10 THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT... CHARISMA CARPENTERT
by Kate Anderson

1) Charisma Carpenter was born on july 23 in Las Vegas, Nevada, to parents Don, a salasman, and Chris, who work's in a bird sanctuary. Charisma's mother named her after an Avon perfume, but, unfortunately, Charisma endured a lot of teasing at school because her name was so unusual.

2) Charisma entered many local beauty contests as a child, and at the age of five, started to study classical ballet. She gratuated from the Chula Vista School of Creative and Performing Arts. After graduation, she traveled throughout Europe.

3) Charisma originally had her heart set on becoming an english teacher, but after moving to L.A. in 1992, she met an agent whilist working as a waitress and got into acting from there. Charisma took acting classes and was cast  in noumerous commercials, one of which, for Secret Deodorant, ran for a couple of years.

4) Charisma is a former Las Vegas lounge performer. She was also a cheerleader for the San Diego Chargers football team. And, to make ends meet, she has worked as an aerobics instructor, in a video store and in property management.

5) In her spare time, Charisma's hobbies include roller-blading, rock-climbing and horse-riding. A bit of an adrenalin junkie, on her 26th birthday, she did a parachute jump out of a plane!

6) Her first Tv role was an apparence in an episode of Baywatch. After her performance, Aaron Spelling personally chose her for a role in the short-lived Malibu Shores in 1996. When Buffy came along, Charisma originally auditioned for the title role. However, she was offered the part of Cordelia Chase instead. Initially, she was reluctant to take the role because she didn't want to play a bitchy character and become typecast. Her first day on the Buffy set was terrifying because all the important executives were present. Charisma recalls the first season was a real learning curve.

7) Charisma has received several Saturn Award nominations for her work on Angel.

8) Her favourite color is yellow; and her favourite actors include Jack Nicholson, Holly Hunter and Anne Heche.

9) Charisma married Damian Hardy, on october 5, 2002, and in march 2003, she gave birth to a baby boy, Donovan Charles Hardy. These days, Charisma says her priorities are her husband and child.

10) In the future, Charisma would love to play the title role in the proposed film version of the cult 1970s TV series, Wonder Woman. We think Charisma would be perfect for the role - after all, playing Cordy for so many years means she's used to kicking ass!