Appearing at Supanova Melbourne this April, Film and TV starlet Charisma Carpenter is no stranger to the intensity of pop-culture expos.
Appearing at Supanova Melbourne this April, Film and TV starlet Charisma Carpenter is no stranger to the intensity of pop-culture expos. Best known to audiences as Cordelia Chase from the award-winning TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel , she spoke to us about striving for fulfilment, her Shameless addiction and the dedication of her fanatical fan base.
“[Supanova] is intense!” exclaims Carpenter down the phone excitedly. “It’s really, really intense to know and see that people are so emotionally invested in their favourite show, that they sacrifice so much of their income, that they are so loyal, and that they keep coming back! I don’t understand why they are not sick of me yet!” she laughs.
“It’s an intense experience when people profess to you ‘My daughter’s name is Cordelia and I’ve just started them on Angel and they love your character’ or ‘I really identified with your character when such and such happened’; to have that interaction – I mean, wow, what a trip!”
She confesses that the gratification some of her fans seek is “something that [she] never even thought of when pursuing acting”. And the internet is hardly helping. “I’m on Facebook and Twitter, so I can reconnect with some old friends that I haven’t spoken to in forever, but it makes me pretty accessible by fans and people,” Carpenter explains. “Being in my position and having people affected by me just walking in a room or by being asked to respond to a fan’s Tweet for her birthday, it’s a beautiful thing, but it’s crazy!”
Carpenter studied acting at the Chula Vista School of the Creative And Performing Arts in San Diego before heading to Los Angeles in 1992 to seek out her career opportunities, landing her first role as a cameo on the highly successful surf-lifesaving drama Baywatch in 1994. In 1996, Carpenter auditioned for the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer for the role of Buffy. She arrived late and subsequently read for the part of Cordelia Chase, the snobbish, cheerleading foil to Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy Summers.
She admits it was a blessing for her to receive roles early in her career. “I really hadn’t been pursuing acting that long. I feel a little phony saying otherwise. I was very fortunate to have good representation that put me in a room with the right people at the right time to audition for Buffy The Vampire Slayer.”
Carpenter says she owes a lot to writer David Greenwalt, who really championed the growth of her character Cordelia Chase from a snot-nosed foil to Buffy and part of the Scooby Gang to a compassionate, heroic character. “He really championed my particular character, Cordelia Chase. He was a big part of Cordelia’s growth and experience. It was his idea to bring Cordelia over from Buffy The Vampire Slayer to [spin-off season and now show in its own right] Angel. I’m very grateful for that, I should really put his name out there more.
This month marks eight years since Carpenter filmed her last season for Angel, but she is still grateful of the opportunities that both TV shows gave her as an actress. “It was a really special, grain in the sand, once in a lifetime experience. I mean, who knew? Who knew Buffy would have that appeal? Who knew that they would connect to Sarah Michelle Gellar? Who knew that they would like Cordelia?” says Carpenter.
Given her history with the small screen, Carpenter is “a huge fan” of TV shows. “I’m obsessed with Californication and Shameless… I love the US version, they’re all great talents. Last night was the Season One finale, and I’ve never seen a first season of a show so fleshed out. Most new shows are slow-paced, awkward, clunky and trite – but literally, this season finale was amazing!”
Apart from a number of guest roles on TV shows such as Charmed, Veronica Mars and Greek, Carpenter remains fully devoted to her eight-year old son Donovan. She is also passionate about choosing the right roles so that she can remain a working mum.
“My little boy means the world to me, and of course, every decision I make is influenced by ‘What will this mean for my family?’ But I feel like enough time has gone by that I don’t have to worry about that as much. It’s incredibly important but I’m super passionate about acting and wanting to work with the best. It’s such a big part of my identity and who I am, I really love what I do for a living. I guess that I’m greedy; I want it all. There’s no reason to not be fulfilled and I’m not willing to be anything less than fulfilled, even if I die trying.” she muses.
Most recently, Carpenter has appeared on the big screen. Filmgoers may instantly recognise Carpenter as the sexy, long suffering girlfriend of Jason Statham in the recent Sylvester Stallone-directed action blockbuster The Expendables. Working on the movie was a blast, she says, anxious to hear about the sequel.
“It’d be nice to be in The Expendables 2, I’m not sure what’s happening – it’s all very hush-hush. But things were left on a good note so, hopefully Sly [Stallone] will include me! It’d be fun to shoot it up with The Expendables – if I ever get so lucky! That would definitely give my son some bragging rights! Especially if I knocked out some bad guys out next to Sly,” she laughs.
Carpenter says she’s just finished filming three movies in September, November and December of last year. “They’re all very little movies, one’s called Crash Site, one’s called Deadly Sibling Rivalry and there’s another one in there that I can’t think of right now, I should know it! I’m hoping to do The Human Factor [with cult actor Michael Madsen], which is a much bigger budget film, but I don’t know what the status is, I’ll probably know more about it when I get back from Australia.”
Carpenter is no stranger to Australia, she’s been her three times in the past two years and she’s very concerned about the aftermath of the Queensland floods. “I’m really concerned about the flooding that took place there in Brisbane and getting a lay of the land and seeing how everyone is doing. I’m concerned about the farmers and I’m sure there are a whole lot of environmental issues that have come up also. I just hope everything is okay up there.”
Carpenter takes comfort in knowing she can come to Australia on a working holiday under relative anonymity. “I’m not even a big star, I’m not… I’m just a person and this is what I do for a living. I can’t imagine being Britney Spears or Tom Cruise, people who are impersonated and they have the media choosing any story to spin. I feel very lucky that I don’t have stardom on that level – I don’t know what I’d be like, I’m not so sure I could handle it very well. I have a lot of respect for the position that some of these people have, but I have the best of both worlds. I have a great, great work life and a wonderful private life.”
Charisma Carpenter will appear at Supanova Pop Culture Expo alongside Clare Kramer, Colin Baker, Tahmoh Penikett, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Tom Felton and many more at the Melbourne Showgrounds from April 8 – 10. For tickets and more info head to supanova.com.au.
