New Zealand actor Lucy Lawless says she felt compelled to illegally board a ship during a protest against oil exploration.
Lawless and seven other activists on Thursday admitted to unlawfully boarding a vessel following a protest in New Plymouth in February this year.
The protesters were trying to prevent the ship leaving to search for oil in Alaska.
The group was originally charged with burglary, but that charge was reduced on Thursday to unlawfully boarding the vessel.
All admitted that charge and were remanded on bail when they appeared in the Auckland District Court.
They will be sentenced in the New Plymouth District Court in September.
Lawless is expected to ask to be discharged without conviction.
She says the group achieved its aim of raising awareness about oil drilling and has no intention of taking part in a similar protest in the near future.
