Sky High
Jennifer Sky, as Xena's hanger-on Amarice, has turned heads and broken necks. Kate Barker braves the storm…
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 03
Jennifer Sky, like her Amazonian character Amarice, is definitely a complex person. This is evident even by her accent, an eclectic mix of New Zealand, English and broad New York-style twang. Dressed for the part in typical warrior leather, Sky looks as though she is well and truly ready to take on the world… or at least the world of Xena: Warrior Princess.
The character of Amarice was introduced towards the end of Xena’s fourth season, helping Joxer (Ted Raimi) deal with the fate of Xena and Gabrielle during their challenges in Rome. “I was there through the crucifixion and the resurrection,” Sky says, referring to events in the episodes Ides of March and Fallen Angel.
Sky describes the headstrong young warrior as someone Xena could have been. “Amarice is kind of like Xena in the very early stages of life; I think that’s the representation of what she may be. It's like what Xena was, maybe, at some point when she was really young and growing up.
“For Amarice, Xena is like her mentor. Amarice just wants to be exactly like her... she just looks up to her and thinks she’s god.”
According to Sky, the introduction of Amarice as a regular character is indicative of the upsurge in “teen fascination” on television, with the emergence of other series such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Felicity and Charmed. “I think [the producers of] Xena kind of said, ‘We need to throw in somebody who’s geared to the younger audience, who people can relate to.’ My character goes through all those kinds of trials and tribulations: first love, right and wrong, lying... just basically all the virtuous things that you learn as a teenager, I guess.”
Like most teenagers, Amarice doesn’t appear to do anything by halves. Sky cites the episode Animal Attraction, where the character deals with a situation common to most young people at one time or another. “She fell in love for the first time: met a guy, and it was like,” she roars like a lion, “animal attraction. It was love-hate, love-hate, love-hate all of a sudden.”
This reaction, says Sky, is very typical of the character in general. “Amarice is very ‘this’ or ‘that’. She’s about 17 or 18, and the warrior/Amazon aspects of her are very mature; she’s always been ‘I’m an Amazon, I’m an Amazon, this is the way Amazon things are’. But emotionally, she’s immature. She thinks she’s right all the time. She’s very one-minded, basically like a lot of teenagers are.”
Sky says she feels lucky to still be able to play teenage roles at the grand old age of 22. “I’ve been in the world a bit, so I’m a bit more mature... but I can still see the teenage point of view. I pay attention to the young crowd - 18 to 33, I think that’s the main group that this show is targeting - to see what’s really going on and what they’re doing.”
In an upcoming fifth season Xena episode, a revelation about Amarice’s past forces the character to confront some home truths about her life. Although the events throw Amarice into confusion for a time, she still maintains the hard-headed determination that Sky enjoys most about the role.
“It’s a great character,” Sky enthuses, “really sassy. There’s no wishy washy-ness about her. She’s always got a point of view about something!”
Asked for one overall comment about her character and the world of Amazons, Ancient Greece and Xena, Sky answers in true Amarice style - simply and to the point: “It’s just been a really fun thing.”