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CHARISMA
CARPENTER GOES TO WORK ON ANGEL
Hers
is not a household name - yet. But fans of Buffy the Vampire
Slayer will recognize her as Cordelia Chase, the snobby
rich girl who left Sunnydale, California, and moved to Los Angeles,
where she works for a 244-year-old vampire.
She
is Charisma (her real name), one of the stars of Angel,
which follows the cult hit Buffy on the WB network on
Tuesday nights. The show - more adult and a bit darker
than Buffy - was recently picked up for a full season.
On
a sunny November day, the lovely, dark-haired Carpenter, 29,
is doing a round of media interviews, fashionably attired in
a white coat over blue jeans and a green turtleneck.
She
is thrilled with audience reaction to the series ("we're
doing so darned good"), which also stars David Boreanaz,
29, as the vampire Angel; and Glenn Quinn as Doyle, a disreputable
demon.
"I
think that David makes such a great leading man and such a great
superhero-type character," she said. "There's
nobody really his age doing this type of show, where he's like
the hero, you know, he fights, like Batman, he's fighting evil,
and even his own evil, his own evil side. A vampire with
a conscience."
In
the spinoff, Carpenter works as Angel's Girl Friday while pursuing
her acting career. She answers the phone with a cheery, "Angel
Investigations. We help the helpless."
But
Cordelia hasn't lost any of her snap. In a recent episode, she
confronts a nasty ghost who wants her dead.
Humbler,
but still determined
"Cordelia
hates her digs," Carpenter explained. "She's
lost her fortune; she's much humbler now. So basically
she lives in a dump. She's broke. And it comes about
that she can live in this apartment, this phenomenal apartment,
and it's exactly the image that she wants to project.
She has to have this apartment at any cost. And it turns
out, it's haunted, which she doesn't want Angel to know, she
doesn't want Doyle to know, she doesn't want anybody to know
that it's haunted."
Why
doesn't Cordelia just ask Angel and Doyle to cleanse the apartment
and put the ghost to rest?
"Because
she's certain she can deal with it, because 'it's OK, I just
have to live here, and you know what, I'm not afraid, I grew
up in Sunnydale, I've dealt with demons, been there, done that,'"
Carpenter said.
When
push comes to shove, Cordelia refuses to give up her furnished,
rent-controlled, one-bedroom apartment (New Yorkers can relate),
where she can put her Queen of the Winter Ball trophy on the
mantel. She tells the menacing poltergeist:
"I'm
not a sniveling, whiny little cry-Buffy. I'm the nastiest girl
in Sunnydale history. I take crap from nobody. You think you're
bad? All mean and haunt-y, picking on poor, pathetic Cordie?
Well, get ready to haul your wrinkly, translucent (butt) out
of this place."
'I
found my niche'
Carpenter,
minus the nasty attitude, displays the same determination.
While
sipping hot tea and dining on an egg white omelet at a midtown
restaurant, she recalled the "a-ha!" moment when she
realized that acting was her life.
She
was auditioning for a part in a film that starred Jeff Goldblum.
"It
was a thriller film, the name I don't recall, but I read for
it like years ago, and when I read for it, I had the most amazing
moment of clarity and realization that that's definitely what
I want to do with my life. I found my niche. And
I'll be good at this. I loved it. It was very fulfilling,"
she said.
Her
first big acting break was the role of Ashley on the short-lived
1996 TV series Malibu Shores, a Spelling Entertainment
production.
When
the series folded, Carpenter was signed to play Cordelia.
Carpenter,
who recently purchased a home in Los Angeles, is engaged to
be married next summer. Meanwhile, she is busy filming future
episodes of Angel.
Carpenter:
Richer Angel role
Q:
How would you describe your character on Buffy?
Carpenter:
On Buffy? Cordelia? Uhmm. Resourceful.
Uhmm. Self-involved. You have to name these things
in threes, don't you? And the third one, fashion-conscious.
A fashionista.
Q:
You describe Angel as a "dram-edy," a combination
of drama and comedy. Does the comedy emerge mostly in
your relationship with Angel?
Carpenter:
I'm kind of like the ray of sunshine in a very dark show.
You have this dark, brooding character who's not a man of many
words, Angel; he's a minimalist, keeps it simple. I'm
the yapping Chihuahua nipping at his heels, and he's just constantly
trying to stay out of harm's way. Overwhelmed.
He doesn't know what to make of me. And that's where the
comedy comes in, that dynamic creates the situation.
Q:
How has Cordelia changed in Angel?
Carpenter:
I think I've met my challenge now. They're fleshing out
her character more, making her more three-dimensional, having
all these personal moments, making her more of a human being,
with real issues, someone that the audience can relate to a
little bit more. But she's still sassy. Which makes
her so much fun to watch.
Q:
Is there any of Charisma in Cordelia?
Carpenter:
I think now with Angel, there's a lot of me. And
I think that I realized how truthful I am and how honest I can
be because I saw it in her. I'm a no-nonsense kind of
person; I tell it like it is. I'm the type of person that
you want to go shopping with because I'm going to tell the truth.
Like what do you think? "Well, you know what? We
can do better." But then on the other hand, nobody
really likes to hear the truth (laughs).
Q:
What kind of roles would you like to do in the future?
Carpenter:
The offers have been along Cordelia's lines, like playing the
same thing, but I kind of would like to do more independent
departures from my character, otherwise it's not fun.
I've
been doing Cordelia for three years, I'm about to do it for
another year, it would be four years of doing the same person.
I'd like to spread my wings a little bit, which I think when
the powers that be in Hollywood see what's asked of me and I'm
not so one-dimensional, then I think those other goals will
become more readily available.
Q:
What roles would you like to play?
Carpenter:
You know, a nice girl. The girl that gets the guy.
A romantic comedy would be great. I think I have a knack
for that. BACK
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