LUCY'S NEW LEASE OF LIFE I'M OFF THE HOOK!

The in-demand actress is busier than ever since her kids have left the nest

- Nicky Pellegrino.

You're never too old to try something new that's the attitude 56-year-old Lucy Lawless is living by. When we chat, the My Life Is Murder star is in Boston on a work trip and is getting ready to go out line dancing with friends.

"We did square dancing at school when I was about 13 and that was fun, but I've never tried line dancing before," she says cheerfully.

For Lucy, middle age has been a time for pushing herself out of her comfort zone. She's not afraid of failure -or the prospect of looking

a bit silly in the case of the line dancing and says that her 86-year-old mother, Julie Ryan, is her role model.

"My mum's such a selfstarter and she'll always give things a go. She's writing a book she writes poetry. She's actually a very big inspiration to me. Recently, she was in the news because she made a felted dog picture out of dog's hair... It's hilarious!" When Lucy's kids were leaving home, her mum was particularly helpful. Daughter Daisy is 35 now and working in the film industry, while sons Julius, 24, and Judah, 21, are at university in the US and studying science.

"It wasn't easy when they left and I was really quite upset," admits Lucy. "But my mum had warned me that I had to make sure I had something else going on. Your kids are going to leave, so you don't want to give up everything for them you've got to save something for yourself.

"What happened to me is I got all this brainpower back.