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Backstage with Charisma Carpenter

Toni@WB17: Thanks for meeting with us. I appreciate it, Charisma. Um, you're bringing Cordelia to LA now, and she's got a little bit of growing up to do to survive there. Tell me a little bit about that switch.
Charisma -- I think the switch is big, bad city, which Sunnydale was, definitely bad and evil and all that, but um, it's not so much the undead that she needs to survive, it's now a more basic threat, which is eating, surviving, succeeding at her goal, which she wants to become an actress, that's why she moved, and also her parents lost all of their money, so she is making every effort she can using her own resources, to be, in order to get ahead in life, without being able to go to the college she was accepted to. There's a lot of riff raff cuz we're on the set, right now, sorry...but um, yeah, so she's doing the best she can do to survive on her own resources, succeeding and acting which is her goal. She was accepted to all these great colleges, but her parents made a big mistake... they didn't pay their taxes for the last 15 years, so um, you know, they are now in Biminy, I think it is...my favorite word.

So how does she grow up?
Charisma -- Well, I think it's a work in progress... her growing up. Um, it's going to take some time and it's very early on in the season, so I really don't know that much, but I know that it's just about getting kind of real and not really having the same budget that she had had in the past, so she's got to live in that substandard level of living and she can't shop at the places she's used to shopping at and she basically begs Angel for a job.

And you know what, she's the kind of person where the other girls would like want to scratch her eyes out. Does that change now, that, does she become more real or are her feet planted on the ground more? Or do you see it going in that direction.
Charisma -- You know what, if Cordelia's feet were too well planted, it wouldn't be as fun now, would it? So you can count on some pizzazz and sass and all the regular good stuff, but there is a certain amount of survival, whether or not other people want to scratch her eyes out, that's probably still true. Yeah, sure.

Was it a sad goodbye to leave the set of "Buffy" and to venture off into something else?
Charisma -- Yes, and no. It's a double question. The last day of shooting that I had worked with Nicky, Nicky had told me you know, this is our last scene together, and I kind of broke down and had a moment there. But on the other hand, no because we have the same writers, the same producers, so, and the writing's a lot of the same, so it's not a complete total loss, and um, I do get the chance to see Alyson and I haven't seen too many others. Seth was working here and also um, the guy that plays James who plays Spike. He was here as well. So it's kind of like a little bit of family coming and going.

Tell me about the relationship now between Cordelia and Angel.
Charisma -- The relationship between Cordelia and Angel is strictly employee/employer... she basically begged him for a job, um, but he does need her, because what, the things she had suggested to him make sense, they need income, they need to pay the rent, they need to help people, they need to help the hopeless, we need to charge those people and the most efficient way to go about doing that is to have help, and I'm sort of like his good-two person... his girlfriend, if you will.

Is this darker than "Buffy"?
Charisma -- You know, that seems to be an adjective, darker, that um, is sort of the hot, the hot word.. is it true? is it not true? I really don't know. It has a lot of fellings.. some episodes tend to feel a little more even, a little more human, a little bit more threatening, what have you. Um, and poetic and sentimental, and I guess human, yeah, and less science-fiction, in some aspects, so maybe in that scope, it's darker, um, but you know, Buffy had a lot of real issues as well, so I don't know. I think you're going to have to wait and see what happens through the rest of the season, because I'm not sure. It's good, I guess, it's more adult oriented in that it doesn't revolve around a high school and the concerns aren't about high school like finals or studying or getting into college, so I think the themes are a little bit older, which is natural.

Tell us a little bit about Charisma. Let's start with your name.
Charisma -- Oh, my name. Yeah, it's a doozy. Um, Charisma was my God-given name, believe it or not, and my family had brought my mom a bottle of perfume by Avon called Charisma, which you know, I was in the hospital without any for a really long time, and my father's choice was not a good one so my mom would have no part of it, and then my grandma came to the rescue and brought Avon perfume named Charisma, she really wasn't in favor of the perfume, but loved the name, so... hence my curse.

Did you ever find out what name your dad wanted? That it didn't make the cut.
Charisma -- I did, but I won't repeat it.(laughs). It's so horrible, no I can't do it.

Do you like this business? Is it fun?
Charisma -- Um, I love this business. Two aspects. I love it because it's a real challenge -- the acting, getting to that place that you want to go to in the dialogue, plus I always look forward to doing the dialogue that's written for us by Josh and David because they're so gifted as writers and they get into it and I love working when the three of us have a scene together, there's just so much humor with brooding, with seriousness, with like so many dynamics, in a scene that make it so much fun. I totally look forward to it and can't wait to do it. Then on the other hand, it's a very demanding job. Um, you know, I was very, very, very, very very sick last night, and you gotta come to work, you know. It's not like a regular job where if you're not well, you can call in sick for a couple weeks or something. It's serious business, and it costs a lot of money if you don't show up. So, it's kind of like you don't have the same liberties, but it affords so many other great things and I guess the best thing is that you're able to do or have that creative outlet that you've always wanted, I've always wanted to have, and I get paid for it, so... (Toni: That's great). And I get perks... I get to work with David, I get to work with Glenn, I get to meet other famous people, so...


How is it working with David? We just love him.
Charisma -- Oh, he's so great. He is so stoic and so manly and poised and uh, he carries himself with, with this certain carriage of prestige, and like, a lot of things, like total leading man, and then he'll go with a stapler and go "gonk, gonk gonk" with you. LIke, he's a total cornball meets Prince Charming. So it's always interesting to see him do that because he fits in many categories, like a chameleon, you know. He'd be a great dad. (Toni: Yeah, I think so.) He'd be a very entertaining dad.

Were you surprised that there was going to be an Angel spinoff?
Charisma -- Well, that I was going to be included, yes, I was sorry... was I surprised there'd be an Angel spinoff? Well, I had no idea there was going to be one, but I think what was most surprising is that I was and flattering was that I was asked to be a part of it. Um, Angel is a very popular character. He's a great-looking guy. He's a talented guy. It makes sense, um, so it's not that riveting or that confusing or that hard to understand or put your brain around but um, oh, it's going to be so good. I'm really, really excited about it.

What were you doing to make money before you hit it big?
Charisma -- Personally, what was I doing for a living before I started working in television? Let's see. I worked at a video store years and years ago. I was into fitness. I worked at a gym for awhile. Uh, I was a waitress from hell. I served yogurts, gosh, I ... modeled, nobody hired me for modeling.. (Toni: why not?) I was just too short... (you got the features). Well, thank you. Um, yes, but I was way way too short and a lot of people in this town have good features for modeling and I just wasn't one of them. So it all worked out for the best, though because here I am. Very happily employed on Angel.