#135 | R.J. Stewart | Xena: Warrior Princess

RJ Stewart on developing and writing Xena: Warrior Princess, Remington Steele, The Rundown, and his novel Crazy Hawk. RJ Stewart is the author of his recently released post-apocalyptic thriller, Crazy Hawk, but he is best known for developing, writing and producing Xena: Warrior Princess (starring Lucy Lawless), once the highest-rated television show in syndication. RJ started out as a teamster for nine years and a fledgling stage actor, until he got his first break, writing for the NBC romance, detective drama starring Pierce Brosnan, Remington Steele. It would parlay into a 22-year Hollywood career that includes writing credits for movies The Rundown, starring Duane "The Rock" Johnson, Major League 2, starring Charlie Sheen, and television's Cleopatra 2525. He also worked on projects with Kevin Costner, Rebecca De Mornay and James Garner. Stewart was born in Brooklyn, New York, but has lived most of his life in the American West. His youth as the son of an Air Force sergeant was spent across six states and Greece, Italy, and Germany. These days he lives on a San Diego County horse ranch with his wife of 51 years, Kat O'Connor. Various horses and dogs have been kind enough to share their ranch with R.J. and Kat, including Danny, a beautiful palomino who inspired the creation of the buckskin character in Crazy Hawk, his first novel. For more information, please check out: www.hovartus.com. Chapters 0:00 Welcome R.J. Stewart 2:30 A father in the Air Force 5:02 Rebuilding abandoned airstrips 7:33 Moving with happy parents 10:03 Friends in the Pacific Palisades 12:35 Firefighters on the property in 2012 15:05 Feeling safe at home 17:35 Lucky to have found each other 20:04 Where they lived across the US 22:34 Russia in 1996 25:01 Filming in Red Square 27:37 The Civil War 30:05 Learning without books 32:31 The University of Oklahoma 35:06 Homestead Air Force Base 37:30 Enlisting, then waiting 40:03 Florida International instead 42:35 The Valley of the Sun 45:01 India and Europe 47:33 A wave in Crete 50:01 The Minoans and Knossos 52:31 Ambition to be an actor 55:04 Rejection in acting and writing 57:34 Hired on Remington Steele 1:00:05 A first script and an agent 1:02:37 An office among the actors 1:05:08 A favourite Bond 1:07:33 Never out of work from 1982 to 2003 1:10:06 Features versus TV writing 1:12:36 Game of Thrones 1:15:04 Meeting Rob Tapert 1:17:32 Before Xena there was La Femme Nikita 1:20:06 Still in syndication 1:22:37 How relationships change when you stop producing 1:25:07 Lucy Lawless 1:27:34 Keeping a list of ideas 1:30:01 Life in the writers' room 1:32:30 Horses 1:35:07 A post-apocalyptic world 1:37:32 A quote over the library door 1:40:07 Epictetus on the trail 1:42:31 Short stories written at 14 1:45:05 Writing for himself 1:47:30 When your identity is gone 1:50:05 Loving what happens to you 1:52:38 No deadline, no oversight 1:55:02 Years as a horseman 1:57:37 Write what you know 2:00:04 What we have not covered 2:02:35 Friends still working The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com