Charisma Carpenter

Charisma Carpenter (born July 23, 1970) is an American actress from the United States. She was Cordelia Chase in the series of supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-1999) and its spin-off series Angel (1999-2004). She also played Kyra in Charmed (2004) as well as Kendall Casablanca's character in Veronica Mars (2005-2006), Rebecca Sewell in The Lying Game (2012-2013) as well as Lacy in The Expendables film series (2010-2012). Carpenter was born in Las Vegas. She is of Spanish (from her maternal grandfather), French, and German descent. Carpenter was a student at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas; she was also part of a group of dancers and singers that was a part of the Las Vegas Valley when she was just nine years old. old.When Carpenter was 15, her family relocated to Rosario Beach, Baja California, Mexico and then to San Diego, California. She went to Bonita Vista High School and Chula Vista School of the Creative and Performing Arts. After graduating, Carpenter traveled throughout Europe. She returned to San Diego and worked in the video store as an aerobics instructor, property manager, and as a clerk. She also was a cheerleader for San Diego Chargers football in 1991. In 1992, she moved to Los Angeles.While swimming in San Diego in 1991, she and two male acquaintances were assaulted by Henry Hubbard Jr., who was a former San Diego police officer and serial rapist who tried to subdue them using a gun. Both of her friends and Hubbard were shot in the fight. Hubbard fled the scene and her two friends were able to escape. Hubbard was arrested, tried, and convicted, and sentenced to 56 years in prison for a series of robberies and rapes. Carpenter brought Hubbard's police-issue flashlight to the beach, which he had left at the scene, and the flashlight turned out to be the most important evidence against him.