Buffy the Vampire Slayer star who was attacked by a real-life monster

The author Chris Snelgrove
| Published 27 seconds ago

On the popular TV show Buffy the Vampire SlayerCharisma Carpenter played Cordelia Chase, a member of the Slayer-led Scooby Gang who regularly battled monsters and other things that go bump in the night. When Carpenter left the show to Angel spinoff, she fought even more creepy creatures alongside Buffy's former beau. However, most fans of this Joss Whedon franchise don't realize that Charisma Carpenter battled a monster in real life, surviving a 1991 attack that could have easily killed her and her friends.

Charisma Carpenter Attack

It all started when the future Buffy the actor was swimming with a couple of friends at Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego. They all had nothing on their minds but some serious fun in the sun, and they couldn't have foreseen the horrific event that was about to unfold. Charisma Carpenter and her friends soon had to survive an attack from the last person to attack them, a police officer.

The officer in question was Henry Hubbard Jr., a 29-year-old cop who wasted no time threatening this trio of beachgoers. He pointed the gun at Charisma Carpenter, but did not attack her directly; instead, he used a firearm to force him to tie up his two friends. Incredibly, she refused to do so (tell him Cordelia!) and that gave one of her friends enough time to jump in and overpower Hubbard.

As fierce as she is inside Buffy the Vampire Slayerit's still wild to think that Charisma Carpenter is as strong-willed in real life as she survived the gruesome attack because she refused to submit to an armed assailant. Years later, the actor explained that her reaction was the result of an important lesson she was taught at a very young age. “One of the things I was told when I was 10 was what they're going to do to you when you're left alone is 10 times worse than if they had to do it right there,” she said.

By the way, Charisma Carpenter's quick thinking not only saved her and her friends, but also deprived Hubbard of the opportunity to attack his next victims. She held onto his police-issued flashlight, some evidence that would help convict this officer of the violent attack in the future. Buffy star. He was eventually sentenced to 56 years in prison for a series of attacks on a Los Angeles beach that included rape, robbery and attempted murder, and would likely have continued to attack others if Carpenter and her friends hadn't helped push him away.

After the attack

As for Charisma Carpenter, she refused to let this attack define her life or who she is. She didn't just go on to later kill it (so to speak) on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angelbut she would later serve as the host of the appropriately named Investigation Discovery series I survived evil. In this show, other survivors told their harrowing stories, and Carpenter's own experiences helped her bring those stories to life, even as it offered the victims some much-needed closure.

Definitely Buffy fans, this may all be old news, but I only recently found out about it. Honestly, I don't think I can respect Charisma Carpenter more After watching her effortlessly become the best part of every show she's in, knowing that she survived a violent attack in real life takes my respect to the next level. Move over, Buffy. There's a new Slayer in town and she knows exactly how to protect her friends whenever a monster makes their move.

Source: TVLine