ING INTERVIEW: CHARISMA CARPENTER
by Eric Goldman

Recently I spoke to Carpenter to discuss Relative Chaos and what it was like to work with Brendon again, along with her experience on Veronica Mars and the enduring popularity of Buffy and Angel.

IGN TV: There's been a lot of humor in some of your earlier projects, but this is still one of the more overall lighthearted things you've been involved in. Was that fun for you?
Charisma Carpenter: Yeah, it was very fun.

IGN TV: How would you describe Katherine?
Carpenter: Clear. Very clear. A go getter. She knows what she wants.

IGN TV: I was surprised when I realized it's been seven years since you last worked with Nicholas Brendon. What was it like reuniting with him?
Carpenter: What? Seven years? Nuh-uh! Was it really?

IGN TV: Yeah, since the end of Buffy season 3.
Carpenter: Wow, it really doesn't feel like that. Not at all. I mean it's like riding a bike. You just get back on. Smooth sailing. You know each other, you know each others work. It was really hard to work with him in the sense that he's probably the most organic, funny person I've ever met. He's just so gifted. And it's really hard to keep it together when you're around someone like that. It's really hard to not blow it. And when you have a scene with like seven people in it, and you're going around the table shooting it, and then it's his turn to shoot, you're doing the off-camera and you're trying not to laugh. You can not break up, because there's just too much work that needs to be done. And you're just dying, you know? I mean it was difficult for everyone, not only me, but like crew members would just have to snicker and would look away, or not look, or walk out. Whatever it took to just not ruin the takes.

IGN TV: Are you a little better at it because you're more practiced at it with him? Could you hold it together a little better than some of the people?
Carpenter: No. None of us could really do it. But you know, Terry Bradshaw too is just another natural I think.

IGN TV: I was going to ask about him, because he seems like such a character. What was he like to work with?
Carpenter: He's incredibly hard working. It's funny, because people know him as a personality or, "He's an athlete, and he's not an actor," and it's like, I'm sorry, I don't agree with that. The minute you get a paycheck to be in a movie, you're an actor. He's a paid actor. He is a member of SAG; he's an actor now. And I think he excels at whatever he puts his mind to. I think it's amazing how whatever he's done... He's won Emmy's, he's been MVP of the Super Bowl, he's a Hall of Famer, he's a motivational speaker for corporations. He's a really, really fascinating person, and he's got so much going on all of the time. It's amazing that he can even sit down and focus long enough. And so we worked together pretty closely, and I think that he channels his energy really, really well, and when it comes time to do work, he's not afraid to dig in and do it. And he did it and he did it really well. And for me, I don't know if I was in his position, that I'd be so adaptable. I know when I first started out, I couldn't adapt like that. The director's going, "Say that speech, that's like five minutes long, faster." He just takes a deep breath, and he goes for it and he does it and it's word perfect, and it's like, "How did you do that?" He's really a remarkable human being.

IGN TV: In the movie there are all these fun tasks and games that the characters play. Your character gets involved near the end, but in the earlier scenes is more of an observer. I'm curious if in-between takes, especially with those big bouncing balls used in one scene, if people were having fun with that?
Carpenter: Oh yeah. There was fun to be had. This was a really functioning set and it was very fun all the time and wise cracks all the time. It was just a really... You know, we enjoyed being together and we would sing in-between -- we would stay on set, because base camp was kind of far away -- so we had sort of like a green room that we would all go to and it was so hard for them to pull us out of the green room to go back to work, like when they had a lighting sequence. We'd be in the room and Terry would start singing and then Fiona would start singing. All the actresses... Everyone can sing but me, and it was just so fun, just to be with a group of people that just enjoyed being together. But then it was also so interesting to see everyone's other talents. Acting is just not what some people are best at; you think they're a really good actor and then you're surprised at, "Wow, you are an amazing singer!" Or, "You're really well read," or recite poetry, and you know, I just shrink in awe. I'm like, "Wow... Um... I can act!"

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