Athena has been portrayed by three actors, Amanda Lister in the Hercules episode "The Apple", Jane Fullerton-Smith on Young Hercules and by the incrediblt actress Paris Jefferson in the Xena Episodes "Amphipolis under Siege", "Eve" and "Motherhood". Paris grew up in Sydney, Australia (Go the Aussies :). Her mother and grandmother were dancers, so following in her mothers footsteps Paris trained in dance and Jazz, then finally moved into theatre. At 17 she moved to San Diego to study at The San Diego Performing Arts Centre where she played Madge in "Picnic", Isabelle in "Ring around the Moon." and others. After returning to Sydney she attended classes at the Actors Centre, Sydney, the Sailes Academy, the Rodenweiser Dance Centre and the N.S.W College of Dance (Sydney) before turning professional.
Her theatre credits include, the Bay St. Theatre, Sydney’s performance of "The Merchant of Venice" and "It had to be Yol.l.", "Carousel" for the Regent Theatre, Sydney, Julia in "The Good Doctor" and Sonja in "Uncle Vanya". She then went to London where she acted on several TV shows and did more theatre. Ms. Jefferson spends much of her down-time campaigning for GreenPeace, which she says "as important to me as acting"