a couple of weeks, but it just took me a while. I can laugh now, but I wanted to die.
What is your craziest or silliest idea? Probably one that I've never done anything about, to do a show where I was on a trapeze. I haven't actually got to do trapeze yet. I have silly ideas every day.