“Angel’s” Cordelia Speaks the Truth
Zap2it
April 17, 2002

In Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” the monarch’s youngest daughter, Cordelia, refuses to suck up to her father in order to be awarded dominion over part of his realm. Her honesty ultimately costs Cordelia her life.

It’s probably no coincidence, then, that the brutally honest character on The WB’s “Angel” played by Charisma Carpenter is also named Cordelia.

“She’s really the best friend you could ask for,” Carpenter says of Cordelia. “She always tells the truth.”

It’s a trait that doesn’t always make Cordelia the most endearing character — especially in Carpenter’s years on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Cordy more often than not played the stuck-up, popular-girl role in the show’s high-school setting.

Since Carpenter moved to “Angel” three seasons ago, however, she has had room to show far more depth to Cordelia. It’s something she says was always there in the character.

“It was just a matter of when to bring it out,” Carpenter tells Zap2it.com. “She was never one-dimensional; she wasn’t as superficial as people thought.”

Where Cordy was a supporting character on “Buffy,” she’s the female lead in “Angel.” Her psychic visions — sent to her by the supernatural Powers That Be — are what point Angel (David Boreanaz), Wesley (Alexis Denisof), Gunn (J. August Richards) and Fred (Amy Acker) to where the bad guys are.

That responsibility, executive producer David Greenwalt says, has allowed Cordelia to grow from a “vainglorious” high schooler to someone who’s “almost like a superhero.” It’s also allowed Carpenter to stretch as an actress.

“Having the opportunity to convey the other facets of her personality and the dynamic of her has been a wonderful workload and experience,” Carpenter says. “I can’t help but notice a vast difference.”

The chance to expand Cordelia’s character was a big part of what drew Carpenter to “Angel” after three seasons on “Buffy.” Carpenter says she was “very flattered” by the offer from “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon and Greenwalt, but wondered whether any of the people who made “Buffy” what it was would be moving over to the new series.

After hearing that several key crew members would make the transition, and that she’d be welcome on “Buffy” if “Angel,” for some reason didn’t make it, Carpenter took the plunge.

“I just trusted — which is not my nature, actually — because I believed so truly in [Whedon's] ability as a writer and as a visionary, that it would be fine,” she says.

Carpenter’s expanded role has also allowed her to take part in the demon-fighting action that makes up a good chunk of each “Angel” episode. She says she didn’t get to kill a vampire on “Buffy” until her final episode, which didn’t sit too well with her.

“That was the final thing I asked for Cordelia to be able to do,” Carpenter says. “She lived on a Hellmouth but didn’t stake a vampire until the third-season finale. She was always the damsel in distress, and I was constantly frustrated by that.”

Now, she regularly works with the show’s stunt team, learning how to handle the show’s array of fearsome weaponry. She’s even considering doing some training on her own.

“If we [continue to] go in that direction, I’d possibly have an interest in pursuing martial arts. Also, because I’ve gained a bit of weight, and I’d like to work on that,” she says with a laugh. “I’m just attracted to it.”

The “if” in that statement may come from the fact that she’s befuddled by what she knows about the end of this season. Carpenter says she likes the way show’s writers have been developing the relationship between Angel and Cordelia from co-workers to friends to possible lovers.

Then she was told what would happen in the season finale.

“I guess it’s all up in the air,” she says. “I had to pointedly ask — and the answer was, ‘We don’t know what’s happening with any of you.’ So, I’m just as frustrated as the next guy.”

Still, she has confidence that the show’s writers will make whatever happens works.

“These writers aren’t normal writers,” she says. “They’re able to put twists and turns on things.”

Hollywood Can’t Bedevil Angel Star
Charlie Mason with Michael Ausiello, TVGuide.com
April 15, 2002

As lethal with a punch line as a broad sword, Charisma Carpenter ought to be making a killing in Hollywood. But the Angel scene stealer keeps such a low profile, she might as well be a fugitive on America’s Most Wanted. Heck, she even blew off TV Guide Online three times before finally calling for this interview.

“I just don’t think I’m a big, fat star,” she explains. “There isn’t a high demand there [for press coverage]. Like, if I go to an event and have my picture taken, nine times out of 10 it will be someone else who’s a little more famous that gets [their photo] published – and that’s fine. I don’t go [to a premiere] unless I’m going to see something that’s of interest to me. I don’t do it to get pumped up.

“[Publicity] can be fun,” she continues. “But the more you leave yourself open to that, the more backlash you can get.”

Such a concern is paramount for the Las Vegas native. Named after an Avon perfume – rather than for the quality that eventually would make her a star – she studied classical ballet throughout her childhood. Then, in 1994, a guest appearance on Baywatch led to her big break: Impressed producer Aaron Spelling made her a regular on his short-lived prime-time soap, Malibu Shores. The rest is showbiz history.

“This acting thing has just been a beautiful privilege in the sense that I didn’t spend my entire life trying to do it,” the 31-year-old acknowledges, “and I don’t necessarily want it more than I want a family. I don’t want to sacrifice the family I don’t have that doesn’t exist right now.”

So, for the time being, the singleton – who is happily dating a non-actor – will busy herself by evading requests for Q&A sessions and enjoying her posse of pals at Angel. When the WB’s superior Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff returns tonight at 9 pm/ET (after a five-week hiatus that felt like five years), her ghost-busting she-demon Cordelia Chase helps blood-sucker Angel (David Boreanaz) cope with his infant son’s abduction. Later on, she figures, she can worry about caring for a child of her own.

“It’s not really a good time for me to even think about having a kid – I’m not even married,” she notes. “So it’s like putting the cart before the horse to talk about it. But I’m certainly open.

“I don’t know what’s in store for this little girl right here,” she concludes. “It’s kind of exciting.”