Charisma Lee Carpenter was born on July 23, 1970, and raised in fast-paced Las Vegas, Nevada. Her mother is Christine, a property manager, and father Don Carpenter, a salesman. Even during her childhood, Charisma was very interested in the performing arts. At the young age of 5, she was already studying classical ballet. Her family moved around often. As a youngster, she entered many local beauty contests.
Although Charisma enjoyed living in Las Vegas, her parents decided to move to Mexico when she was 15 years old. It was at this point that Charisma decided to attend the School for Creative and Performing Arts and do the one-hour commute from Mexico to San Diego. Charisma Carpenter graduated from Chula Vista School of Creative and Performing Arts, in 1988. In high school, she was a cheerleader. After she finally graduated high school, Charisma, like many other young women, decided to tour Europe.
Upon returning to San Diego once again, she began working odd jobs to support herself, such as video store clerk, aerobics instructor and, in 1991, she even spent some time working as a cheerleader for the San Diego Chargers.
Soon after that, Charisma moved to Los Angeles and took up a job as a waitress on Sunset Boulevard. But she wasn’t an aspiring actress at the time; Charisma was saving money so that she could return to school to become an English teacher.Her fate, however, was headed in a very different direction. While she was working one day, a commercial agent discovered her and recommended that she attend a variety of acting schools. After sorting through all the schools and courses offered, Charisma Carpenter decided to attend Playhouse West, a reputable acting school.
Because she quickly realized how passionate she was about acting, Charisma Carpenter remained there for 18 months to study the techniques and drama. While she was still in school, she began doing a multitude of commercials. After approximately 20 of them, she got her first real acting break on Baywatch in 1994.
A fitness enthusiast, her outdoor interests include roller blading, rock climbing, hiking and sky diving. Charisma Carpenter speaks Spanish, however she states that she’s not fluent, despite being of Mexican ancestry and spending time living in Mexico as a child.She married her boyfriend of five years, actor Damian Hardy, in October 2002. They had a baby in March 2003 and they currently reside in Los Angeles. Carpenter and Hardy separated in late 2007 and their divorce was made final in July 2008.
