Fun Account of Fan Visit to Angel Set

[starlet2367]

This came up in my news feeds this morning:

Visit to the Angel Set

The writer visited the Angel set in 2001 and was pestered by friends to write up the experience. It's fascinating the way she describes the set, the behind-the-scenes activity and the actors. Here's what she said about CC:

Charisma in particular impressed the socks off me with the way she constantly worked on adding to the actions she was doing while the scene progressed. Even when she wasn't on camera, when she was going through the scene while the focus was on getting the coverage on someone else, she was experimenting with handling the available props and with moving within the scope of her blocking for the scene, always looking for the natural things to be doing that would make her character alive and real. Watching her constantly thinking and trying new bits, either adding them in or discarding them, was captivating. She inhabited the moment with small actions that weren't written into the script, but that made Cordelia appear natural and right. It was that "magic actor thing" – I met her as Charisma, and watched her become and breathe life into Cordelia. I can't describe it well, but it's one of the things I most enjoy about watching gifted actors work: they bring the words to life, and you forget that they were written into a script and that you've already heard them eighteen times in a row, because they come out as if they were just being spoken spontaneously for the first time, and are reacted to the same way. It's magic. Actor magic.

[Morrigan]

Wow, that's really nice and I totally agree. My thing with great actors is how seemlessly the become the part. When I see Tom Cruise in movie, it's always TC. However, someone like Christian Bale or Johnny Depp they become the part.

It's nice that someone behind the scenes was able to tell us that CC did the same. It also explains how she manages to take characters that should be unlikable, Cordy, the character she played in MatchMaker(?) and make them not only fun to watch but very likable.

Thanks for sharing the link.

[tojoson]

Danm, you beat me by just a couple of minutes posting this.

I love what this person has to say about CC.

I have often wondered how much of Charisma was in Cordelia's actions.
The little things, facial expressions, little ticks, movements and such. Like that little tick on her face in 'City Of' right after she says "Are you still GRR" she has this little scritch at the corner of her mouth, or in 'You're Welcome', her expression to Angel saying he can't torture Eve, or the haughty expression on her face when she says 'Pfft'.

This seems to confirm my thought that if another actress had been cast as Cordelia, the character would NOT have been as memorable (or loveable) as she is.

[starlet2367]

Originally Posted by tojoson

Danm, you beat me by just a couple of minutes posting this.

LOL To quote Hodgins on Bones, "I'm king of the lab!"

[Gabriella]

Every little thing she does is magic...

What a lovely thing to say. And so well said. I love Cordelia to death but most of what made me adore her is the fact that in every single scene, Charisma delivered. She put everything she had into Cordelia and out of all the characters in the verse, it's no wonder Cor evolved the most.

Such is the power of the supremely talented. Nice to see someone truly acknowledge it.

Thanks Kel!

[argel]

Awww, warm fuzzies. That's really nice to read things like that about Charisma and how talented she really is. And I completely agree with the writer about the way Charisma "becomes" the part. She was like that in the Play Nice/Cats and Dogs pilot, too.

Thanks so much for sharing this, starlet2367. Now I have to read the full account.

***argel***

[Shadow4Corangela]

Aww. What a lovely little piece on our favorite gal. My dream is to one day meet her. There's nothing but nice things said about her constantly, which frustrates me even more that she's not out there as much as we would like her to be. I hope I get to see her soon on tv again.

Thanks for the link, starlet.