Kirsten Vangsness | |
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Born | Kirsten Simone Vangsness July 7, 1972 Pasadena, California, U.S. |
Alma mater | California State University, Fullerton (BA) |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1998—present |
Kirsten Simone Vangsness (born July 7, 1972) [1] is an American actress and writer. She is best known for her portrayal of FBI Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia on the CBS drama series Criminal Minds . She portrayed the same character on the spin-off series Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior , [2] Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders .
Vangsness was born in Pasadena, California, daughter of Errol Leroy Vangsness, of Norwegian descent, and wife Barbara Mary (née Marconi), of Italian descent. She was raised in Porterville, California, and later moved to Cerritos, California. She graduated from Cerritos High School in June 1990 and attended Cypress College in Cypress, California. [3] She later graduated from California State University, Fullerton in 1996. [4]
Vangsness became involved in acting as a child to help overcome shyness [5] and got her first big break in the theatre, where she won several awards, including the 15 Minutes of Female Best Actress Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Emerging Comic Actress, and the Golden Betty Award. [4]
Vangsness' work has been published in the Los Angeles Times . Since 2014, Vangsness has co-written four episodes of Criminal Minds. In 2014 she co-wrote "Nelson's Sparrow" with executive producer, Erica Messer. [6] In 2015 she co-wrote "A Beautiful Disaster" once again with Messer [7] and in 2016 she co-wrote "Spencer" with Messer. The Criminal Minds series finale was also co-written by Vangsness and Messer. [8]
In a 2011 interview, Vangsness described herself "as queer as a purple unicorn singing Madonna". [9] She was in a seven-year relationship with editor Melanie Goldstein, to whom she was engaged, until 2013. [10]
In 2015 she announced her engagement to Keith Hanson. Though she has been engaged to both a man and a woman, Vangsness says she doesn't identify as bisexual. "...If I were straight, I would say I was, but I don't totally understand it myself. I don't want to have an answer to something that I don't really have an answer to." [11]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Sometimes Santa's Gotta Get Whacked | Tooth Fairy | Short film |
2006 | A-List | Blue | |
2008 | Tranny McGuyver | TV News Reporter | Short film |
2009 | Scream of the Bikini | Interior Decorator | |
2010 | In My Sleep | Madge | |
2011 | Sarina's Song | Party Guest | Short film |
The Chicago 8 | Sketch Artist | ||
2012 | Remember to Breathe | Vocals for Young Alice | Short film |
2015 | Kill Me, Deadly | Mona Livingston | |
2016 | Diane & Devine Meet the Apocalypse | Fawn | |
2023 | Amish Stud: The Eli Weaver Story | Barb Raber | |
2017 | Axis | Heather (voice) | |
Dave Made a Maze | Jane |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Phil of the Future | Veronica | Episode: "Age Before Beauty" |
LAX | Ticket Agent / Stephanie | 3 episodes | |
2005–present | Criminal Minds | Penelope Garcia | Also starring (season 1); main (seasons 2-present); 333 episodes |
2010 | Vampire Mob | Laura Anderson | |
2010–2012 | Pretty the Series | Meredith Champagne | 14 episodes |
2011 | Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior | Penelope Garcia | Main Cast; 13 episodes |
Second City This Week | Herself | 1 episode | |
2011–2013 | Good Job, Thanks! | Therapist | 2 episodes |
2013 | Shelf Life | Freaky Squeaky | 6 episodes, webseries |
2016–2017 | Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders | Penelope Garcia | Special Guest; 2 episodes |
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the anthology film New York Stories (1989). She gained recognition for her role as child vampire Claudia in the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also had roles in her youth in Little Women (1994) and Jumanji (1995).
Cerritos is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of several cities that constitute the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. It was incorporated on April 24, 1956. As of 2019, the population was 49,859. It is part of the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, California Metropolitan Statistical Area designated by the Office of Management and Budget.
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Criminal Minds is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), using behavioral analysis and profiling to investigate crimes and find the unsub, the team's term for perpetrators. The show tells the story of the team as they work various cases and tackle their personal struggles.
Cerritos High School, also called CHS, is a comprehensive, four-year public high school located in Cerritos, California, serving grades 9-12. It is part of the ABC Unified School District.
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In My Sleep is a 2010 suspense thriller film written, directed and produced by film director Allen Wolf. It stars Philip Winchester, Lacey Chabert, Tim Draxl, Abigail Spencer and Kelly Overton. It also features Kirsten Vangsness from Criminal Minds in a cameo role and Tony Hale from Veep in a cameo as well. The story is about a massage therapist with chronic insomnia who fears he may have murdered a good friend while sleepwalking.
The eleventh season of Criminal Minds was ordered on May 11, 2015 by CBS. It premiered on September 30, 2015 on CBS and ended on May 4, 2016. The season consisted of 22 episodes.
Criminal Minds is a media franchise of American television programs created by Jeff Davis. The police procedural thriller series follow the work of the members of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) of the FBI.
The thirteenth season of Criminal Minds was ordered on April 7, 2017, by CBS with an order of 22 episodes. The season premiered on September 27, 2017 in a new time slot at 10:00PM on Wednesday when it had previously been at 9:00PM on Wednesday since its inception. The season concluded on April 18, 2018. This is the first season not feature to Thomas Gibson, portraying Aaron Hotchner. Gibson was dismissed from the show by ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios, following his during on-set alterction in previous season.
The fourteenth season of Criminal Minds was ordered on May 12, 2018, by CBS with an order of 15 episodes. The season premiered on October 3, 2018, and concluded on February 6, 2019. The season also featured the milestone 300th episode, which served as the season premiere. This is the first season since season 11 not feature to Shemar Moore as Derek Morgan, who has now starred in S.W.A.T. and would not appear in this episode.
The fifteenth season of Criminal Minds was ordered on January 10, 2019, with an order of 10 episodes. The season was originally the final season until it was renewed for a sixteenth season. The season premiered on January 8, 2020, and concluded on February 19, 2020.
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