Charisma Carpenter

By Ines Mendoza

I must admit, despite attending some of the most exclusive events around the world and having the privilege of mingling with some of the fashion world's biggest and brightest stars, there is still a part of me that can't deny the geek within me.

That's right, I'm a Buffy fan, I'll admit it.

So it should come as no surprise that when the name "Cordeilia" was bandied around the office for this week's profile, I was the first to put my hand up. Ladies and gentlemen, don't have a wiggins, I give you Charisma Carpenter.

Charisma Lee Carpenter (born July 23rd, 1970) is an American actress of Mexican and Cherokee descent, which explains her unbelievably gorgeous skin tone. Known around the world to nerds and geeks in disguise alike for playing the bitchy airhead, Cordelia Chase, on the cult television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, which aired from 1997-2003. But there's more to this buxom 5'7" Nevada-born lass than simply vampires and monsters.

Named after an Avon perfume, Charisma hated her name while growing up. On a side note, I was also named after a perfume. My name for several years (before legally changing it) was Brut Fabergé, and I suppose you could say that my parents weren't exactly what you would call "normal" people.

Back to the profile however, and Charisma spent her childhood in Las Vegas, trying her hand at ballet at the age of five. However this didn't last long with the family moving around the country several times when she reaches her teens, living in Mexico and then later moving to San Diego where she enrolled in a performing arts program at the Chula Vista High School. "Living my life to the fullest meant performing in local lounge shows, attending a special high school for the performing arts in San Diego (a one-hour commute from our home in Mexico), and, of course, riding motorcycles with my uncles," said the adventurous Charisma.

After graduation, Charisma briefly traveled throughout Europe (no doubt to further enhance that delightful tan) before returning to San Diego in order to begin funding her college education. "I worked in my dad's San Diego restaurant as a waitress, did property management and clerked at a video store...after doing those 'bread and butter' jobs, I went back to school to study teaching," says the affable actor. Charisma's goal was to teach English once she obtained her degree.

Her one-year stint as a San Diego Chargers cheerleader didn't last too long, what with a life in front of the camera beckoning her. "I never really intended to be an actress," noted Charisma, but in 1992, a move to L.A. found Charisma cast in over 20 commercials, the most memorable being her two-year stint as the "Secret Antiperspirant" spokeswoman.

She was heavily involved in the theatre by the mid 1990s and performed in many stage productions with the Playhouse West, a reputable acting school. However it was her commercial popularity that eventually led to her 'big break' as the role of Wendie. "Who is this enigmatic Wendie you keep talking about Ines," you may say? Well, she was the object of a young Hobie Buchannon's desire, in the hit series Baywatch which aired in the '94-'95 season, and we all know how popular that TV show was. At one stage, it was the most-watched TV show on the planet, scoring viewers from Sweden to Swaziland.

It was this role which led to über-producer Aaron Spelling casting Charisma for the role of the über-bitch Ashley Green in his new series venture Malibu Shores. While the show failed to find an audience, Charisma excelled as the deliciously saucy vixen for the entire run of the short-lived daytime teen drama.

Out of work and looking for a steady job, Charisma's luck was soon to change. The year was 1997, early 1997, and her agent sent her out to audition for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a series based on the box-office bomb of the same name from 1992. Initially auditioning for the part of the lead character, Buffy, which ultimately went to Sarah Michelle Gellar (ironically Sarah Michelle Gellar auditioned for Cordeilia) Charisma was then asked to look at the role of Cordeilia, which she lost out to actress Bianca Lawson (who made a mid-season cameo as Kendra). But as fate would have it, Bianca backed out of the opportunity which ultimately fell to Charisma.

The rest, they say, is Sunnydale history.

Initially created as a temporary character intended to reinforce stereotypes and act as general annoyance to the Slayer, fans surprisingly rallied around her character leading to a regular role during the second season. By 1999, "Buffy" had become a worldwide phenomenon - with legions of loyal fans across the globe. It even spawned the spin off Angel series, which Charisma's character Cordeilia appeared on as a regular until the end of it's third season in 2002. While appearing sparingly over the show's remaining two seasons, Charisma landed another full-time job, that of being a mother. She and her husband, Damian Hardy, had a son, Donavan Charles Hardy, in spring 2003.

When not acting, Charisma participates in a variety of physically demanding and extreme activities. From riding Harley Davidson motorbikes as a girl, she evolved into a horseback rider, rollerblader, hiker, rock climbing and even skydiver (a 26th birthday present from her friends). 

However, some would say her most extreme activity would not occur until June of 2004, in which Charisma not only shed the pounds gained by child birth, but also her clothes for a provocative shoot for Playboy, despite "..[not] really see[ing] myself being a sex symbol at all." 

Call me crazy, but you can't exactly consider yourself a cow if you're willing to get naked for Hugh Hefner!? There were also many rumours floating around that because of the Playboy shoot, Charisma missed out on many potential roles in upcoming movies. Truth of fiction? Perhaps we'll never know...

But despite her modesty, a legion of fans that most likely have her poster pinned on their wall as they refuse to go out on a Saturday night in favour of "DVD Buffy-thons" and a gorgeous baby boy, Charisma Carpenter has kept a level head and a gorgeous smile. Where does she go from here, one can only guess - in particular since the "Buffy" films and spin-offs have been officially shelved - but I think most will agree: Charisma in name, charisma in nature.