Charisma Carpenter

About Charisma Carpenter

Charisma Lee Carpenter (born July 23, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character Cordelia Chase in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel.

Carpenter was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, the youngest child of Chris, a bird sanctuary employee, and Don Carpenter, a salesman. She is of Cherokee and Mexican ancestry.[citation needed] Carpenter attended Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas and her family moved around often while she was growing up. When she was 15, her family moved to Rosarito city, Mexico and then to San Diego where she attended Bonita Vista High School and Chula Vista School of the Creative and Performing Arts. After graduation, Carpenter traveled throughout Europe. Once she returned to San Diego again she worked as a video store clerk, an aerobics instructor, and in property management. In 1991, she was a San Diego Charger cheerleader, before beginning her Hollywood career. In 1992 she moved to Los Angeles.

Carpenter was discovered by a commercial agent while waitressing in Los Angeles to save money for her college education. This led to her role on theatrical productions and more than twenty commercials. She made her first television role in 1994 by appearing in an episode of Baywatch. Shortly after that, she landed a starring role on Aaron Spelling's short-lived soap opera Malibu Shores.