Paige Matthews is a fictional character from the American television series Charmed, played by Rose McGowan from October 4, 2001, until May 21, 2006. The character was created by executive producer Brad Kern as a replacement for lead character Prue Halliwell, following the departure of actress Shannen Doherty. Paige is introduced into season four as the fiercely independent younger half-sister of the female leads, Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano). Like her sisters, Paige is a witch, and more specifically, a Charmed One—one of the most powerful witches of all time. Paige is introduced as the secret love child of the Halliwell sisters' mother Patty (Finola Hughes) and her whitelighter (guardian angel) Sam Wilder (Scott Jaeck), making Paige both a witch and whitelighter. She was given up at birth and raised by her adoptive parents, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews.
At the beginning of season four, Paige goes on to help reconstitute The Charmed Ones by taking Prue's place in the "Power of Three", following her death in the season three finale. Like Prue, Paige possesses telekinetic abilities, but due to her mixed whitelighter heritage, this manifests as the ability to orb ("teleport") objects from one location to another through a vocal command. As the series progresses, Paige also receives whitelighter abilities such as the power to orb herself and others, as well as sensing, glamouring, and healing also the power of photokinesis. Paige's storylines have often revolved around her protecting innocents and defeating the forces of evil in San Francisco with her sisters. In the later seasons, she eventually receives her own whitelighter charges to train and protect as they learn witchcraft. Paige also has romantic relationships with fellow-witch Richard Montana (Balthazar Getty) in season six, and FBI agent Kyle Brody (Kerr Smith) in season seven. In the eighth and final season, Paige marries a human parole officer named Henry Mitchell (Ivan Sergei).
The character was mostly well received by television critics, who complimented Paige's personality and felt that McGowan was the right choice for the role. McGowan won the Family Television Award for Favorite Sister in 2005 for her portrayal of Paige. In 2007, AOL TV ranked Paige at number 13 on their list of the Top TV Witches, the lowest of the four sisters. In addition to the television series, the character has also appeared in numerous expanded universe material, such as the Charmed novels and its comic book adaptation.
Casting and development
The character of Paige Matthews was conceived by executive producer Brad Kern as a replacement character for Prue Halliwell (Shannen Doherty). In May 2001, it was officially announced that Doherty would be departing Charmed. The producers originally considered recasting the role of Prue with a different actress. Executive producer Aaron Spelling even approached actresses Tiffani Thiessen, who replaced Doherty on his previous series Beverly Hills, 90210, and Jennifer Love Hewitt to take on the role as Doherty's replacement. Spelling revealed to Entertainment Weekly, "Tiffani was our first choice to take over for Shannen - even before we asked Jennifer [Love Hewitt], but Tiffani told us she wants to do a half-hour comedy." Hewitt also declined the role. Producers then decided to kill off the character of Prue and replace her with a long-lost younger sister in favor of having "a fresh face" join the series. Spelling stated, "[The character's] going to be the long-lost sister Alyssa and Holly never knew [they] had. And wait until you see what we came up with to explain why she's been lost: Nobody ever knew she even existed."