Though it would be easy for someone with as much cultural capital as Lawless to simply sit back and let the tough girl roles roll in, the actor has actually been spending her time on ventures far away from the limelight. One such venture saw Lawless returning to university, where she studied philosophy part-time. In a 2012 interview, the actor shared that she went on to pursue acting after learning three languages in her first time at university. However, her thirst for knowledge, and for philosophy in particular, was rekindled in later life when she attended a UN conference on sustainable development in Brazil.
Lawless stated that she's "very concerned about climate change" and became interested in delving deeper into the philosophy behind political policies after seeing "people who really just want to survive to make it to the next election, rather than making means of change." All of which made her question, "What is a just society? Because, all of these people feel justified. So what is justice?"
As well as making "a lot of new friends who are 18," Lawless also found that studying philosophy helped her in all aspects of her life, making her calmer, happier, and a better activist. "If you're on top of an oilrig, fighting with politicians, or whatever – you need a bit of wisdom to realize that you're not always right, or that you're not always being reasonable, or you're not always listening."
