Everyone's heard the story thousands of times before - starving actress finally gets her big break and goes on to have a successful, lasting career. Kirsten Vangsness plays Penelope Garcia, the comedic F.B.I. computer expert with a shameless sex drive, on the hit CBS drama "Criminal Minds." This character, which has created a buzz throughout Hollywood, put Kirsten at that rare point in her career where, after years of struggling to make it, she has finally landed the role that could catapult her to mega-stardom.
Born to elementary school teachers in Pasadena and raised in Porterville, Calif., Vangsness wanted to be a mishmash of professions as a little girl and realized the only way this was possible was to become an actress.
"When I was growing up, I wanted to be Wonder Woman," Vangsness said. "Then I wanted to be a doctor, then a fireman, then a ballerina. So I just decided that I wanted to act like all those things (instead)."
But she did not truly realize her calling until high school.
"When I was in high school I was really, really shy," Vangsness explained. "I wouldn't talk … so my mom said you can either take shop or you can take drama, and I did not want to take shop so I took drama. And, all of a sudden, I was good at something."
She started taking acting classes and has been in about two plays a year since she was 14. She went to California State University, Fullerton for college and graduated as a theater major with an emphasis in acting. Once she graduated, she was ready to move to Los Angeles and try her hand at acting, but many tried to break her spirit. A wife of one of her teachers was a casting director and told her, "You're not going to be an actor … you're not fat enough to be the really fat girl, and you're not thin enough to be the pretty (girl)."
Vangsness said, "I think I had a mourning period and then I just got over it … (I didn't) want to be one of those people who (do) something they hate and talk about how they used to do something."
But Vangsness explained she had no illusions about her career as an actress so she had a hodgepodge of day jobs to be able to survive that included work as a substitute teacher, work at a group home for abused children and as a personal assistant for an actress.
She also did some writing. Vangsness said she has a kept a journal as an homage to one of her favorite books ever, "Harriet the Spy," since she was in fourth grade. As she got older, she began tweaking things she had written into short plays and monologues, one of which was printed in the magazine part of the Calendar section in the Los Angeles Times.
Then an actress friend of hers, Gina Garcia, got a day job as a casting associate. Garcia got Vangsness an audition for a small recurring role on a new drama called "LAX."
"(The 'LAX' audition) became different because it was no longer, 'I have to go in and audition and make myself look good.' I had to make my friend look good and I'm much better when it's altruistic," Vangsness said.
Vangsness appeared on the show as the character Stephanie in a few episodes. Once it was through, she again became a starving artist, going back to the theater and her day jobs, but Garcia kept working as a casting associate and she began work casting for a new drama, "Criminal Minds."
The character of Penelope Garcia was only supposed to appear in the first episode. Gina Garcia thought of Vangsness for the role because, according to Garcia, "(Kirsten) has amazing comedic timing and was perfect for (it)."
Still, Vangsness said Garcia had doubts Vangsness would get the role.
"(Gina) called me and said, 'there is something like 300 girls and all their (audition) tapes are being sent to Canada, but do you want to come in and audition?' Again, there was no pressure," Vangsness said. "Now this is an even better audition because it was like, 'I can do that (because) I'm not going to get it'."
Vangsness got the part, and got a lot of attention from producers and test audiences despite not being on screen very much.
"There was a buzz around the offices after that first episode even though the role was small," Garcia explained. "Everybody was commenting about that Garcia character and how funny she was."
As a result, Vangsness' part then grew from a one-time appearance in the first episode to a recurring role. But a short time later Vangsness was turned into a series regular.
"I got some weird audition for something and I called up the costume people and asked to borrow a skirt (for an audition)," Vangsness explained. "One of the costumes girls called the producers … then like a week later, all of a sudden they were like 'we want you to be a series regular.' It couldn't have been more perfect because I think if I had gotten that right away, it just would've been too freaky."
The show premiered and Vangsness became a rising star, despite having less screen time than other members of the cast. Her brilliant timing, witty banter and sexual chemistry with the character of Agent Morgan, played by Shemar Moore, made audiences fall in love with her. Perhaps one of the biggest materializations of her success was when Entertainment Weekly chose her as one of the season's 10 breakout stars.
"I think people like Kirsten because she is a lot of positive energy," Garcia said. "She is very down to earth and she has paid her dues. I think the character is hilarious and sympathetic at the same time."
Vangsness said she is still not used to being a professional actress in the limelight.
"It's very weird now not having the day job. It's like 'what, this is work too?' I usually get (to work) really early so I can just wander around. I've gone to work even on days I'm not called so I can park in my parking space," Vangsness said.
Because of her recent success, she has been able to indulge herself, such as being able to buy a bed to sleep in for the first time (before, she slept on a futon a friend gave her) and she "still (doesn't) understand how people even know who I am."
Even everyday life with members of her family has changed, as her mother is less concerned about her having steady work and being able to support herself.
"My mother has reduced the phone calls about how I should get my graduate degree in law and how I should really help her write a social studies text about Mesopotamia to about once a month now where before it was like three times a week or so," Vangsness said. "And my sister is a nutbag now. She never used to want to come to plays, all of a sudden now (it's changed) and it's cool."
Aside from season two of "Criminal Minds" which airs Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. on CBS, she is continuing to do what she has always done and loved to do - theater.
She is producing and acting at the Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood, which she did before "Criminal Minds."
"I like theater because it's thankless, it's real, it's incredible training," Vangsness said.
She explained how her training as a theater actress has also helped her work on "Criminal Minds."
"I do one take and usually I'm done because, as a theater actress, you know you don't get another chance to do that thing right," Vangsness said.
It has also helped her improvise with another theater actor on the show, Mandy Patinkin.
"The first time we had a scene together, we ran our lines and then went to shoot and not a line from that script came out of his mouth. It was really great because I've been doing theater enough that I've had to improv my way through God knows what, so it was really fun. Nothing from that scene (was from the script)."
Garcia said she believes Vangsness will be "catapulted into superstardom."
