‘It's my job to speak up'- US TV star says she's willing to lose roles for her activism and beliefs on top Irish podcast

The Irish Sun

4 days ago

CRIMINAL Minds star Kirsten Vangsness told how she is not afraid to lose jobs over her activism and said people have to speak up about the atrocities in the world.
The actress has used her voice to
protest
against the
3
Kirsten Vangsness has acted on Criminal Minds from 2011 to 2017
3
Kirsten has spoken out about her activism
3
The TV star said she believes 'you have to be the change you seek'
She has been pro-immigration, women's and LGTBQ+ rights and advocating for the most vulnerable people.
And she told the Irish podcast 'Tis Yourself that it takes every person speaking out to "stop the jerks taking over."
Kirsten said: "I believe you have to be the change you seek. You have to make the world. You have to treat people and make the world in real time the way you want it to do and speak up and say things. And you have to.
"Otherwise, the jerks are going to take over. And they do. So, you know, I live in America right now. And the jerks certainly seem like they're taking over, but they're not.'
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She added to the Irish podcast that if she lost her job due to standing up for others, it wouldn't stop her talking out.
'Ultimately, like art is political, like whether anybody wants to trick us, whether every
'And if I am not going to be given a job or if I lost my job, from saying something because I care about like I would be really disappointed.
'I've thought about this plenty of times when I was very vocal about what I think about, it would suck, I would feel terrible and I would hope that that wouldn't teach me to keep my mouth shut.'
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She added: 'I'm used to not being accepted. I'm used to being on the outside. I'm used to being on the fringe.
'We can't fix it by burying our head in the sand or cowering. Maybe we didn't have a choice before because I think a lot of people didn't have a choice when they're younger or they didn't have resources or whatever.
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"But with all of the resources that I have and all of the therapy I've gone to and the
safety
that I have, like it's my job to use that safety. To speak on the things that make people feel unsafe.'
She said we have to speak up 'because look at when other people have spoken up in ways that we don't like. It's enabled other people to speak up. You know what I mean?'
While she has been a main
star
on the show since the beginning, Kirsten said when she first started acting, she was told that she would never be a main character.
The star recalled: 'I remember a person told me at the first professional audition I ever had that I was never probably going to make a living doing this until I was maybe considerably older or. And even then I would just take character roles.
ACTING WOES
'And I remember being a little sad, but then also feeling free because I was like, well, I'm not supposed to go do this for a job, but I have to keep doing it. Now I just have to make my rent.
"You know what I mean? It's like, yeah. And the only bad part of that is that it really did shut down that part of my brain of like the possibility of doing it for a living, and it probably stalled me for a little while.'
Even her own
family
were not sure acting was for her, and just before she got the call for Criminal Minds, her mother and sister staged an intervention dressed as a vacation.
She recalled: 'I oftentimes was missing my rent. I couldn't afford my car payment. None of it. And they said, 'we're going to pay for this.
"But we're telling you right now that the whole reason why we're going away on these two days is we're sitting you down and we're telling you, you have to quit acting. You can't do this anymore.''
BIG BREAK
But before they were due to go away, she got a call that changed her life- and the small part as Penelope Garcia ended up being a main star of the show for 18 seasons.
Fans loved her chemistry with Shemar Moore, who played her co-star, Derek Morgan.
And she said when he left both she and her character were gutted.
Kirsten said: 'We didn't know we had chemistry…Like my doppelganger is a six foot two black man…
'That was cool. And then when he left and I wrote *(the episode) Beautiful Disaster, I remember doing the scene with him as an actor, doing the scene, one of the scenes and realising, oh, my God.
"Who am I without this person here? And also, oh, my God, I've been in love with him this whole time.
'I know he has this person he's with now and he has a baby with her. But I'm now in real time right now realising I don't get to be with him, even though I've been tricking myself as well as a character.
'And then as an actor, I'm like. Oh, my God, I'm not even a person on this show without him.'
The 53-year-old returned as Garcia for the new version of the show, Evolution, which just wrapped its third season.
"It's just a lovely place to
work
. I mean, I've loved every single person I've gotten to to be with.
"Even, you know, sometimes personalities clash, but it is truly like a family where you're like, I know that they might drive me crazy in this one way, but I deeply care about them and I have a good time with them, and everybody wants everybody to do well, you know, and it's a real pleasure.'