The Buffy Casting Controversy That Still Puzzles Us
There are many reasons why Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an amazing show, starting with the fact that the cast is pretty much perfect. Some big names almost made it in there (including Ryan Reynolds), but looking back, there are almost no casting decisions that we would necessarily change. However, one Buffy casting controversy still confuses us: Charisma Carpenter and Robia LaMorte are the same age despite the former playing a high school student and the latter playing a teacher.
Charisma Carpenter’s Casting Call
This particular Buffy casting mystery goes all the way back to the show’s first season. Charisma Carpenter was part of the series from the very beginning, playing resident mean girl Cordelia Chase. She originally intended to play Buffy Summers, but after running late for her audition, she tried out for and ultimately won the role of Cordelia, someone who would exit this ensemble show to have an arguably meatier role on the spinoff series Angel.
Robia LaMorte’s Off-Screen Casting Chemistry
As for Robia LaMorte, she has her own funny Buffy casting story. She didn’t appear in the show until the season 1 episode “I, Robot…You, Jane,” where she is introduced as a “techno-pagan” computer teacher who has some surprisingly great chemistry with Giles. That chemistry first occurred off-screen when she spent time joking and bonding with Giles actor Anthony Stewart Head; she thought he was a producer and even handed him her already-chewed gum before realizing he was her scene partner for the audition.
What’s My Age Again?
Each Buffy actor has a great casting story, and both of them knocked their respective roles out of the park. However, from the very beginning, fans have wondered why LaMorte was cast to play an older character than Carpenter when they are literally the same age. Specifically, Carpenter was born on July 23, 1970, and LaMorte was born on July 7, 1970, a mere 16 days earlier.
Prior Life Experience Could Be A Factor
It’s possible that the Buffy producers made this casting decision because LaMorte’s background arguably made her seem more worldly than Carpenter.
From the tender age of 16, LaMorte was a dancer in various music videos, and she was hand-picked by musical legend Prince to be one of his dancers.
She retired from dancing to pursue acting at the age of 22, but her experiences (including a European tour with Prince where she was sometimes his spokeswoman) made her ideal to play Jenny Calendar, a very experienced character who was just as passionate about technology and magic as the “raves” and “naked mud dances” of Burning Man.
Aging Up For Angel
Sadly, Jenny Calendar’s character didn’t survive the second season, but the Buffy casting controversy was heightened by some of Cordelia’s later plot lines.
For example, the Watcher Wesley is teased for falling in love with “jail bait” student Cordelia, but his actor (and Willow actor Alyson Hannigan’s future husband) Alexis Denisof is only four years older and flirting with someone whose actor is old enough to be a teacher.
Making things more confusing is that Cordelia was implicitly aged up on the Angel spinoff, considering that her 19-year-old character is constantly in clubs and bars and random characters even refer to her as a character in her 20s.
Long Live The Techno-Pagan Spirit!
While this Buffy casting choice remains mysterious, we really wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s impossible to imagine anyone other than Carpenter playing the inimitable Cordelia Chase, and our only regret about LaMorte’s casting is that her character was taken away from us so early. To properly memorialize her character, we can only suggest you do something drastic: go on TikTok and watch some of those strange witches who are keeping the techno-pagan spirit alive all these years later.
