Starry Magazine - 2007

Q) What are the current projects that you are working on?

A) Currently, I am working on a scruffy little show on CBS called "Criminal Minds." I just finished doing a play over Christmas. Right now, I am in the middle of working on my theater company's award show so I am rehearsing for that. I am also in the middle of filming the Super Bowl episode for "Criminal Minds."

Q) Please tell us about your character Penelope Garcia on "Criminal Minds."

A) She is the resident hacker for Quantico, in general, for the FBI, but she has sweetly and whimsically weaseled her way in to being invaluable for the Behavior Analysis Unit. She has quite an affection for the people that work in that group and she gets what they are doing. It's a big huge challenge for her. She's very eccentric. She's a total geek, but in a really hot way. She's got really fantastic shoes!

Q) What's new this season for the show and your character?

A) This season, thus far, we've gotten to see what kind of car Penelope drives, which is fantastic. You, actually, see that I have legs because I am walking around a lot more than I was last year. I believe in an upcoming episode I am not in the office at all! I go a whole episode where I am never in the Quantico office. I can't make any guarantees, but I think that might be in the cards. Everyone has sort of melded and molded into a delightful crime drama sandwich that makes everything compliment each other now so much. Last year, everyone was trying to get their sea legs about it. The writers were trying to figure out our characters and we were trying to figure out the writing. It was so great, but there is this sort of effortlessness about it right now where everybody just sort of gets it. It's just sort of moves along as entertaining, but yet creepy. It turns things into more of a puzzle than it was last year. I think there is a lot more thinking outside of the box, which I do enjoy. I don't like being in the box. So, as far away from the box that you can get I am a big fan of. And, I think we do that!

Q) What made you want to be a part of the show?

A) I just wanted a job! That is what made me want to be a part of the show, originally. Originally, just that I got a part was exciting because in Los Angeles there are so many of us unbelievably talented people that  have never been on TV (and they are amazing actors). The idea of having that is huge when you have a job, a passion or something that you want to do for a living, but that a lot of people that are excellent at it can't even get work. On top of that, that I got to sort of help manifest how she is, is really amazing. I watch the show, but I watch it sort of with one eye closed. I get very grossed out by things. Penelope gets to be that person for the audience that can say when things are gross and gets to look away at pictures. She gets to be the comedic relief, which is fantastic. At the same time, I get to play so many colors and do so many different things. It's a fantastic role and a joy to do! The people who I work with are unbelievably talented, which includes the writers, the crew and the great actors (not to mention the guest actors that we have). They are all so good that it is like going to school every day. You get to learn all kinds of news things and I am so grateful that I get to be around all of those people. It makes me better at what I do.

Q) What about your role do you find challenging?

A) Typing is very challenging for me and that is a big part of my character. She's a much better typist than me. She's much more technically savvy and it comes to her much more easier than it does to me. I've always been a nerd. I've always been sort of a Science nerd and really into space and physics. The show has forced me to be more of a nerd because she can do things that I can't. It's harder for me to understand things. She understands things faster than I do. It's very weird to play a character whose brain works in a different way and quicker than your own does. I have to catch up to her sometimes. I think she's made me smarter. Kirsten is smarter because of Penelope Garcia. I thank her for that. The typing is also hard. I was so excited because this year I actually got a SpongeBob Squarepants Typing Tutor for my Apple. I can type super fast, but not in the classical way of typing. I am trying to learn how to do that super fast. That's what I need to work on. Also, the cameras are a different thing. I come from theater where you get one take and can you move all over the stage. It is different when there is a camera in front of you because you have to stay still and not fling your arms everywhere. You can't make noise during this one part because it will mess up the sound. It's all kind of delightful. I love learning about it.

Q) What has been your most memorable moment from filming the show?

A) Last year I had never done a scene with Mandy [Patinkin.] We had been doing the show and I had met him, but we never had a scene together. We had this episode where Mandy and I had a scene together. He was going to be in my office for the scene. He comes and I meet him. I had met him before, but it was like here we are as actors going to work on this together. It was very exciting for me because Mandy is an incredible actor. You just feel honored just to be able to do that with him. We run through the lines together to make sure we know them and we decide we're ready. We start doing the scene and Mandy proceeds to not say a single line that we rehearsed. He just starts talking and thank G-d for the theater background I have because it came in handy since I am very used to things not being in the script. I just start talking back and we riff for a good ten minutes. We did six takes like that of just us talking. It was so much fun! It was scary because I wasn't sure if I was doing it right since I had never really acted with him. I was concerned that I was going to screw it up, or something like that. It was super duper fun! It was the first of many times. It sort of taught me that it is ok sometimes to riff and sort of improvise. Sometimes it is not and sometimes it is. I remember just feeling so good at the end of the day. I got to do a scene with Mandy Patinkin and I got to improvise! I didn't screw it up so that was cool!

Q) What is it like working with such an amazing cast?

A) It's super fun! Everybody is super nice and down to Earth. They are funny and kind. Each one of them, they are their own people. Mandy is incredibly creative, so smart, in touch with things, soulful and he connects to people so completely when he talks to them. Thomas is hilarious and he has this really dry sense of humor in real life like his character. So you can't tell if he is angry or if he's funny (most of it is funny). You don't know for a second, which makes it funnier. Shemar is one of my best pals. We just get along so well. He's a big giant teddy bear. I would say he is 17% cuter in person than he is on television. A.J. and I, whenever we do scenes together we invariably end up lip-synching ridiculous songs into pens, using them as microphones. She's so cool and fun. Paget is such a girly-girl. Her, AJ and I get along so well. Paget is so funny and such a great actress. She's so generous as an actress, too. Michael is hilarious and he does all sorts of things. He does magic tricks and he always knows really stupid jokes. I am a fan of really stupid jokes. Each one of them I enjoy individually.

Q) Why should viewers continue tuning in to the show?

A) I think it's got a lot to offer. If you're into horror films, then it's got that going on. It's got that whole creepy thing going on. It's got that whole puzzle mystery Agatha Christie thing going on, which I love. It's also got the whole thing about human behavior and what makes people do what they do. It's television and entertainment so it is extreme where we are talking about these grizzly situations that happen, but what drives people to do anything I think is fascinating to all of us. On top of that, you have these characters that people are growing attached to with their things and their ways. I think another interesting fact is that it kind of forces people to realize about how we treat the children of our society and the less than's in our society (meaning not less than as humans, but what we perceive less because they are poor and/or have no family because they are foster kids), but that can have serious repercussions. Monsters create monsters. They don't just come out born that way. It reminds you to take good care of each other.

Q) What do you do in your spare time?

A) In my spare time, I do a lot of what I do on the show. I do a lot of theater. I am a member of a wonderful theater company in Hollywood called Theater of NOTE. I do theater and I write. I've written a few short plays, one full length and I've done a couple of solo pieces. I do a lot of writing and a lot of journal writing. I knit and I learn weird geeky stuff. I have tried to learn more Garcia-y material like programming stuff and code stuff. I do that and I hang out with friends and have adventures. I make a really good soup and I find opportunities to listen to loud music and dance around.

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A) I would like to say thanks for watching the show and watching it all evolve. I feel like we're on an adventure together because I am always surprised when someone says, "Hey, you did a really good job on that!" My first thought is, "What are they talking about it? Oh, I'm on TV. That's right!" I appreciate them watching and being a part of our little crime solving people group of intrepid crime fighters.

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