Charisma Carpenter

Just as I was packing my bags to fly out to Los Angeles for the Primetime Emmys, the call came: "Can you interview Charisma Carpenter tomorrow?" As in, the moment I touched down at LAX. It was asking a lot, but, hey, we’re talking about the great-to-gab-with gal otherwise known as Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel’s crafty Cordelia and Veronica Mars’ man-eater Kendall, who maybe, just maybe, might channel her inner Wonder Woman to play a big-screen superheroine. I said yes and, charmingly, she seemed to have as many questions for me as I had for her. Here in Part 1 of the Q&A, we discuss a pair of Buffy reunions: ABC Family’s Relative Chaos (airing tonight at 8 pm/ET and teaming her with Nicholas Brendon) and the Bones she might have to pick.

TVGuide.com: So I’m in L.A., you’re in L.A.... Why are we doing this interview over the phone?

Charisma Carpenter: I’m on my way to my friend’s pool.

TVGuide.com: Your friend’s pool? Why is it that we picture you lounging around your own pool all day long?

Carpenter: Because you saw me do that on Veronica Mars. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Did you feel my offer to "meet at the hotel for drinks" was untoward? Because I’m married, you’re married, I’m rather resistible.... What could have happened?

Carpenter: [Laughs] It was very, very tempting, but I am meeting my husband, my brother’s in town, and I have a 3-year-old to think of.... I would have loved to go otherwise!

TVGuide.com: I watched Relative Chaos on my DVD player on the flight out here....

Carpenter: So when you laughed out loud, was it all at Nicky Brendon?

TVGuide.com: Yes, he was very funny. How was that little Buffy reunion?

Carpenter: It was lovely. My last interviewer pointed out that it had been seven years since we last worked together. I thought that seemed rather odd, and off, and wrong, and not possible.

TVGuide.com: Your "last interviewer"? You’re interviewing with other people?

Carpenter: [Sheepishly] I am.... Hey, what do you think of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ new show [The New Adventures of Old Christine]?

TVGuide.com: It’s cool. I loved her on Seinfeld, of course, so I’m definitely giving the show a shot.

Carpenter: I think Elaine influenced Cordelia a lot. I found myself subconsciously doing things [and] going, "Oh, my god, that was so Elaine!"

TVGuide.com: Now that you mention it, I can see that - even with the occasional shove/"Get out!"

Carpenter: Yes! In a cemetery [on Buffy] I did that with Nicky once, and that is specifically what I thought of. Seinfeld was such a landmark show.

TVGuide.com: I was thinking on the plane ride that if Julia

Louis-Dreyfus wants to do a film, she could do "Snakes on Elaine." Carpenter: That would be so good! She can try to shake them off and everything. What’s the deal with Snakes on a Plane, anyway?

TVGuide.com: Define "What’s the deal?".

Carpenter: Is it purposefully tongue-in-cheek? Is it funny...?

TVGuide.com: It doesn’t take itself entirely seriously, it’s just summer escapist fare. [I explain further, and tell her about my related interview with Samuel L. Jackson.]

Carpenter: Oh, wow. Interesting. Is it fun to be an interviewer?

TVGuide.com: Well, of course I could talk to you forever.

Carpenter: Have you interviewed David Boreanaz?

TVGuide.com: Actually, I usually generously hand off David to one of my female counterparts. Was reuniting with Nicky a factor in deciding to do Relative Chaos?

Carpenter: It wasn’t a deciding factor, but it was a plus, like, "Oh, wow...." It’s hard to say because between Alyson [Hannigan, who once shared a scene with Carpenter on Veronica Mars] and Nicky now, I have often been linked [to Buffy], and it’s always a "marketing coup" when we get that to happen. I don’t think any of us purposely seeks that out, it’s not an angle we want to be living with for the rest of our lives as actors, but in [Brendon’s] case, I was excited to do it.

TVGuide.com: What about you popping by David’s show, Bones?

Carpenter: Interesting... I actually just saw David today. If I did another little Buffy coup, it would be with David.

TVGuide.com: I am so sad to see that in Relative Chaos, yet again, you’re not playing the nicest girl in world.

Carpenter: That’s funny because the feedback was that I was too nice. Nobody said, "You need to be meaner!"

TVGuide.com: Why aren’t you getting the nice-girl roles? Do you go into auditions wearing fishnets and stilettos, dragging on a cigarette?

Carpenter: That’s an interesting concept, maybe I should try that! No, I do nice-girl roles, they’re just not as fun. I like being "psychotic." And in the last ABC Family movie I did, I was nice! I have flashes of niceness.

TVGuide.com: Is the Carpenter clan competitive like the family featured in Chaos? Any sibling rivalries?

Carpenter: No, we’re not really competitive with one another, because I think our ages are so spread out. But with others, when the chips are down.... My favorite metaphor is from tennis: Do you have the courage to win? Do you have the courage to serve an ace? It’s sort of like that.

TVGuide.com: I was going to say that to stay as busy as you do, you must have some "eye of the tiger" in you.

Carpenter: People say that, but I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like a big pussycat. I do pound the pavement, but it hasn’t been a very fruitful experience, so I’m contemplating not doing that anymore.

TVGuide.com: Whoa, what’s that mean? You want to be a stay-at-home mom?

Carpenter: No, no, no! Let’s get this clear: I want to act for the rest of my life. I love what I do. I love, love, love going to work. I love being on the set, I love the camaraderie, I love meeting new people and going to new locations. I love the working part. I don’t like the getting-the-job part. [Laughs] That’s the hard part! It wears me down, and it’s hard to keep the momentum going.