Known as a Warrior Princess in the long-running TV show Xena: Warrior Princess, Lucy Lawless stars as the Ant Queen in Adventure Time’s newest episode, “The Dentist”, premieres on September 26 on Cartoon Network.
The episode begins with Finn complaining of a severe toothache to which Jake responds that he must “go Dentist”. Finn soon finds out that a visit to the dentist can involve battling bizarre creatures and answering to an Ant Queen.
Played by Lawless, the character of Ant Queen was modelled on New Zealand’s former Prime Minister, Helen Clark, whom Lawless impersonated for the role. “I was kind of surprised when they asked me to do a Kiwi accent because in the old days Americans couldn’t understand us at all. But times have changed. After all, Lady Rainicorn speaks Korean which I must say is really cool,” she said.
The episode also marked one of Lawless’ first forays into voice acting. “Voiceovers are a completely different kind of performance. You’re not supposed to overact and yet all your being has to be in your voice. It’s a very special skill I’d like to master but it’s not as easy as you’d think,” she said.
As Lawless dreams of more opportunities to lend her voice to Cartoon Network characters, she shares her plot for a dream Adventure Time x Xena: Warrior Princess episode.
“I would have Ice King open up a wormhole to steal Xena the Warrior Princess out of her homeland to marry her, only he steals Gabrielle by mistake. The real Xena would have to follow them and enlist the help of Finn, Jake and Marceline to save her friend from an embarrassing, insoluble marriage,” Lawless joked.
Lawless also mused on her performance as an ant. “I know this sounds crazy, but I kind of hated being small!” she said.
“The Dentist” premieres on Saturday, September 26, 10:00am only on the number 1 kids’ channel, Cartoon Network. Also stay tuned for the premiere of new series Exchange Student Zero at 6:45pm later that day.
Cartoon Network is available on SKYCable Channel 43, SKYCable HD Channel 178, Cignal Channel 35, Cignal HD Channel 110, Destiny Cable (Digital) Channel 43, Destiny Cable (Analog) Channel 51, Cable Link Channel 26, Dream Satellite Channel 15.