It’s a Very Vampy Birthday for Angel–and You’re Invited to the Party
By Kristin Vietch, E!Online
February 6, 2004

Angel turned 100 this week. And, hot damn, that boy still looks fine.

To celebrate, I’m letting the show’s entire gang (all seven castmembers and creator Joss Whedon) do the talking, thanks to one-on-one interviews and video clips from the 100th-episode celebration.

[All other interviews excluded]

Charisma Carpenter: Cordelia

How’s the reunion?
It’s good to be back. Totally different and completely the same, all at the same time. It’s surreal. I remember the first day Joss put his arm around my neck and said, “What do you think of a spinoff?” And I was like, “Eek, I don’t know. What if it flops?” And he told me he’d never put me out there without a safety net. And here we are–well, here they are–100 episodes later.

Do you think you’ll come back again?
I don’t think so, no. I think this is it.

No! Why?
The thing about Cordelia is that her stories have been told. I think this is it. And what a time to go–the 100th episode. I think everything has been explored for her. And it’s really a sweet, sweet episode. Joss had written me a note and said this is one of the sweeter stories we’ve ever told. And I agree.

Do you pay attention to what the fans are saying?
Well, my mom tells me what they say online, on the Internet, and I think they’re pissed, you know? I think they’re pissed that she’s not back for good…But I think the 100th episode gives some closure. It’s good for the fans. It was essential to get it situated, because it would have been a horrible crime if we left her in a coma. Joss never wanted to do that, either.

And now you’re a mom.
Yes. I always, always wanted to be a mom. I thought I’d be a mom a long time ago. Like, at 22 or 23, I thought I’d be a mom and be married. But here I am, Hollywood woman, working and having a baby. [My son] was here earlier, hanging with us, but he fell asleep amidst all the cake-cutting festivities. It was like, “Hey, Mom, congratulations…ugh, I’m over it.”

Charisma Does Playboy!
Us Weekly
February 2004

PLAYBOY will soon offer a glimpse of former Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer hottie Charisma Carpenter in, er, the buff.

“She just had a baby and she’s proud of how she looks [now],” a source says. (Although losing a few pounds didn’t hurt: “She went on a diet for the shoot,” the source confirms.)

Carpenter, 33, and her husband of two years, Damian Hardy, had their first child, son Donovan Charles, on March 24, 2003, and the actress was maternal on the Playboy set: “A photo assistant fell and Charisma got up mid-pose – completely topless – to help her up!”