Death be not proud
Charisma Carpenter breaks new acting ground in ‘Going Home’
Charisma Carpenter returns to television Thursday with the Pure Flix end- of- l i fe series “Going Home.”
It ’ s far, far from not just her best- known role as Claudia in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its spin- of f “Angel,” it’s leap years from her usual casting.
“It’s a role I have never played before. Not a sexy lawyer, trophy wife, what have you,” Carpenter, 51, said in a phone call from her Los Angeles residence. “An opportunity to play a role that really depends on my chops as an actor. An opportunity to do something incredibly different, vulnerable, raw.
“I’m dying of cancer. I don’t have hair. Towards the end I’m unrecognizable, very gone. There was a realness about it that appealed to me.
“And I also am touched by cancer in many areas in my life. In a way it’s a moment to pay homage to those people that have succumbed to cancer or are facing that challenge today.”
Did she say to herself, “It’s a great role of course. But will people watch? This could be seen as depressing”?
“It’s so funny to hear that! Because I was thinking when I got the (casting) news from (show’s creator) Dan Merchant, how does he sell a show about death during a pandemic that happened?
“The truth is,” she continued, “we may have been given an opportunity to lean into the realities that a million Americans have died of COVID and death is around us. Everyone is touched by it. And this is an opportunity to look at grieving and how we handle it.
“To look at it in a way that we can empathize more when we understand the heartache around dying and how it impacts people around us. It was pitched in a way that is inspirational which is, I think, for many people and on this network important.”
With “Buffy” and “Angel,” Carpenter remains best known for one role early in her career. Does she ever wish to never hear the words Buffy or Angel again?
“I don’t feel that way. Because of that show all of us as actors that were on that show have an immense army of fans that continue to show up for us and every project that we do faithfully. What an honor! What a privilege.
“I get to travel around the world and meet fans regularly. They get to tell me how much that show has meant to them and how my character Claudia had inspired them.
They follow me on Instagram or Twitter today.”
“Going Home” streams on Pure Flix.