Matthew Gray Gubler Talks About Dr. Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds 
New Reid or Old Reid? That is the question.
"I like the fact that in just two years, from the pilot to Ashes to Dust, it's not the same guy," Matthew Gray Gubler commented on his character's transition.
When Criminal Minds began, Dr. Spencer Reid, played by Matthew Gray Gubler, was a cute, quirky, somewhat oblivious genius. Ever since "the Super Bowl episodes," The Big Game and Revelations, when Reid was held hostage, tortured, and injected with drugs, Reid's temperament has changed. He's become feisty, more reserved, and perhaps addicted to drugs. "In the first episode I'm like Macaulay Culkin. I'm so young. Now I look really old and decrepit," Gubler joked. (Actually, the one thing that's remained the same is he's still cute.)
Weighing in on the New Reid/Old Reid debate, Gubler said, "I kinda like the old school Reid a little more. Naïve Reid. I was doing the math in my head during the drug addiction script. In like 30 episodes, he's been held hostage three times, has killed two people, a kid he identified with slashed his wrists in front him, he was shot full of heroine..."
Many viewers noticed in the last episode, Ashes to Dust, that Reid and Gideon had some sort of moment regarding the drugs, but it was unclear as to what it meant. "In all honesty, that was an absolute spur of the moment improv from the writer. He said, 'Hey you want to try something? Why don't you say you can't get over it without help and then you look at Gideon.'"
So which Reid will remain as the show progresses? "It's not the end of the drug addiction," Gubler asserted. I asked the writer who wrote the drug addiction script [Chris Mundy], and he said no...Now it's just whether or not they pick it up again."
Although Gubler likes "old school Reid" as a person more, he said, "The drug thing was out of nowhere. I was so freakin excited. I was like 'This is so good. It won't make it into the final script. Someone will have a problem with Reid stealing heroine.'"
Yet the drugs did make it into the final script, and have greatly been a part of Reid's storyline since. Gubler said, "I know fans hate sarcastic Reid. The Reid that yells at Emily Prentiss. I don't think he'll ever get back to the new Reid... It's more real if you spend your life hunting bad guys. I'm sure you can't remain wide eyed." Not only is it more real and believable, but it has given Gubler a chance to expand his acting range.
Gubler during the Revelations episode"This is my first real job," Gubler divulged. "I sort of accidently got it." Gubler went to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied film. Part of the requirements was to get an internship, and he got one with famed director Wes Anderson. Gubler said Anderson asked him, "Do you want to audition to be in this film I'm making, playing an intern?" Gubler accepted, and got the role as an intern in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. From there, Gubler's directing agent asked if he wanted to act. "This [Criminal Minds] was the second audition I ever went on, with the first being the Wes Anderson movie," Gubler admitted.
"I've never really seen crime shows, other than Murder She Wrote... I liked that Reid was a little bit crazy, and it's kind of become a cliché now, but at the time I didn't think there was anything like him on TV," Gubler said of his reaction when he first read the Criminal Minds script.
It's a good thing Gubler loves his role, because he said, "The hours are just about the worst hours in the entertainment industry." He quipped, "A one hour crime show is the worst. Some jerk ten or fifteen years ago proved to the networks they could make an hour of watchable TV in 8 days, and that has just f--- us up ever since. If we had nine days... I just found out I have a little brother. I didn't know this. I have a brother, a dad, and a mom!"
One thing's for sure: Gubler is definitely more of a jokester than Reid. Knowing I had an interview with Shemar Moore coming up later in the day, he said, "My six pack is better than Shemar's. Tell Shemar I said my six pack is a littler better than his. It's a seven pack." (To which Moore later laughed, "He probably drew it on.")
Also, when I told Gubler how paranoid I was after watching the episode The Fisher King Part 1, he asked me where I lived. I said New York City, and he responded that he heard on the news the Fisher King was last seen there. Luckily Gubler made me laugh and didn't have me hiding under the bed out of fright!
Gubler's comedy doesn't end there. He said, "In real life I like things to be perfect. I've been ruining our fake documentaries by my obsessive perfectionism."
Fake documentaries? Oh, you got that right. Gubler said, "We started making fake documentaries on the set, which are the most fun things ever. I'm this kind of crazy and out of my mind guy and I've hired this film school kid to document my life for my quote unquote friends."
Go on www.YouTube.com and search for "Matthew Gray Gubler: The Unauthorized Documentary." You will see some of the most hilarious scenes of Gubler making fun of himself, as well as other members of the cast and crew mocking him. It is truly great comedy.
During the interview, Gubler told me, "So far we have four of them. I'm editing one of them from the James Van Der Beek episode. We supposedly have a history on Dawson's Creek, and he doesn't like me that much." Gubler also said, "I won't release this Van Der Beek one until it's perfect." Well, lucky for fans, episode five was released on Monday, and is truly the best yet.
For example, at one point, in reference to sharing the screen with Van Der Beek, Gubler says, "It's bold casting on CBS's part to put two mega stars in the same frame. It's rare that you see that." That's all I'll reveal, because I really can't do the humor justice - these videos need to be watched!
Aside from releasing fake documentaries, Gubler has many other passions including directing, drawing, and magic, to name a few. This summer, though, on his Criminal Minds hiatus, he'll be working on something new - a children's book, which he is writing and illustrating. Of course though, Gubler said, "I'll be making more of these fake documentaries, which I'm so incredibly proud of. We've got a lot of footage stockpiled." Then again, he added, "I have no problem sleeping for two months."
Whatever he chooses to do, people will be interested, as Matthew Gray Gubler has a ton of fans. "Fortunately, I seem to have really interesting fans. Predominately they're eccentric, younger girls who have pretty good artistic taste." Of course, all those girls probably want to know about Gubler's love life.
And Gubler's willing to talk.
"As long as I'm cashing checks that say 'Actor,' I think it goes with the territory." He laughed, "I've got seven girlfriends: Mandy, Shemar, Paget..."
Truly though, Gubler said, "Sadly, because of the show, and my ineptitude at talking to females... I had one [a girlfriend] before the show started, and she vanished. I live in NY normally, and I had to come out here for the show. The schedule doesn't allow for anything. I'm really awkward with the ladies."
Yet he added, "I know a girl in LA that I see once a month who's all right by me."
Besides the idea that Gubler could actually have trouble with women, there are two other things he says people will be surprised to know about him. First, "I'm an Eagle Scout."
Secondly, "People who kind of know me at work are always beyond flabbergasted to learn I'm not a drug addict in real life. Everyone thinks I'm some stoner druggie drunk... All my life people think that I'm kinda weird... you know like I'm from the place in Pinocchio where the bad kids go."
He continued, "Just yesterday Paget [Brewster] was looking at me, and Shemar [Moore] was there, and she was zoning out and she said, 'Wouldn't it be terrible if we learned Matthew was lying to us and he really was a junkie in real life?'"
Yet Gubler promises, "I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. I've never touched a drug, and I don't like to drink."
That, of course, is a testament to Gubler's superior acting ability, considering he plays, so believably, someone struggling with drug addiction on Criminal Minds. Even without a lengthy list of previous acting experience, Gubler does not disappoint. I think this sums it up best: Matthew Gray Gubler can act, he's smart, he's funny, he's creative, he can make fun of himself, and oh yeah, he happens to be easy on the eyes as well.
http://blogs.mediavillage.com/tv_maven/archives/2007/04/matthew_gray_gu.html
Reply
