Carpenter was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and attended Bishop Gorman High School. She was also a part of a song-and-dance troupe which performed in the Las Vegas area beginning when she was nine.

When she was 15, her family moved to Rosarito City, Mexico and then to San Diego where she attended Bonita Vista High School and Chula Vista School of the Creative and Performing Arts. After graduation, Carpenter traveled throughout Europe. Once she returned to San Diego again, she worked as a video store clerk, an aerobics instructor, and in property management. In 1991, she worked as a San Diego Charger cheerleader. In 1992, she moved to Los Angeles.

Carpenter was discovered by a commercial agent while waiting tables in Los Angeles to save money for her college education. This led to her role on theatrical productions and more than twenty commercials. She made her first television role in 1994 by appearing in an episode of "Baywatch." Shortly after that, she landed a starring role on Aaron Spelling's short-lived soap opera "Malibu Shores."

In 1996, Carpenter auditioned for the title role in the television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" but instead was cast as Cordelia Chase, a snobby and popular high school student. After three seasons on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Carpenter was offered an even larger role as the same character on the spin-off series "Angel" along with David Boreanaz. She played Cordelia Chase for four seasons on "Angel."

In 2004, Carpenter had a three episode guest appearance on the TV show "Charmed" as a psychic demon called The Seer and played a recurring role on NBC's "Miss Match," appearing in four episodes. She also had a recurring role as Kendall Casablancas in the TV series "Veronica Mars" for the 2005-2006 season, appearing in 11 episodes.

Carpenter guest-starred in the first season finale of ABC Family's television show "Greek" and reprised her role in two episodes of Season 2. According to TV Guide in September 2007, she was set to join the cast of "The Apprentice: Celebrity Edition," but instead chose to do a guest appearance on the show "Back to You" as well as a recurring role on the short-lived series "Big Shots." Carpenter also had a guest appearance in an April 2009 episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Carpenter has starred in an assortment of made-for-TV and direct-to-video movies including the comedy "What Boys Like," the horror film "Voodoo Moon," and the romantic comedies "See Jane Date" and "Relative Chaos" on ABC Family (the latter of which co-starred fellow Buffy alum Nicholas Brendon). She also appeared in the mysteries "Flirting with Danger" and "Cheaters' Club" on Lifetime Television and the Syfy movie "House of Bones," broadcast in 2010, around the same time as her guest spot in "Legend of the Seeker."

Also in 2009, Carpenter starred in production company Red Sparrow's first film, "Psychosis," which was released in early 2011. In August 2010, she had a supporting role in Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables." After the success of "The Expendables," Carpenter was cast in "Human Factor" and in the indie thriller "Crash Site." She appeared in an episode of the seventh season of "Supernatural" alongside "Buffy" co-star James Marsters.

In 2011, Carpenter landed a recurring role in ABC Family's drama "The Lying Game." She was upgraded to a series regular for the second season. In 2012, Carpenter reprised her role as Lacy in "The Expendables 2."

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