One thing that shapes Cordelia is that she’s a struggling actress. What was the most bizarre audition you’ve ever had in real life?
I have a two part answer for that.
Answer A, in Angel, I think the most memorable audition I had was [the one where] I was suffering from the loss of Doyle and I get my first vision in the middle of an audition.
I’m doing a Tide or a Spray and Wash type product audition, and it was funny and pathetic and a real joy to play. Jim Contener directed that particular episode and that scene, so that was the most memorable audition scene I had.
Then, answer part B is the most bizarre personal audition I ever had. Not so much bizarre, but it was just a trek to make it.
I was auditioning for the role of Cordelia. It was the screen test with the whole network and I was running late for the audition because I was at work at [the show] Malibu Shores in Long Beach and I had to get to Burbank. It was raining and it was rush hour, so I borrowed clothes from Costume, and I’m high tailing it on the freeway, trying to be safe, trying not to get in an accident.
I got these [cell phone] pages from my manager, and I was really broke at the time so I didn’t have a cell phone or anything. I’m just like, "I know this is my agent, please hang in there, please hang in there, I can’t get off [the freeway] yet, I can’t get off yet".
Finally I get off and I go to the Seven Eleven and my agent has paged me six times. I know what she’s telling me, "You’re late, they’re going to leave," and it would just make me panic.
So I get to the Seven Eleven [call her and ask] "Why are you calling me so many times, like 13 pages in half an hour?" She goes, "You’ve got to get there, they’re going to leave," and I go, "You tell them not to leave, you tell them to order a pizza, you tell them something but tell them to wait". So they waited, and I got the part. That was my most exciting real personal audition.
