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Charisma Carpenter Biography |
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 Charisma
is more like an angel, than like the
character she plays on the show. Born
July 23, 1970 in Las Vegas, she was
named after an Avon perfume (which did
not sit well with her). She studied
classical ballet since age 5. Her family
relocated a lot. As a youngster, she
entered many local beauty contests.
Charisma attended Gorman High School
in Las Vegas. At 15, they moved to Rosarita
City, Mexico, and then to Bonita (a
suburb of San Diego) where she attended
Bonita High. Charisma finally transferred
to Chula Vista School of Creative and
Performing Arts, where she graduated
in 1988. In high school(s) she was a
cheerleader, and did the typical teen
things: like sneaking out, and having
boys over when mom wasn't home. Charisma's
nature tends to be pensive, which some
classmates unfortunately misinterpreted
as being snooty. After graduating, she
traveled throughout Europe, then went
on to college. She also worked as an
aerobics instructor and in property
management. In 1991, Charisma was a
cheerleader for the San Diego Chargers.
In 1992, she moved to L.A. Charisma
audited classes at Playhouse West, and
was cast in over 20 major commercials,
including doing a long stint for Secret.
Charisma was in a number of theatre
productions, such as "No, No, Nanette"
and "Welcome Home, Soldier."
This tall (5' 7") beauty with the
striking looks, brunette hair with chestnut
highlights, and hazel eyes, was a natural
for TV; she started in an episode of
"Baywatch" in October, 1994.
Because of that appearance, Aaron Spelling
personally auditioned her for the role
of Ashley in "Malibu Shores,"
which had a brief run from March-June,
1996. Despite the short run, TV Guide
noticed her and said she was beguiling,
and had the most fleshed-out character
on the show. Charisma auditioned for
the title role in "Buffy"
but wound up being cast as Cordelia
instead. Charisma had doubts about this,
she did not want to play a bitchy character
again; but her agent told her, you can't
be typecast until people know you. Originally
intended as a temporary character, to
be a thorn in Buffy's side, Charisma's
role was popular enough that she became
a regular in the 2nd season. She is
quick to point out she is not the TV
persona, saying: "People might
think I'm this awful person, but I'm
not -- I'm a nice girl." Fans and
producers liked the character enough
that she was transferred to a bigger
role on the spin-off series "Angel"
(1999/I). A long career in TV now seems
assured for Charisma. Her hobbies include:
horseback riding, rollerblading, hiking
and rock climbing. (For her 26th birthday,
she had gone skydiving. When the folks
at WB heard about this, they made her
sign a clause that she would refrain
from that for the length of her contract.)
She has prudently switched to writing
poetry instead. Her favorite color is
yellow (mine too, it's so bright and
cheerful). For Charisma, life is good.
And, as a former Las Vegas lounge performer,
she comments that dancing is easy, acting
is not. She also notes: "You can
take the girl out of Vegas, but you
can't take the Vegas out of the girl."
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