Posted in: ABC, CBS, Paramount+, TV | Tagged: Criminal Minds, criminal minds: evolution

Criminal Minds: Vangsness Talks Garcia, Show's Longevity & Much More

Criminal Minds: Evolution star Kirsten Vangsness discusses the show's success, the Garcia-Rossi bombshell, showrunner Erica Messer, and more.

Kirsten Vangsness is one of two original Criminal Minds cast members, alongside A. J. Cook, who have been on the show since it premiered on CBS in 2005. She's appeared in 363 of the 367 episodes, across all 19 seasons, followed by Cook's 344. Vangsness plays Penelope Garcia, the Behavioral Analysis Unit's (BAU) Technical Analyst and Media Liaison Officer, who typically acts as ops with her IT skills near unmatched, covering the team beyond the cyber level by also serving as the rock for many team members. In recent seasons, Garcia has not only helped Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez) deal with the loss of his dog Roxy, she's also helped with Tyler Green (RJ Hatanka) through his PTSD and embrace his role as a member of the BAU field team, and provided support for Jennifer "JJ" Jareau (Cook) as she's adjusted to life without her husband William LaMontagne (Josh Stewart) who died last season and getting their son, Henry (Mekhai Andersen) ready for college. Vangsness spoke to Bleeding Cool about when she felt Criminal Minds would become the phenomenon it would be, even in the current edgier Evolution era on Paramount+, how showrunner Erica Messer is so in sync creatively to keep up the "well-oiled" machine, Garcia's "evolution," and how star Joe Mantegna brings the best out of everyone as Rossi.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Star Kirsten Vangsness on Show's Cohesion, Rossi-Garcia Tensions Over Voit, Flexibility, and More

Bleeding Cool: Since you started on 'Criminal Minds' in 2005, at what point did you feel that this could become the phenomenon it would be?

Vangness: Tom, I remain gobsmacked by it. I mean, it doesn't surprise me because it feels very natural to do, right? I have a hard time watching very violent things, so I don't watch a lot of the episodes. I'll watch like pieces and stuff, so to be there filming it, being around all the people, and all of us doing it, it's such a well-oiled machine, so that's not surprising. Then you go out in the world, people are like, "Oh my God! I watched the show." I'm like, "You do?" Other people watch, and it's a continual delight to me. Also, it makes sense because we have an extraordinary group of actors and writers that have been with the show for a really long time. We shoot it in Los Angeles, an industry town. We have great talent within the town. There are bits of like, "That makes sense," but it joys me endlessly.

How do you feel that you've grown with Erica as a showrunner, how she's steered the ship in the 'Evolution' era, and kept things fresh for Garcia as the heart of the BAU?

You know what is so great about Erica is Erica, who I've known since she was on the ladder of the writers, certainly not at the top, which she is now the overseer of the ladder. She's so collaborative, and what's the word I want to use, because even when I've co-written five episodes with her of the original [series]. When you write and hang out with her, she's so observant of everything that's happening. She's taking in information that you might not even be aware of. I'm telling her some random story about my grandpa from whatever, and suddenly, you read a script, and you're like, "That's that story."

Not like she steals it, but like she watches and takes in information. Sometimes, she's taking in things about yourself and other people or dynamics that you don't know or are not aware are there, and then you're like, "Oh, I get to do this thing that I already inhabit, or I'm trying or whatever." Also, she's very in touch with the world. Traditionally, I've been told that showrunners are like hot shots and they're removed and cold. This is someone actively participating in life, as she knows about the same hub that I do that makes lunches for unhoused people, and she's helping.

She does things in the world in the city we live in, so that kind of person who's a human being can really write human beings. That's what it engenders, and I can say all the people I work with are actual human beings; they're not like this idea you have of like these removed, "I'm a big hot shot actor." We all really care about the show, and we care about each other's individual characters. I think that engenders a growth that can sort of happen really organically.

As far as Garcia being this rock for everyone in the BAU, does it feel organic to you? Did it also depend on those you work with, like Adam, RJ, and AJ, to bring it all together?

Yeah, it's interesting, because I think [Garcia] used to be. I think she's still a rock, but one of the things about Garcia that has changed is that she's a little softer, like she lets things hit her. Before, she was like, "I'm going to try to be," and it's not really her. That was her masking, and I think she's gotten more into caring about how she feels, or she actually takes that breath to be like, "That really hurt me, I need a second, or I'm being affected." She's able to show that she doesn't…I always say, or I don't always say, I just recently discovered that one of the big differences between Garcia and me is Garcia knows everything, and I know very little.

[Garcia's] allowing herself to be a little more fallible. Not that she hasn't made mistakes before, but she's always sort of more shocked by it. Before, she was hustling more for her worthiness, like she needs to do more to be loved, to prove. She does a little less of that. I think she's gotten a little more discerning. In the first iteration of this evolution, you saw her get together with RJ and then get really discerning and be like, "I don't like the way this person's treating me, and I'm going to let this go." She's starting to do those things, like not being so "love me, love me," and I think that that is good.

The previous episode, not this recent one that came by ("Requiem"), but in "The Furies," where you and Joe had a very intense scene together, and that revealed you testified on Voit's behalf, keeping him from getting the death penalty. How did you break that down tension-wise with the way Garcia and Rossi got each other's heads like that?

It's easy. I mean, that makes it almost sound like we fight; we don't fight. Joe's Italian, and I'm half Italian, so that's 150% Italian, and we're very expressive, which is fun, especially because he's such a good actor. He's bringing you…Some actors have all the crayons in the crayon box, and then some actors have all the crayons in the crayon box, then they spread them out in front of you, and you can use them too if you want. He's like, "I'm going to give you so much that you have so much stuff that you can play off of," and he sees what you do, then goes like, "Yes!" and ends it. It's the easiest thing. We get into bumpy situations, Garcia and Rossi, because they believe in the same things, but they're coming out from so many different places, right? They do fight, and there are some things that they're just never going to agree on, and I think that's very classic of the world we live in. They always end in hugs, rather than them saying, "Cut!" and we hug. It's pretty fun.

Both RJ and Zach became new additions in the 'Evolution' era (since season 16). How do you feel they fit into the 'Criminal Minds' family after all these years?

I think that if you don't have new people to see the old people…also, people who just come to 'Criminal Minds' like you want something new to everybody. You know what I mean? I get that this show's gone for so long. You've had so many different iterations, and it's like a band where people say, "That's my favorite band. This is my favorite." I'm a big fan of Duran Duran, and like, I can be like, "Well, when Andy Taylor was the guitarist," and you're like, "But Andy Taylor wasn't the guitarist and back in the day."

It's like, "I still like the band, but I'm going to have these judgment calls or whatever." That's a very normal thing to have with fans, and it's also fun to see how different people are- how is that affecting the whole amoeba that is this thing we're used to? It's extraordinary when anybody comes into that amoeba, and it works. I also think it's the people I work with, and I like to think myself, we're very welcoming, and want to play with a lot of different people. That's one of the great things about the show: we shoot it in Los Angeles. We have so many great actors here in this town. We just have more and more opportunities to use, and I love that we get to play with so many kinds of people.

Criminal Minds: Evolution, which also stars Aisha Tyler and Paget Brewster, streams Thursdays on Paramount+ with the season finale on July 23rd.

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