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.