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'Criminal Minds' Matthew Gray Gubler Q&A: 'I have to stay busy'
Hurrah! Excellent news - Criminal Minds' sixth season is out on DVD today. To celebrate, we've already brought you a chat with Thomas Gibson. But hey, don't say we don't spoil you - we've got a bit of bonus natter with Matthew Gray Gubler (Spencer Reid).
Matthew recently chatted to reporters about working on the show, so read on to find out how he feels about directing, what show he'd love to be in, and why he likes painting pictures of bunny rabbits...
So, how's Criminal Minds?
"It's going well!"
You act, direct, make films, paint, have your own music label... do you work at night?
"I do! I get very little sleep. But I try to stay constantly busy. My fear is that if I stop working I'll, like, die. So throughout my life I've always tried to remain busy, and I sort of know no other way. I think if my heart rate slowed it would affect my constitution, strangely. I've been trained to do that. My parents instilled a very strong work ethic in me from a young age, fortunately."
So do you finish work on the show and go straight into doing something else in the evening?
"That's sort of my only vacation. Especially with a show this dark - we're so focused on this darkness, darkness, darkness that when I get home the best thing for me to do is to, like, paint a picture of a bunny rabbit or try to do something funny or make something funny. Something that's completely different to give that part of my brain a bit of a rest."
How did you end up directing some episodes of Criminal Minds?
"I was very lucky. I studied directing prior to acting and I've done music videos and documentaries and things that were sort of well-received. So when I asked my boss at Criminal Minds about it - I merely asked, 'What do I have to do to prove to you that I'm ready?' I spent four years watching also, and thinking, 'I could actually do this'.
"At first it was a very scary prospect because TV's something I haven't studied directing, and it's very fast-paced and different from independent cinema, which I know a little better. And I asked my boss, 'What do I have to do to prove to you that I'm ready?' and he kind of thought, and he said, 'All you had to do was ask'. He was like, 'You can do one next year'.
"That went so well that they requested me back and actually, Paget Brewster who plays Emily Prentiss, for her final episode, her one question was asking for me to direct it. She's very nice about my directing."
How did you feel about AJ Cook and Paget Brewster leaving and then coming back?
"I couldn't be happier that they came back. It was obviously sad when they left - you work long hours for six years. I've seen those people more than I've seen my family in my entire life, because you see your family after school and on Saturdays and Sundays but I've seen them every day for 15 hours for six years, and so to have any of them depart - you feel a void. But now that they're back I couldn't be happier.
"Paget is actually with me [at the moment]. She's upstairs. Her boyfriend is one of my best friends, who I brought, and he brought her, I guess. Sometimes I see her too much!"
If you weren't in Criminal Minds what other show would you like to be in?
"I would love to be on Curb Your Enthusiasm. I'd love to be on that. A lot of my favourite shows get cancelled really early on. I liked Twin Peaks. If I had a time machine I'd be in that. Otherwise... ooh, Deadwood. I was at the London Dungeon and I was like, 'I just want to be in a show where I can wear old-fashioned clothing', like a Victorian show. I would love that."
What's your favourite part of working on Criminal Minds?
"I love entertaining people in any way possible, and truly, the best part of filming it is seeing that the fans are so loyal and loving and supportive. That's a very cheesy answer, but I feel like we've got a very specific set of cult followers. Lovely fans that are some of the nicest people I've met in my life. So knowing that I get to bring them an ounce of entertainment [is great]."
