For those who haven’t checked out the show, Seeker is based (more or less) on author Terry Goodkind’s bestselling “Sword of Truth” fantasy series, and serves up a buffet of familiar swords-and-sorcery treats. Look, it ain’t great, but it’s often fun. It has an appealing cast—with hotties Bridget Regan (Kahlan Amnell) and Tabrett Bethell (Cara), plus the legendary Bruce Spense (Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander)—all tramping about in gorgeous New Zealand locations (a la Lord of the Rings). And best of all, it has no TV-typical cops, doctors, or lawyers.

TV.com: New Zealand’s not that big a country—have you seen every square inch by now?
Craig Horner: I’m kind of confined to Auckland, actually. There’s still so much I haven’t seen. Come the weekends, I just need to watch a movie, play the guitar, go swimming at the local swimming hole; you don’t have the urge to drive an hour to go see something. But I have a friend visiting for a couple of weeks, so that will probably get me out there.

So you haven’t even gone bungee jumping?
I did recently do the Sky Jump at the Sky Tower, it’s this massive needle in the city. I did it with Tabrett, who plays Cara. She took me there for my birthday. You’re kind of dangling at first. I didn’t look down much. And they let you go and drop you, first just 10 meters, and they take a photo, and then they let you go. But you have this tension, from the wires, on you the whole time, you feel that safety, so I kind of felt like a bird flying down. It was great.

Legend of the Seeker is a physically grueling series. You must be a helluva swordsman by now. I like that backhanded grip you whip out sometimes.
Well, I keep getting better and better, I hope. I have a great stunt double who’s always challenging me to keep it up. We don’t want to just have Richard doing the same old slice and dice. He started off with the heavy axe swing kind of moves—he was a woodsman, not a swordsman. He was cutting down trees, but now he’s cutting down D’Harans, right?

Let’s play the game where I say a name and you give me the first word that pops into your head. Bridget Regan.
Oh, cute.

Bruce Spense.
Warm.

Tabrett Bethell.
Ooohhh, uhhhh, slithery. That’s not a very nice word. [laughs] Let’s say smooth—it’s just that snake-like suit she wears.

You’re a pretty small cast. It is fun or challenging to work with each other so much?
We get guest actors in every episode, and that really helps to keep us from getting bored, and, you know, getting bored of each other. It can give us new energy, especially when it’s a young, great, interesting actor. It kind of revitalizes us and reminds us of what we’re about.

Is there a lot of humor on the set?
It’s a lot of going, going, going. You want to do bloopers, purposely goof up scenes, but there’s just not the time, and it’s expensive. And there’s so much in these episodes, so much that’s happening all the time, it’s crazy.

So of course fans are all about the unresolved sexual tension between Richard and Kahlan. Can you actually see the show not having it and still being successful?
It’s still critical to the show: You want to see how these two are feeling that while it’s just getting worse and worse around them; I mean, you’ve got this evil dude to deal with, it’s the Keeper who’s basically the Devil, right, so that kind of takes priority over your relationship. So you keep following your destinies, fulfilling your prophecies and then see how you end up.

Looking back over the evolution of the show, it seems it took a real emotional turn with Season 1 episode 8, the debut of Denna and the Mord’Siths.
That was one of my favorite episodes, that and episodes one and two. They had a real journey for Richard; meaty yeah? We really went there, you were just in a dungeon, just two characters playing out scenes—it was powerful wasn’t it? But that’s kind of the question: Do you make a show that’s just a frenzy of fast-moving images…or do you just make solid acts, keep them self contained, sort of. I wish we could do that more.

At the end of Season 1, Kahlan says to Richard, “No one can blame you if you want to go home.” And Richard says, “I am home.” How long do you see Legend of the Seeker being your home? Do you want a third season? A sixth season?
There are so many pros about this job, and a couple of cons—being away from friends and family in Australia to shoot for nine months of the year, and the shooting is grueling. I want to live all aspects of my life, not just acting.

But this is a project that could go on for years. I mean, we’re not just sitting around in a medical room, talking about this or that disease. I get to ride horses, fight with swords, fulfill my Indiana Jones dreams, my Conan and Star Wars fantasies. And it’s always, you know, the end of the world, losing your father, your son, your mother (laughs). So if there’s a character I could keep playing, it’s Richard.

What else would you like to do?
Well, not really acting projects as such. I mean that stuff just kind of happens, doesn’t it? It’s not like I can say, ‘Okay now I want to do my thriller with Scorsese, where is it?’

What I need to do is listen to my body: It needs rest, it needs better food, a bit more meditation, some massages, yeah? Playing music and dancing and hanging out with friends. I’ll get all that back in me, and then we’ll see what the next thing is.

Legend of the Seeker airs Saturdays and Sundays in syndication.

When we spoke on the phone Craig was still working on the second season, with five more episodes to shoot. How does it feel compared to this point in your schedule last year? I asked. “Pretty grueling,” Craig confessed. “When it’s all done I can rest and recoup and I can really enjoy that. I guess last year I knew the day I wrapped I would go to the United States.”

Not for rest and relaxation. Apparently Craig was sent on a whirlwind press tour to help promote the show. This year he is hoping to appear at a major convention in the United States. He’s pretty excited about that as it came up a couple of times. If it happens this will be Craig’s first American entertainment event.

With nine months of intensive shooting for Legend of the Seeker Craig doesn’t get much time to do other projects. Still, considering that he is in New Zealand, I could not help but ask: Any chance you might have a role in ‘The Hobbit’?

“I’m going to look into that,” Craig admitted. Read more…

Have you always been a fan of fantasy or was the whole swords and sorcery world new to you?

I was a massive fan of fantasy. I had an older brother who was about thirteen years older than me and he brought me into the world of Conan and star Wars. He had all these movies lying around, he had comic books everywhere; he had lots of the original Star Wars figures. I was easily brought into that world of fantasy. There wasn’t a day when I wasn’t running around the back yard with swords and killing imaginary orcs.

What’s your favourite fantasy film?

I love Conan, but do you know what? I’m one of those weirdoes who likes the sequel to Conan.

Have you read the Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth books?

Yeah, I read the first one and I’m just getting stuck into the second one now. I’m a big fan of the Sword of Truth, I think it’s a really good book. I’m also a fan of Legend of the Seeker, I kind of think they’re two different entities. The way I can best explain it is that I loved the original Star Wars movies and from then they spawned off and they went and did all these things – TV shows, comic books, cartoons, novels. They took the galaxy if you will – the characters and the mythology – and they expanded it. That’s kind of like what we’re doing. So I have huge respect for what we’re doing and Terry Goodkind’s books as well.

You’re filming in New Zealand and obviously there are a lot of parallels to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Were you conscious of having to live up to the fantasy benchmark set by those films?

Absolutely. We’re so lucky, man, because half the people who worked on the damn films are working for us. So they know about that kind of world, they know what looks great in costume and make-up, and the weaponry, the armoury, all that stuff. This landscape here, this kind of prehistoric, untouched world that New Zealand has really is that extra character for the show, as it was for Lord of the rings. So I definitely knew that we were going to be using New Zealand to its full capacity.

I’ve read that you enjoy playing the guitar and writing music. Is that something you try to do between filming?

Absolutely. I remember reading that Christian Bale said when he was filming a massive movie you need some kind of hobby, whether it’s fixing an old bike or something else where you can just go home and take your mind off it. I guess it’s that for me, but also music is just as much of a passion for me as acting. So it’s just that little creative outlet; when you’re emotionally drained from having a massive day of acting, just silly singing, silly dancing, rocking out man. I just love it.

Tell us what the SCI FI Channel audience can expect from Legend of the Seeker season 1.

I would say in one sentence it’s Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings. It’s classic fantasy. You want the young hero who goes from a boy to a man; you want a wise teacher to teach him; you want a beautiful princess like woman to guide the hero. You can expect action, fighting, swords and horses, heaps of drama and really good relationships. That’s why I think shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer have stood the test of time. You needed something like a Buffy and an Angel; a relationship that was so special, not meant to be, but they wanted it so bad. And that’s kind of what me and Kahlan have. So you can expect action, romance, comedy… it’s all there.

You’re also working with a genuine cult film legend in Bruce Spence. How’s it been working with him?

Bruce is an absolute legend. I love Bruce. Gosh, he’s like 63 or something and I get along with him so well. We just chill out, talk about old films, books, and go for bush walks. He’s really awesome, he’s really laid back. He’s got a great vibe off set. He’s become that cult figure. He had those great appearances in Mad Max, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and he’s getting offers now for literally Narnia and The Hobbit. And the great thing is he keeps an element of fun, because we’re not really saving lives. It’s good to have a bit fun while we’re doing it [acting].

Sam Raimi is one of the Producers of the show, has he been quite hands on? Has he spent any time on the set?

I’ve met Sam twice. When we started season 1 he was directing Drag Me to Hell, so he couldn’t really come over [to New Zealand]. But I went over during our hiatus and I went to the Drag Me To Hell set and that’s where I got to meet him and have a chat with him. He’s a really great guy. I think he’s just a young geeky kind of kid and he’s really remained true to himself and his passion.

What’s on the horizon for Craig Horner?

Well I’ve got another nine months of season 2. I can’t really plan much. All I can do is work on my music and gosh, we’ll wait and see. I know that Sam Raimi is doing World of Warcraft, I’m going to try and get in that. I can be a blood elf or something.