There’s no BAU without Penelope Garcia, meaning there’s no Criminal Minds: Evolution without Kirsten Vangsness. And Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19 has been “a big year” for Garcia, both personally and professionally. JJ and her boys are staying at Penelope’s place, and during a recent case, it was Garcia’s fierce sense of justice and empathy that saved the day. There’s also the issue of the team finding out about her testimony on Voit’s behalf, the repercussions of which are ongoing. “It’s not a black and white thing. It’s a real messy situation. But it’s one of the things that I love with the part I play [and] about the show. It’s not giving you a very direct good, evil, always evil, always good.”
To kick off Fangirlish‘s interview with Vangsness, I had to compliment Episode 7 in particular before even beginning to ask about what comes next. That led to an interesting reveal: In “that shoot-em-up one,” Agent Prentiss was originally intended as the hero. “It was supposed to be Paget [Brewster] who was in there” negotiating with the victim-slash-UnSub, “and I think it was Paget that pitched that it should be me because it was…I hadn’t heard anything. And all of a sudden, we were about to do the table read, and everyone was like, ‘have you seen what you do?'” It was a “really cool” thing for her costar to do, “and it’s an example of the generosity of the people I work with.”
On guest stars, including Connor Storrie
Speaking of the people Vangsness works with, she’s had some great scenes with Zach Gilford’s Elias Voit over the past few seasons. (In the video below, I mention all the way back in Season 17, when Penelope told Voit how stinky he was.) With that interesting relationship, and with more excellent guest stars this season—Justin Kirk as The Fan, Connor Storrie as Lance Kingston, and so many others—I asked if Garcia was going to get more Voit time or even interact with these other major characters.
The love for the Heated Rivalry star—who we again have to stress wasn’t even known for that when he was cast in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19—is real. The same goes, as a general rule, for artists and what they create. As it should be. “One of the things about Criminal Minds that I love so much behind the scenes is that we shoot in LA. There are so many good actors in LA. And I mean, I can’t tell you how many great guest stars we have that you haven’t heard of yet—Connor Storrie being one of a bajillion of them that when you look back, you’re like, ‘oh, they were on that?’ Oh, they were on that?’ Before something happened to them, they were already hustling and doing stuff. So I am—…it’s such a gift.”
Briefly looking ahead to Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 20, she shared, “there’s someone, right now, who’s come in that I can’t tell you about that is extraordinary.” Whoever that is, “they were on a Netflix show for a couple of seasons, and they’re fantastic. And we get them for a few episodes right now. We get these people that come in, and we get to see what they do.”
Lest we forget, Kirsten Vangsness herself “was a guest star on this show” originally, but it’s impossible to imagine the series without her as a constant now. As she reminded us, the same is true both Zach Gilford and RJ Hatanaka (who plays Tyler Green). “So, it’s one of those cool things where the writers really ‘yes, and’ the situation. And yes, there are these highlights—and everyone goes like, ‘well, obviously Connor Storrie is,’—but there are so many Connor Stories that just haven’t become Connor Storrie in this dimension yet. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not Connor Storrie-ing all over the place.”
When I commented that Storrie’s dedicated fans were likely going to latch onto “Connor Storrie-ing all over the place,” Vangsness shared that she wished there were behind the scenes recordings of his time on the show because he’s “just an artist. You know what I mean? And I mean, for me, I love being around artists.” So, they’d just talk, and she’d say something “like, ‘oh, I do this art salon in Hollywood.’ And he’s like, ‘oh, I’m a clown.’ Then, I was like, ‘you’re a clown?!’ And he was like, ‘yeah.'” That’s really exciting “because, you know, when someone says that, that means that they’re…steeped in the tradition of clowning. And you’re like, [gasp] ‘ooooh, my God!'”
MORE: Here’s what we thought of Storrie’s first Criminal Minds: Evolution episode.
On Penelope Garcia playing host to all the big family moments
In Criminal Minds: Evolution, Penelope’s place is always open to family. Emily crashed there in Season 17. Last season, (almost) everyone wound up there after Will’s funeral. Now, in Season 18, she has JJ and the boys staying with her and hosted the (not a) surprise party for Henry to celebrate him getting into college. And, as Vangsness reminded me, “Mr. Wednesday happens.” Asked when Penelope’s ditching him (for Luke, preferably!), well…”I’m very pro Garcia needs to get it in. That came out as bad as I meant it.”
Getting back to the family aspect of Criminal Minds: Evolution and using Penelope’s home as the BAU family home, “we used to do all the family stuff at Rossi’s house. And then, I mean, it is, I can’t believe—I know it sounds earnest and fake, but I swear to God it’s true. I can’t believe I get to do this job. And they built a whole apartment, that lives there, that we do all this stuff in, that is mine. There’s a kind of job security that comes from that, that is real special to me, that I am just gobsmacked about. I’m so like, ‘oh! We’re doing it in my house that I live in.’ (But not really.)”
MORE: As we said in our advance review for Criminal Minds: Evolution, “Garcia has always, always, always been the heart and soul of Criminal Minds.”
Kirsten Vangsness teases “a thrill” in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19 Episode 9 and 10
Even after all the action Penelope’s already had this season, we know based on some promotional images released prior to the season premiere that there’s something big coming up. It’s just that we have no idea what that is, other than that it looks like it’s going to be rough. “I get to do a lot,” Vangsness told me at one point, “that’s all I can say. But it’s a lot…It was fun and terrifying.”
By the time we got to the end of the interview, having talked more about Voit’s complex gray area and Gilford being able to “use all those crayons” the writers gave him this season, we wrapped up with more about what to expect in both Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19 Episode 9 and the season finale. Here’s what Vangsness could share: “Oh, it’s going to be a thrill. You’re going to be quite delighted about these people that you already know are great.” That list includes “Yvette Nicole Brown, Justin Kirk, Zach [Gilford]…all these people…and people you don’t know yet, you’re going to be like, ‘oh, they are bringing out all of the big guns.'”
In other words, “it’s going to be very cool.”
MORE: Here’s what we thought of last season’s finale.
Watch our full Kirsten Vangsness interview here
Oh, and if you ever wanted to know how some of those Penelope-isms make their way into the universe—or, like us, still can’t believe how effortless the delivery always is—there’s a fun description of the “real co-lab that we do there. Or collab depending on how you say that word” that goes into them. But, suffice it to say, “everybody else might work eight days out of that episode. And if I work three, that means that I’m at home, shoving those words into my mouth so that they sound like I can rattle them off.”
Catch Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19! The remaining two episodes release on Thursdays, July 16 and 23 on Paramount+, and the series will return for Season 20.
