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About Robert
Gerard Tapert
Bio
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Quotes
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Full Name:
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Robert Gerard
Tapert |
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Date of Birth:
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14 May 1955 |
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Birthplace:
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Michigan, USA |
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Martal Status:
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Married to
Lucille Frances Lawless
(28 March 1998) |
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Children:
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Two with Lucy Lawless:
- Julius Robert Bay Tapert born on 16
October 1999 in New Zealand
- Judah Miro Tapert born on 7th May
2002 in New Zealand
Stepdaughter
- Daisy Lawless (15 July 1988)
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Resides: |
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Auckland, New
Zealand / Los Angeles, CA, USA |
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Trivia:
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Rob's college
roommate was Ivan Raimi, brother of his
future business partner, Sam Raimi.
Rob and his business partner Sam Raimi were
asked to do a remake of the John Woo film
The Killer. Believing that they couldn't
make a better version of the film, they
decided to make one with John Woo instead.
Hard Target was released in 1993 and starred
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Yancy Butler, Arnold
Vosloo, and Lance Henriksen.
Rob and his partner Sam Raimi have formed
Ghost House Productions to produce horror
films. Their first two were The Grudge and
Boogeyman. And they have a remake of the
Evil Dead in the pipeline.
Rob is a huge sci-fi fan, so he decided
he wanted to make a sci-fi show. But he
didn't want to do anything that took itself
too seriously (like Earth: Final Conflict)
and he didn't want to do Outer Space. So he
went underground with Cleopatra 2525!
De Beers Jewelers bought a bunch of
advertizing during an episode of Xena and
the studio promised them that the show would
feature a gemstone. When he was told of this
deal, Rob asked, "Will it work if Gabrielle
gives Xena a wedding ring?" The studio
responded with an emphatic "No!"
Rob told the studio that he didn't want to
do a show about Hercules, he wanted to do
Conan. But he was told that the rights to
that franchise were all screwed up. So Rob
made the five Hercules movies, never
thinking that they were going to be a tv
show.
One of the things that the studio told Rob
he couldn't do on his show was kill a mother
in the teaser. Rob's response? "Sure I can",
and proved it in the Hercules episode
Outcast. Another thing they told him he
couldn't do was kill a child. So in the Xena
episode Callisto Rob put a shot of a boy
"hiding" with his eyes open"- or was he
dead?!
Rob and his partner Sam Raimi did the two
hour pilot for the tv show M.A.N.T.I.S. and
then got pushed off the project because they
had difficulties with the people from the
"feature" side of the studio. They cast Gina
Torres and Bobby Hosea for the main roles,
but they were recast after they left. But
Rob used them both again on Xena and other
shows.
The ship which Rob insisted on building for
Xena was called Rob's Folly, and it had
holes in the side so that one could fish
from it.
Rob and Lucy rarely discussed future
storylines for Xena at home, since Lucy
would often get excited about an upcoming
story only to have things change completely
before filming.
Rob does all of the cooking in his
household, since he's an excellent cook and
Lucy isn't.
Rob is spoofed in the Hercules episodes Yes
Virginia, There Is a Hercules and For Those
of You Just Joining Us. He is played by his
old friend Bruce Campbell and his love of
fishing is lampooned as well.
Rob changed the ending in the director's cut
for the DDV release of the final Xena
episode in response to fans' outrage that
Gabrielle was shown in the last shot alone.
He says that if he knew how upset that would
make the fans he never would have done it
that way in the first place.
Rob said in an interview before the final
episode of Xena aired that he wasn't going
to kill the characters. He hated to lie, but
he was afraid the inevitable uproar would
ruin the show's ending.
Rob is married to Xena: Warrior Princess
television show star Lucy Lawless. They have
two sons together, Julius Robert Bay Tapert
and Judah Miro Tapert.
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Quotes: |
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Rob Tapert: (On
why and how he picked Xena's weapon) I had a
book of ancient weapons and I saw this weird
discus called the chakram and I said let's
give her this because it can return and
we'll never have another character use it.
John Schulian [series writer] said he hated
it and said we should cut around it. I told
him 'that weapon is the coolest thing I'd
ever seen' - it's her signature piece.
Rob Tapert: (On how he'd like Xena to be
remembered) I'd like Xena: Warrior Princess
to be remembered as a show that entertained
people during a portion of the last decade
of this millennium, and that the people who
watched it took whatever they wanted from it
and used it in a positive and useful way in
their lives.
Rob Tapert: (On Cleopatra 2525) I was a huge
fan of science fiction. In my warped little
mind, I saw a chance to spin sci-fi
differently than it had been done before,
which was to take it in an irreverent
direction. And hopefully, in making it
irreverent, but supporting it
production-wise, it wouldn't just be junk.
Rob: (On Kevin Sorbo appearing in the Xena
episode God Fearing Child) I'm really glad
he did the episode. I can't tell you how
much I think of him for coming back to do
that episode. It wasn't all that hard. He
also wanted the chance to be a part of that
story.
Rob: (On the exact nature of Xena and
Gabrielle's relationship) Xena and Gabrielle
are the best of mates, and whether they have
a sexual relationship is kind of their own
business. But they do certainly love one
another. They would die for one another.
Rob: To have any amount of creative freedom
in television or in movies is a unique
position, and very few people enjoy it. For
me, it's what made me love television: I had
that freedom that you don't enjoy in the
movie business.
Rob: (On his inspiration for "Xena") She was
based upon characters from Hong Kong movies
- conflicted villainesses who had some good
elements and some bad elements. (edit)
Rob: (On being married to Lucy Lawless)
Besides the fact that I'm married to the
greatest woman that I could ever have
imagined in my entire life, our life is like
everybody else's. We come home, we make
dinner - she doesn't like to cook, I like to
cook. She gets up early and goes to work, I
get up after her but I work at night. So, it
has all the same ups and downs of any other
relationship.
Rob: (on Lucy's frustration waiting for a
Xena movie to be funded) Her will is being
wilted away quickly, because she feels it's
something she could do again and do justice
to, because she knows how many people would
love to see it. I don't know what's going to
happen.
Rob: (when asked if Lucy was the first
choice to play Xena) She was always our top
choice. MCA wanted to cast someone else.
Rob: (on the "subtext") The studio was
concerned, but we said we're not even
worried about it.
Rob: (on the possibility of a Xena movie) If
I was a betting man, I'd say something's
going to happen.
Rob: (when asked if he planned to do tv
after Xena) I pitched a show to Renee
(O'Connor) and Ted (Raimi) about them as a
couple. A silly comedy. And they laughed,
but that was more of an off-the-cuff thing.
Rob: (on ending Xena after 6 years) Why
couldn't it go into another year after that?
Because I think Lucy and Renee would kill
somebody. I think they really enjoy doing
it, but that will take them to 134 episodes,
and physically, it's hard.
Rob: (On the subtext on Xena and Buffy) Joss
Whedon did the right thing. He's got his
relationships with his C and D characters.
I'll be interested to see if Tara and Willow
end up on a happy or a sad note ultimately.
Rob: (regarding the studio's reaction to the
decision to kill off Xena) They got the
first draft of the script and I got a call
from the head of syndication asking me about
whether this was a good idea and if it would
affect the reruns. I told him we've killed
Xena five times and Gabrielle three times,
Iolaus eight times and Herc a couple of
times. My feeling is it sets up the
franchise in such a way that there'll be a
"want to see" as to what happened after
this. I think it's opening a door as well as
closing one. He agreed and we moved on.
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BIOGRAPHY
Rob Tapert first become
involved with filmmaking while attending
Michigan State University where he gained an
Economics degree. He was drawn into film
courses by his roommate Ivan Raimi's brother
Sam. Sam Raimi had been making films of his
own in his native Michigan for many years,
usually with his brothers Ivan and Ted, and
Raimi's childhood friend Bruce Campbell.
Ultimately, Sam Raimi and Tapert decided
that they should make a film together.
The result of this endeavour was The
Happy Valley Kid, the story of a young man,
played by Tapert, who goes to college, only
to be met with rejection at every turn. Near
the end of the film, he loses his mind,
dresses up as a cowboy, and begins gunning
down all those who wronged him. Despite its
seemingly serious plot, the film is largely
a comedy. The film was screened at Michigan
State several times, and made a profit for
Raimi and Tapert. This spurred them onto the
idea of making a feature film.
Ultimately, this feature film was
produced, a graphic horror film entitled The
Evil Dead, directed by Sam Raimi and
starring Bruce Campbell. Thanks to a glowing
review from author Stephen King, the film
was a wild success with the crowd at the
Cannes film festival in France, despite not
enamouring other critics. The film was
successful enough to spawn two sequels, Evil
Dead II and Army of Darkness, as well as
long careers for Tapert, Raimi, Campbell,
and others.
Tapert went on to become an executive
producer of the action features Hard
Target and Timecop starring Jean
Claude Van Damme, as well as two
direct-to-video Darkman sequels.
He was also executive
producer of Raimi's theatrical film The
Gift, starring Cate Blanchett and Keanu
Reeves and executive producer of Raimi's
high-action The Quick and the Dead,
starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Sharon Stone
and Gene Hackman.
Together, Tapert and
Raimi executive produced the two-hour series
pilot of Fox's M.A.N.T.I.S., the CBS
series American Gothic, the ABC
series Spy Game, the Fox Kids Network
series Young Hercules, Hercules
and Xena: The Animated Movie, the
telemovie Young Hercules and four
Hercules telemovies. In addition, they
executive produced the syndicated TV series
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,
Xena: Warrior Princess, Cleopatra
2525 and Jack of All Trades.
It was during the making
of Xena Warrior Princess that Rob met his
wife, Lucy Lawless and they got married
March 28, 1998. Rob and Lucy have two
children, They have two sons: Julius Robert
Bay Tapert (born October 16, 1999) and Judah
Miro Tapert (born May 7, 2002). Tapert is
also stepfather to Lawless' daughter, Daisy
Lawless (born July 15, 1988), from her first
marriage.
*information sources:
AUSXIP Lucy Lawless and Wikipeida |
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