Maybe she just wanted a vacation after seven years on the job, and goodness knows she was overdue for some maternity leave to be with her own real little demon. The rest was all speculation and gossip, perhaps fueled a bit by Mutant Enemy or other camps - I mean there's no better publicity than sore feelings between friends. Unless you're that bat boy on the covers of the Enquirer..

ZachsMind | December 13, 01:15 CET

I don't think that's it...Chrisma Carpenter said she was completely shocked when they asked her to leave. And if she wanted a vacation, then why did she do "See Jane Date" as soon as she finished on AtS.

Invisible Green | December 13, 02:15 CET

I love how coy we're being with the front page headlines for this stuff. I doubt there's any person here that couldn't figure out who the 100th episode's special guest is going to be just from reading that.

How many people COULD be brought back for the 100th episode and be invited to be in a cake-cutting picture?

ringworm | December 13, 02:34 CET

Just a comment on believing what's in print - especially from The Boston Globe which printed the article stating Charisma was shocked. I live in Massachusetts and my daughter got lost. She was missing for 16 hours so it was a big news story. When she was found, we did interviews with just about every local paper where they were actually sitting in my living room taking notes as they interviewed us and not one of the newspapers got the story right. They had all their facts wrong, they had our names wrong and they misquoted us over and over again. I heard the questions, I answered the questions, I saw them write down the answers but that's not what was in print. So that's why I have a hard time believing something that is quoted as fact in articles because I've witnessed first hand that they don't always write what the person being interviewed said. Oh, and the things that were misquoted? Well they just so happened to be worded so they were much more interesting than what we had actually said.

So I believe it is very possible that Charisma Carpenter was aware at what was going on and for all we know could've asked to be done with the show or given part time status. The last season or two there were several times were her character was missing for many episodes in a row. I can see where she might've been tired of playing the same part all the time and wanted time to explore different things.

And as for the rumors that this will be her last appearance, well I'll believe that when I see it too because Mutant Enemy has a way with always surprising us and it wouldn't be the first time someone who we thought was gone forever came back.

Firefly Flanatic | December 13, 02:37 CET

It's more interesting to read what Charisma said before the end of Season 4. In interviews she mentioned several times that she was hoping for a fifth season and that she did not plan on taking a maternity leave. I recall her saying something along the lines of "I'm not the first working mother". And that was before her son was born.

Elo | December 13, 03:32 CET

I remember the article/s that you are refering to Elo..I had forgot about them completely...Do you rmember where they were posted?

Simpleba | December 13, 03:34 CET

There's an even bigger version of the pic here.

Scott | December 13, 04:37 CET

You forget about.com did a interview with Joss right after the CC article in the Boston Herald came out and for those who are still under the impression is was her choice to leave here's the excerpt regarding CC's departure;

Did you see Charisma Carpenter’s comments to The Boston Herald that she wasn’t prepared to leave?
JW: No, I didn’t.

Do you know what she was talking about?
JW: Not really.

How did the decision to leave her out of the core cast come about?
JW: It came about pretty much the same way the decision to stop the Buffy run came about. In seven years, we’d sort of run through our course of character and didn’t want to start just doing hollow riffs on what we’d done.

Did you discuss this with her?
JW: It was discussed with her when the decision had been made. It wasn’t discussed while the decision was being made because you don’t tell somebody you might do it. But it was discussed after the decision.


[ edited by RavenU on 2003-12-13 03:13 ]

RavenU | December 13, 05:10 CET

Great photo - I love how everyones' eyes are directed in all sorts of different directions:-)

And that blood frosting's got my sugar craving spiked.......

nightingale | December 13, 08:40 CET

Simpleba, it was an E!Online chat with CC. You can read it here:
Interview

"Is this your last season on Angel?"

Charisma Carpenter -- "There are a lot of working moms out there--don't freak out."

[ edited by Elo on 2003-12-13 14:58 ]

[ edited by Elo on 2003-12-13 15:00 ]

Elo | December 13, 16:58 CET

great pic ... miam (the cake lol)

Mok | December 14, 03:51 CET

Hey thanks Elo, I remember reading this article but couldn't remember where it was...I forgot how much this article really struck me after we found out she would not be back.

Simpleba | December 14, 13:19 CET

An excerpt from the CC interview:

"If Joss did a Buffy movie, do you think any Angel cast members would be in it?"

"Charisma Carpenter -- We've been asked before to be in a movie and be in an animated series. It just hasn't happened yet. And if it doesn't happen soon, we'll all be old people in diapers! "

I know this is "off" topic, but when was this movie pitched? Does anyone know what CC is referring too?

[ edited by Simpleba on 2003-12-14 21:12 ]

Simpleba | December 14, 23:10 CET

I don't know when it was pitched, Simpleba, but I know in interviews Joss Whedon has been quoted several times saying that at the time, Sarah isn't interested in doing a movie and he wouldn't do a movie without her. Here's hoping with time, she'll be more interested!

Firefly Flanatic | December 15, 03:23 CET

I think it was toward of the end of the 5th Season - that's when there was talk of an animated series (which they did make a pilot for but SMG didn't do the voice of Buffy) and a movie after it left the TV - which they had thought for a little while would be that year.

RavenU | December 15, 05:36 CET

I remember the animated series that was aborted but I never heard any specific maention of a Buffy movie..Apparently, if you infer from the CC interview, there was a specific movie that was presented...

Simpleba | December 15, 09:41 CET

Here's something that I've been thinking about. One reason I don't think that the animated series can be made anymore or should be made is because of the show called Kim Possible. I think that the way the show is drawn and the young heroine, along with its popularity would cause any Buffy cartoon to be compared to it, and, pardon the craziness, be accused of aping it, even though we all know that Kim Possible has been tremendously influenced by Buffy, as has Alias, etc.

brother_grady | December 15, 17:32 CET