| [ |
mood |
| |
aim: love and wendy |
] |
CHARACTER NAME: Wendy Angeline Charmichael
PLAYED BY: Rachel McAdams
AGE & DOB: November 24, 1978; 30
OCCUPATION: Radio personality; host of "Love & Sex with Dr. Charm". Author.
RESIDENCE: 2 bedroom cottage apartment: West Hollywood.
HOMETOWN: Cambridge, Massachusetts.
There are very certain rules placed in a workplace, and life in general, that are always meant to be heeded. Don't jay walk on the freeway. Don't fall in love with your married boss. Especially when he's in the public eye. Caroline Evans, a bright eyed and idealistic assistant to Senator Robert Johnson unfortunately, crossed right over into dangerous territory with that last rule. She was twenty when she first began to work for the Democratic party in Massachusetts, twenty-two when she was moved up to assist the Senator, twenty-three when she started a torrid affair with him, and twenty-four when a home pregnancy test read "POSITIVE." Quitting not a week later, she left her little one bedroom apartment in the heart of Washington D.C. and retreated back to her hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her parents were none too happy about the "state" in which their daughter returned, and had a long list of ideas what she should do about it. Caroline however, refused adoption, abortion, or any other idea her parents had. She had loved a man with her whole heart, and produced a child out of it. She wasn't going to just throw that away because the circumstances weren't ideal. She never told Robert that she was pregnant, and would never tell him that he had a daughter. She was convinced he would change the world for the better, and she wasn't going to hold him back.
By the time Wendy Evans came screaming her way into the world, Caroline had moved into her parents house, and was counting on them for a lot of support. Wendy had present grandparents, who doted upon her and adored her almost as much as her mother did. She never had a want for anything, and became quite spoiled as a result. Kind of hard not to, when any time she cried, she had a handful of people holding her and taking care of her. As much as she had her grandparents around, it was always Wendy and her mom, a duo against the rest of the world. She absolutely adored her mother, and never thought anything of not having a father. Wendy was five years old when things around her house changed, and for the better. Since she was born, she had her "Uncle David", her mother's best friend who always seemed to be there when they needed him. He had been in love with Caroline since they were kids, and after what seemed like forever, Caroline finally felt the same way. The two were married in a quiet ceremony, with Wendy tossing flower petals down the aisle. One more thing made their family complete. David Charmichael adopted Wendy, giving her a father and a new last name.
The new last name brought with it quite a few things. A new house, where Wendy had her own room twice the size of her old one. A whole plethora of cousins, living both near and far, and quite the happy home. Her parents adored her, and never made her feel like just because she wasn't David's biological child, he didn't love her as if she were. She grew very close, very quickly with David, and within months of the marriage, she didn't think twice about calling him "dad". Wendy was eight when her little brother was born, and ten when their family rounded out with three, with one last brother. She'd never admit it, but there was a slight sigh of relief that she never had a sister. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt like she'd be way too competitive for attention with another Charmichael daughter.
High school was fairly uneventful on the grand stage of things. Wendy kept herself busy on the student council and in the theater department. She was in just a few plays during her high school career, and never wanted to make a big thing of it. She didn't have any grand dreams of becoming famous or even acting for a living, but it was a good release to have during high school. She never strived to be popular, but then found herself with a good group of friends who stuck around even when her surly and stubborn attitude came around. Which was more often than not. She didn't even have that massive rebellious phase, as her parents pretty much trusted her. The way she saw it was that if she never did anything (or at least, let them know of anything) that would lose their trust in her, everything was just fine. Her own little silent rebellion came in the form of telling her parents one thing, and actually doing another, sort of. Cast parties, she'd easily be able to tell her parents that she'd be sleeping over at whatever house it was being thrown at, but whether or not she stayed there all night was another story entirely.
Wendy's grades and extra-curricular activities earned her relatively easy admission to Harvard University. She double majored in Social Psychology and English. Her love for the written word stemmed way back to when she was a kid, and had always figured at some point, if everything else she wanted to do fell through, she could write a book. It shouldn't be that hard, right? Harvard was an education, but even more so than she expected. Having had the same boyfriend all four years of high school, Wendy didn't really know much about love and sex other than the puppy-love high school brought. The boys she met at Harvard were educated and appealing, and her whole perspective really began to change on the whole thing. Maybe a side effect of her major, was she kept analyzing her relationships and trying to pick apart the things that didn't seem to work. Frustrating for anybody to actually deal with, Wendy did try to keep it to herself for the most part.
Ever the opinionated and vocal woman, Wendy would often get into lengthy discussions about such things as politics, entertainment, or whatever. She however, considered herself to be excellent in dishing out advice when her friends were having relationship issues. She often stated her opinions of her friends relationships, even if they didn't want to hear it. All during her college years, she had begun to piece together thoughts, experiences, and stories that she hoped to one day compile into a book.
Following college, she accepted a job working with the Cambridge Chronicle. She had to work her way up the ladder, so to speak, but eventually began writing her own pieces. It was actually getting her writing out there that inspired her to finally piece together that book, and the very first Wendy Charmichael book, Love, Sex, and Everything In Between was born. She picked up an agent, and everything seemed to snowball very quickly. She was doing re-writes and meeting with publishers, and then her book was being published, and she was choosing a cover, taking a picture for the inside page, and off she went. A book tour followed, and she seemed to pick up steam wherever she went. She honestly didn't expect that kind of response to her work, but she was already getting an advance on a second book, even as her first book climbed to the top of the New York Best Seller's list.
The next few years seemed to be a blur for Wendy. She published two more relationship books, one of which has been bought the rights of to make into a movie. (She still isn't sure how that is going to work, but she's willing to see it through.) She was asked to turn her thoughts into a radio show, and her immediate thought was HELL NO. She had no clue how to talk to a microphone like it was a person, but her agent kept pushing, and the offer kept going up. May 1, 2007 was the very first show of "Love & Sex with Dr. Charm", which she balked so much at the stupid name. First of all, she's no doctor, and the play on her last name made her roll her eyes. As much as she may have dug in her heels, the show was a hit, and with listeners calling in for advice, she actually felt like she might be doing some good. She loved it, she thrived in it, and after a year, she became nationally syndicated.
Wendy was happy living in Cambridge, going to work in Boston four times a week, and generally just living out her life. She was in a good, healthy relationship of her own, and nothing seemed to really want to throw her a curve ball. It was good, but of course, when someone's life seems too good, something always seems to come along and screw things up. Hers came in the form of a horrible break up, when she had assumed her then boyfriend was that ever illusive "one", she was left at a loss of what to do. She felt like a fraud going into work and dishing out relationship advice, when she had been so blindsided and had no clue what really went wrong with her own relationship. It took her a while to get back on her feet, and to really figure out what she wanted to do, but she managed to do it.
Her change of pace came at a time when she really, really needed it. Wendy was feeling suffocated, ever reminded of the things she'd done wrong (or assumed she did wrong) in Boston. She was offered a change in scenery, a huge pay increase and her own, more collaborative work environment in California. Having never actually been out to the state more than vacations to San Francisco or Disneyland, she wasn't entirely sure. The fact that a cousin she'd been close with ever since she was young was living in Los Angeles helped with the transition, and she eventually agreed. Her move to California and radio station Indie 103.1 in Santa Monica was set for August and September, and her big leap of faith in moving was probably the most daring thing she'd ever done.
|
