Renée O'Connor

American actress, producer, and director Renee O'Connor became known for playing Gabrielle in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess. Born in Houston and raised in Katy, Texas, she began acting at the Alley Theatre at age twelve. Her screen debut came at seventeen in the Teen Angel segment of the Disney Channel's The Mickey Mouse Club, followed by the Teen Angel series. She went on to appear in The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993) and the television movie Changes (1991), and later played Deianeira in Hercules and the Lost Kingdom, where executive producers Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi noticed her and cast her in Xena. In 2001 she started Roc Productions. She also appeared on stage, playing Lady Macbeth for Shakespeare by the Sea and later with the House of Bards Theatre Company, and Nurse in the Southern Shakespeare Company's Romeo and Juliet.