Criminal Minds: Honor Among Thieves

Ok, I have a little spare time to talk about my time on the set of Criminal Minds on March 1st and 2nd, 2007. It all started off on Wednesday, February 28th when I received a call from the casting agency that I had been requested by the producers to work on Criminal Minds for the next day on a SAG voucher. I was so happy, and I immediately thought, "Wow, Jill must've talked to someone over there". She works fast. I knew that this was going to be my 3rd voucher and that I had was finally going to be eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild, something that EVERY actor is trying to do. It makes sense to note here that SAG vouchers pay more than double what the non-union rate is. It also is worthy to note that, at this time, this was the first week I started my job at 24 Hour Fitness. I ended up asking for a total of 5 days off within the first 2 weeks. Two days for Criminal Minds and 3 days for the short film, lol.

Anyways, I had to arrive to the set super early at 7 am. Luckily the show has great catering service and I gorged myself on breakfast burritos and pancakes. I was sitting there talking to a nice lady, Trish, that I had met when all of a sudden I hear, "Good morning!". I look up, and it's Jill! She was on the set the day before, but had come back to meet Mandy Patinkin (Gideon). Jill was with her CBS benefactor, who took some pictures of us, including the one on the left. Jill was then whisked off to the set and I went to the props department to get my badge and my gun, haha. After I had gotten to the set, I talked to Jill for a little bit and then I had to listen to what we were going to be doing for the day. I saw Jill talking to cast members, crew members, producers, etc. I am not going to lie, I had the biggest urge to politely barge in on their conversations and introduce myself as her friend, but I had to hold back! As an actor, to meet people with power on a personal level is a to-die-for event. I have manners though, so I didn't do that. Jill met with and talked to Mandy Patinkin in between one of the takes, she came out of the office, kissed me on the cheek and then was taken to the airport. I really wish she could have stayed longer.

Now it was up to me to meet some of the people on the set, especially the ones who played a part in getting me my 3rd voucher. I knew I needed to meet Scott David and Gina, the casting directors. I didn't know who they were obviously, so I asked one of the production assistants who Gina was, and he pointed her out to me after basically interrogating me as to why. I explained how I was Jill's friend, etc., and he was like, "oohhhh, ok". Everyone on that set knows who Jill is and they know her blog. I introduced myself to Gina and couldn't thank her enough. She was very nice, but she told me that Scott David had left for the day. Bummer. The crazy thing is that when Jill posted the picture of Scott David and Gina on her blog, I realized that I had in fact walked right past Scott David early that day, but I didn't know it was him. Maybe he didn't recognize me, if he even saw me. So, I sent him a postcard thanking him for everything he had done.

A little later on, I met Matthew Gray Gubler (Reid) at craft services. I introduced myself and then said I was Jill's friend, and he's like, "oh yeah!! How's it goin?" I'm glad I could be associated with Jill on this set. I talked to him for a few minutes and then he had to get back to the set. I wasn't able to talk to Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson (Hotch) or Shemar Moore (Morgan) because they were really busy and I didn't want to interrupt. I was NOT trying to get yelled at or make a bad impression that day, lol. I told myself I'd try to talk to them the next day, but little did I know none of them were coming back the next day. I screwed that up! Oh well.

Before I end this, did I mention that as soon as I walked onto the set, one of the first people I was Kate Jackson......from the original Charlie's Angels. Charlie's Angels was before my time, but I still knew who she was. It was crazy to be standing there next to someone who has done so much in this business and had such a successful career. Now, I will talk about the rest of this day and the next day on my next post. No, I'm not trying to drag it out. Yes, I'm going to finish it all on my next post. I've just been working crazy hours this week and I'm beat! Plus, I hate it when my posts get too long. I know no one wants to sit there and read for 20 minutes.