Feature: Charmed

Cupid's Arrow

Star and all-round hunk Victor Webster talks to us about his pivotal role in the closing episodes of Charmed

When Victor Webster first received a call from the production offices of Charmed asking if he’d be interested in playing the role of Cupid, the actor had to know one thing before accepting the job. “Would I be wearing a diaper? If that was the case, then I was going to ask for at least one million dollars per episode!” jokes Webster.

Fortunately, all the traditional trappings associated with Cupid, including his diaper, wings and quiver full of love-inducing arrows, are nowhere in sight. In fact, the handsome Webster is dressed both conventionally and dapper when he makes his début in the eighth season Charmed episode Engaged and Confused. His character of Cupid, aka Coop, is not the Roman god of Love, but one of several Cupids. Coop has been sent to Earth by the Elders to help the middle Halliwell sister, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), find her one true love. Bringing such a character to life presented Webster with quite an acting challenge.

“Coop is extremely confident. He knows all about love and relationships, and the problem with a guy who’s so sure of himself is that you can play him very cocky and arrogant, and that can be somewhat off-putting,” explains the actor. “The trick with Coop, because he’s so one-track minded when it comes to finding Phoebe’s love and certain that he’s going to do it, was to find the fun in that and not alienate the audience. I mean, there is no cockiness in love. Falling in love often involves humility because you discover a great deal about yourself. A lot of times what I’ve found in my [real] life is that you learn about your faults and how to overcome them if the relationship you’re in means that much to you.

“So when you present viewers with someone like Coop, who’s supposed to be the perfect guy, you have to find a way to draw both women and men in to watch and enjoy the character. Part of how you do that is to bring humor to your performance. You have to be able to laugh at yourself and, when necessary, be a bit self-deprecating. That works well within the structure of a show like Charmed, which has some wonderful humor infused into the storytelling. Much of that is done by the writers, and it’s then taken a step further by the show’s leading ladies.”

Although Coop’s desire to help Phoebe is truly well-meaning, she is, at least initially, leery of his intentions. “Coop really admires Phoebe for all that she has done,” says Webster. “She’s given up so much and sacrificed who she is as an individual in order to become part of the master plan. Phoebe is an open, caring and beautiful person and someone who deserves love. She’s also destined to have children, but if she can’t figure out what it is that is keeping her from becoming involved in a loving relationship, then it’s not going to happen.

“That’s where my character comes in. He has to convince Phoebe that what she’s doing is right, but she also has to take time for herself.”

by Steven Eramo

Read the full interview and more on Charmed in
Xposé #98

Photo © The WB
Feature © Visual Imagination 2006. Not for reproduction

Taken from

Xposé #98
Charmed 2006
ships from Jun 28 2006
News-stand Price
UK £3.99 / US $6.99

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