CBS may not be aware of it, but the network’s onscreen nerds tend to flock together at parties. Witness Matthew Gray Gubler and Kristen Vangsness of CRIMINAL MINDS hanging out with Pauley Perrette of NCIS. Gubler plays his show’s resident genius, Dr. Spencer Reid, Vangsness is MINDS’ computer sorceress Penelope Garcia and Perrette is Goth techno-whiz Abby on NCIS.

“Did you hear about the crossover with Pauley?” Gubler asks excitedly.

“Our characters are best friends from school,” Vangsness adds.

“Reid and Abby went to MIT together,” Gubler elaborates.

Are NCIS and CRIMINAL MINDS combining forces? Is this a huge crossover scoop?

“No,” Gubler explains, “it’s a theoretical episode.”

“It was created by the three of us,” Perrette relates.

“It’s as good as sold,” Gubler deadpans.

Perrette heads off to talk NCIS, but Vangsness stays for moral support and teasing while Gubler submits to journalistic interrogation about his work on CRIMINAL MINDS, now in its sixth season on CBS, Wednesdays at 9 PM.

For starters, Gubler reveals the real reason Reid got shot in the leg early last season. In the story, it’s because Reid throws himself in front of a potential crime victim to protect the man. However, the onscreen wounding was scripted to cover a real-life injury sustained by Gubler.

ASSIGNMENT X: What happened to your leg?

MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER: I was dancing, dislocated my kneecap and chipped some bone and cartilage.

AX: Wow, that’s intense dancing.

GUBLER: It was pretty intense. I don’t joke around on the dance floor. It’s hard to explain. It was kind of like a Michael Jackson-esque move, God rest his soul. He would’ve pulled it off much better.

AX: Do you think it’s harder to write around this sort of injury or around a real-life pregnancy?

GUBLER: Probably a pregnancy. I don’t know – it’s tough. They’re both a problem to write around. The writers have to get creative.

Read full article.

The New York Post published a new interview with Matthew. Read a part below.

PW: So what was your response when asked to play Simon?
Matthew: The minute I got the phone call, it was like “holy heck yes!” Actors talk about dreaming of playing Othello, but for me, it’s Simon. It’s the biggest deal to me – even the older records from the ’50s, they have my heart and to be a part of that legend is mind blowing.

PW: My favorite song of theirs is “Christmas Don’t Be Late.” What’s yours?
Matthew: Oh, yeah – that’s a no brainer. But if you really want to get on the fringe, there was a record called “Chipmunk Punk” in the early ’80s and that’s kind of what took the show into the more modern version that we know – they sing Blondie and the old punk songs.

PW: If you could tackle one song as Simon, what would it be?
Matthew: It’d be cool to chipmunk-ize “The Virgin Suicides” soundtrack. All this ethereal French music, I think that would be unique to listen to.

PW: Can you actually sing?
Matthew: On my website I have a series of 1980s TV theme songs that I’ve resung and arguably, I’ve probably got the worst voice on the planet. Maybe the second. You check it out, I think it’s pretty bad. I’ve got “Golden Girls” and “Cheers.” I’m not the best singer.

Full interview here

Thanks to Steph for sending us an email about this.

From dfw.com:

Is it true that you got the role of Reid even though you really weren’t interested in being an actor or in doing TV?
“Yeah, I really sort of fell into it. I’m so lucky. I studied directing. And I had a directing agent who, long story short, said, ‘Hey, why don’t you go in a try out for this TV show pilot. There’s a character on there that’s sort of interesting.’ And I went in and got it. It was sort of a miracle, I guess, because I didn’t have any major interest in acting. But I since have fallen madly in love with it. It’s been great.”

That’s a great story. But actors who have worked much harder for their breakthrough roles, as well as those who are still waiting for their big breaks, must resent how easily it happened for you.
“Yeah, I’ve experienced that a little bit. But I’m of the belief that, if you love acting, then you can act anywhere. You can do local plays. You can do something. It’s maybe only people who are more interested in getting notoriety that really resent me. And if they’re only in it for their own fame and ego, then I don’t really care if they’re annoyed. I just want to entertain people and I’m lucky to get to do that on a big scale. But if I weren’t on the show, I would still be doing everything in my power to entertain people, even if it were on a much smaller platform, even if it were only for my mother.”

So with which character do you identify more: Spencer Reid or Simon the Chipmunk?
“It’s funny. I do see similarities between all characters I play. But Reid definitely is very different from me. I feel closer to Simon in many ways, to be honest, than I do to Reid, although I look more like Reid, of course. But it does feel like I put a costume on when I play him. When I look in the mirror, I realize I’ve become an entirely different person all of a sudden. It’s a strange feeling, but I’ve gotten used to it.”

Do you think, as an actor and a creative artist, that you have enough insight into the human condition that you could be a profiler?
“Well, I think I could fake it for a while. There are about 11 real profilers in the world. I’ve met six or seven of them. And after doing 110 episodes of the show, inevitably you find that you’ve learned quite a bit more than you ever thought you’d know about profiling. So I think I would be able to sort of get by. I think I could fake it for longer than anyone would want me to. But I think I prefer just to pretend.”

Full article here

Matthew did a radio interview with Marc, John Lopez and John McClain from Sports 610 Radio. They discuss the difference between his role from “Criminal Minds” to “500 Days of Summer”, his birthday and turning 30, the real meaning behind the length of his hair, favorite episodes and more:

[Source]