Posted in: ABC, Hulu, TV | Tagged: Scrubs

Scrubs: Vangsness on Series Appearance, Teases "The Studio" S02 Cameo

Kirsten Vangsness (Criminal Minds: Evolution) on her appearance on ABC's Scrubs, her "cameo" in Apple TV's The Studio Season 2, and more.

Sometimes, for Kirsten Vangsness, it's hard to shed the skin you're used to for so long since she's been synonymous with the role of Penelope Garcia on the CBS/Paramount+ crime procedural series Criminal Minds, with a healthy helping of 19 seasons and counting. She has appeared on other episodic television shows like the indie series Pretty the Series and Shelf Life, and Disney's Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. While promoting her work on the Paramount+ incarnation of Criminal Minds: Evolution Vangsness spoke to Bleeding Cool to reflect on her appearance on ABC's Scrubs revival in the episode "My Angel," playing Pauline, a patient in need of a liver transplant, how it felt like she was back in acting school, Season 2 hopes, and her secret cameo in an upcoming season of a certain critically-acclaimed Apple TV series The Studio.

Scrubs: Kirsten Vangsness on How Filming the Multicam Sitcom Was Pressuring, and How She Snuck into 'The Studio'

In the Scrubs episode, Pauline was under the care of Dr. Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke) and intern Dr. Asher Green (Jacob Dudman) with mixed results. When the initial donor patient came back ischemic, Elliot reached out to Turk (Donald Faison) to see if there were more options, and he told her he found one through an extensive search, but there were complications. After telling Pauline the news, she reluctantly agrees and reveals that on her second chance, she'll adopt a puppy.

Bleeding Cool: I saw your episode on Scrubs. You did a great job. I was curious, what was that experience like working with Sarah [Chalke], and is there any chance that we'll see Pauline back with the puppy she adopted?

Vangsness: Oh my god, I want someone to tell them that we need to see Pauline with the puppy she adopted, because I want that very much. I want everyone to see well, maybe I hope she's now got the liver, so she might be doing better. First, thank you so much for watching. I really appreciate it, and it was wild. It was terrifying, because I work on a procedural drama ['Criminal Minds'] playing someone who knows everything and is what I like to think of as the vision of health, and now, I have yellow contacts in my eyes. I learned it was like being at school, like acting class, because they're so good, and it's shot differently.

It's a different way of…so it was interesting because I was really scared and you're like, "Am I going to…is my acting going to come through?" Am I going to cover it with the fear, or am I just going to, so you're constantly like, "Let it go. You're okay. Do your job," but no, I loved it. It was great fun. Everybody is so good on that cast. It was a real pleasure, and fun to play a different part.

No one knows this, Tom, except you; I'm telling you this. I went to an online auction to be in the background on 'The Studio,' so in the next season of 'The Studio,' I am an ambulance worker. I wasn't paid; nobody knew I was there, but I did it because it's a show I watch, and I wanted to learn about being in a space. Nobody knew that I was on 'Criminal Minds.' I had my contacts on, like nothing, and I learned so much, and it was scary in a different environment, a different animal.

My cover was blown because one of the production assistants was working on that. They were like, "What are you doing?" Because I was with a bunch of other background people, but like I'm in a scene with Seth [Rogan], Kathryn Hahn, and whatever, and you learn so much. You see how different sets run, different ways things work, and 'Scrubs' was like that. It's like, I'm used to being in a certain echelon, and so to move that, it's not like it's bad, but it's different. I think as an actor, it's important for me to put myself in those situations.

All 10 seasons of Scrubs, which also stars Zach Braff, Judy Reyes, John C. McGinley, Ken Jenkins, Neil Flynn, Sam Lloyd, Vanessa Bayer, Ava Bunn, David Gridley, Layla Mohmmadi, Amanda Morrow, and Joel Kim Booster, are available to stream on Hulu. Criminal Minds: Evolution streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

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