In the mid 1990's, Sam Raimi (yes, that Sam Raimi) brought us the silly-but-fun TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The show was later outdone by its own spin-off, Xena: Warrior Princess. What followed got a bit ugly: The syndicated television schedule was soon flooded with copy-cat fantasy shows that could not come close to matching the (ahem) quality of "Hercules" or "Xena." Soon, this genre imploded on itself and it was gone.

The syndicated fantasy genre is now back. Legend of the Seeker -- a less humorous, more straight on action entry -- is brought to us by, well, yes, Sam Raimi. The star of the show -- Craig Horner, calling in from on location in New Zealand -- talks to us about his character, Richard Cypher, the American accent he uses on the show, and some pesky Internet rumors about his involvement in Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro's "The Hobbit."

Mike: I was watching [Legend of the Seeker] and I think with Sam Raimi involved [as producer] -- especially when you think back to Hercules and Xena -- it was surprising with the lack of campy humor. There's no Kevin Sorbo winking at the camera after a big fight; it seems a very much more straight forward approach.

Craig: I'll admit, as an actor I was kind of a little bit worried about that. Although those shows were very successful -- they really found a niche -- they were really what the entertainment industry needed in terms of fantasy a that time. It needed that "let's not take ourselves too seriously" vibe. If they tried to do that again, especially with such a respected book -- The Sword of Truth -- I think it would have had a negative effect. It would have lost its fans.

It had to have some integrity and sincerity about it. And as an actor that's awesome. You don't really want to be thinking, "Oh, I'm just in this camp fantasy show."

Mike: In the first episode, one scene that did make me laugh -- and only because I pictured producers sitting around a table saying, "How do we bring in the female demographic? I know, when we introduce Craig's character we'll have him chopping wood ... shirtless."

Craig: (Laughs) I know, right? Well, I think it had to be something that was a bit Richard Cypherish. It had to establish he was basically just a simple kind of woods guy that built bridges with his bare hands. And I don't know, sure, if I'm working out I'll take my shirt off when it gets hot (laughs).

Mike: Your character, Richard, grows up a lot in this first season.




Craig Horner as Richard Cypher in 'Legend of the Seeker'

Craig: That's something I've personally been trying to do anyway. They do it here and there with the scripts ... they can start seeing I'm trying to grow this guy up. And that's what's great about a series when you're an actor. You have 22 episodes to start from zero to hero; you can really take a nice big long arc. In a film it's tough to do that, you only have 90 minutes. And it's a ten month shoot; I grew up in that time, as well.

Mike: Yeah, because in the first episode Zeddicus saves Richard's life twice in the span of five minutes and Richard just keeps yelling at him to leave him alone. It seems a bit ungrateful.

Craig: I think he's just freaked out that he thinks these guys are responsible for this magic; he's never seen these horrible beasts before. I think that's what my character doesn't like about magic. It's deceptive and dishonest. But, he learns to embrace it and learns he has a bit of magic inside him, too.

Mike: Do you have a favorite episode so far?

Craig: Yeah, "Denna." Big time. Oh yeah. And I liked that because they really drew heavily from the book, they rang true to the book and it was really good for an actor, that one. So good. It was a performance piece. It was just a couple of sets and a couple of actors and some good lines.

Mike: I was wondering: You're Australian, it's filmed in New Zealand ... why do they have you use an American accent?

Craig: Yeah, I don't know why they did that. My first audition, I kind of did a Mid-Atlantic/English Lord of the Rings type accent. They made me re-audition with an American accent and that's when I got the part. I think that's just what they were going for. I mean, [The Sword of Truth author] Terry Goodkind is American. Maybe he always planned it all along to be an American accent. Yeah, I'm Australian but I can change it to an American accent. I don't mind it, it's fun ... I grew up watching American television.




Mike: I read you guys got a second season?

Craig: Yeah, I think we're going again. I think it's all good now.

Mike: OK, there are some rumors flying on the Internet that you may be involved with playing Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit movie?

Craig: No, no. I'm not. It looks like a good project and I'll have to have a look at it but no ... I'm not.



"Mike's Pulse" is a column written by transplanted Midwesterner and current New Yorker Mike Ryan. For any compliments or complaints -- preferably the former -- you may contact Mike directly at miker@starpulse.com or follow Mike on Twitter