‘Bionic Woman’ Star Lindsay Wagner on Typecasting, Role Models & Whether She’s as Fit as Jamie Sommers

Fifty years ago, Lindsay Wagner slow-motion ran into our hearts as the star of The Bionic Woman, which aired its first episode on January 14, 1976. Spun off from an incredibly successful guest spot Wagner had done on The Six Million Dollar Man, Wagner played Jaime Sommers, a tennis player-turned-secret agent-slash-teacher who fought her formidable foes with super-speed, super-hearing, and other powers tied to her cybernetic implants.

The Bionic Woman ran for three seasons and multiple made-for-TV movies, winning Wagner a Best Actress Emmy in the process. But even after she was done fighting crime, she remained a vibrant cultural presence, as the star of Judith Krantz adaptations Scruples and Princess Daisy, as an actor who still has a busy schedule as a guest star on shows like Fuller House and NCIS, and as an advocate for holistic lifestyles and natural wellness, including acupuncture.

In this 2015 interview, conducted while Wagner was on a speaking tour, the star spoke about fighting typecasting, her passion for natural living, and whether she’s as physically fit as Jamie Sommers.

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Your onscreen work has been so diverse. Did you have to fight to do some of your meatier roles instead of being typecast from Bionic Woman?

Lindsay Wagner: Actually no, and I think two things factored into that. First, from the beginning, we made a conscious effort when writing the stories to give Jaime opportunities to show many different faces: serious, funny, silly, sarcastic, scared … so it was not as easy to define the type with her as it was with characters in other shows. Secondly, I was blessed with a very successful show, so my “Q factor” on television was extremely high after The Bionic Woman. Consequently, the studios were willing to let me do the stories that I wanted to do. I have always seen my career as a way of communicating through story, an exploration and understanding of our human potential to be able to transcend our circumstances. I was able to do stories that dealt with child abuse, domestic violence, and revisionist history, even terrorism … things that television at the time just wasn’t tackling.

Did you see yourself as a female role model since you were playing such a uniquely powerful woman? 

I didn’t so much “see myself” as a role model. What I wanted to do was collaborate with the producer and writers on the storylines of the show — that by design were adversarial — to show Jaime using her mind and heart to resolve problems and not just depend on her brawn as the means to the end. We tried to express that it’s not always so black and white with a good guy and a bad guy. Having a broader perspective will often result in a much more desirable outcome. I hoped the essence of this would eventually translate to personal life situations as well. So I guess by being passionate about that view, and working with such creative and talented producers and writers, we created something that kids and adults resonated with.

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Looking back, how healthy was your lifestyle in your Bionic Woman days? How did those habits affect your level of health and approach to it in more recent years? 

By the time I started The Bionic Woman, I was already practicing a more holistic way of being and this definitely helped me to cope with the pressure of the high-profile life I found myself in. At that time I was like a new baby deer… pretty wobbly but I could walk.

My interest in a more holistic approach to life, addressing body, mind and spirit, had begun in my late teens when I suffered gall bladder issues and stomach ulcers triggered by stress and a poor diet. The doctors wanted to operate, but my boyfriend’s mother brought two dear friends who shared a common philosophy to see me: one an MD, the other a minister. They offered to help me possibly avoid the surgery by broadening my understanding of what it takes to really heal something.

I changed my diet; they taught me to use visualizations to help heal my stomach, how to examine the way I felt about myself, others and the world, which began my education on the potency of thought and intention, meditation and more effective prayer. Within six weeks of their mentoring, my body had reoriented itself and I was actually able to avoid the surgery. This — for me at that time — “unbelievable experience” launched me into a lifetime of personal exploration and study of our amazing human potential.

You’ve been a longtime believer in spirituality and natural solutions for health and wellness. Do you feel like our society has become more open to this over the years?

Absolutely! I feel we are finally waking up to realizing that healing comes from within and the various modalities are just our helpers.

How much a part of your life is fitness? Do you have a daily workout routine?

Well, I must confess, that is my greatest weak spot. Ironic, isn’t it? I used to say that the Bionic Woman coming into my life was my karma for not being better about that. Run, run, jump, run. Fortunately, I do have much better discipline with my diet and meditative practices to keep myself balanced.

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How do you maintain your fitness routine and diet when you are touring?

It is challenging. I’m even more diligent about my prayer and meditative practices, and I walk more. I have been known to show up on a location with a hot plate, mung beans, spices and cooking paraphernalia. I usually wait to unpack those things until after the bellman leaves [laughs]. Also the first thing I track down in the city is the health food store, and I usually bring my own food on the plane.

What can someone expect when they come to your shows?

A lot of fun and hopefully fond memories. I’ll be sharing anecdotes and stories from behind the scenes in my career, showing clips and photos from my personal collection, and I also take a few questions from the audience. You can find all the information [on tour dates] on my website, lindsaywagnerinternational.com