By: Mariah Thomas
Q) What was the initial breakdown for you when it came to the description of Dr. Ochoa?
A) She was a neuropsychiatrist. She was one of the tops in her fields. She would be working closely with Voit (Zach Gilford) and Voit would be her patient. And she would be at loggerheads with the BAU who saw Voit, rightfully so, as a monster serial killer, but she obviously was going to see him as a patient.
Q) Stepping into the role of Dr. Ochoa, was there any medical jargon you struggled with?
A) Oh, yes, she did have a lot of multi syllable words and one of my fondest memories was on the first day she had a monologue of medical jargon. And I worked and worked and studied to get it down because I’m a huge fan of the show and during rehearsal, I didn’t want to bring what we call sides, which are like the script for the day in smaller format. And I said, “I want to be what we call ‘off book,’” which means memorize lines. And during rehearsal I said a bunch of medical scientific words in the scene. And my scene was with Paget [Brewster] and she hugged me and I started crying because I thought…Oh, not only non-verbally, was she saying, “Welcome to the team and welcome to the show,” but also “thank you for all your hard work.” And so, I felt so appreciative. And obviously having her be on “Criminal Minds” for eighteen years, she’s had her fair share of jargon that she had to say, and it just made my day and lifted up my spirits. I will never forget that moment. And then, Aisha [Tyler], who was in the scene as well, directed that episode and so I’m forever more like grateful that she brought me on and just made me feel so comfortable because it’s never easy being the new kid when there’s such an amazing family that’s been together for more than a decade.
Q) Working with Aisha as a director and also an actor in that same scene, what was that experience like?
A) Amazing. Aisha is one of the smartest people I know. She just knows so much about so many different things. She is able to just oscillate between actor and director seamlessly. She has such a commanding presence. She has a total rapport with the cast and crew. The cast adores her. Obviously, they’re all like a family and she’s so funny; she’s really funny. I don’t think people realize she’s like a comedian. She is just lovely. I mean, it’s so easy to have chemistry. And like I said, she directed the first episode that I did. So, I couldn’t have asked for a more generous director.
Q) Dr. Ochoa and JJ have this episode-long therapy session. Why was it important for Dr. Ochoa to be the one in this setting with her, as she kind of goes through her grief?
A) Well, obviously the BAU is a family. They’ve been together eighteen years. They’ve been through thick and thin together, but I think sometimes it’s easier to open up to strangers than to family because they don’t know you as well. And I think that it was such an interesting choice for the writers to have JJ (AJ Cook) open up to someone she barely knows, but also a very relatable one. I’ve been on airplanes and then someone I barely know is telling me about their mom and their family, and they’re like, “I’m so sorry. I barely know you.” And so I have experienced that multiple times where random strangers will come up to me and it’s not because I’m an actor. They’re not like a “Lucifer” fan or “Dexter” fan or anything like that. They’re just like, “I got to tell you something,” and they just need to get it off their chest. So, I think it was such a quiet and private and intimate moment. The lighting is moody. They’re alone. JJ is out of the house, so she doesn’t have to be in mom mode. She’s out of the BAU so she doesn’t have to be in work mode, and she could let her defenses down eventually because she doesn’t know Dr. Julia. She’s in another environment that is unfamiliar to her, which sometimes I think makes people break down their walls more. I felt so lucky that I got to be there working with AJ. She is such a heartbreaker with her scenes. She’s so awesome. I would love to work with her again. She’s just a phenomenal human being. I was like, “Can we be friends? Can I get your number?” The most important thing for me was to support her. I said, “This is a big journey for your character, so I’m going to follow your lead. If you instigate conversation and want to practice lines, great. If you want to be in the corner by yourself.” I really wanted to just be a supportive presence for her, and that was my guiding light.
Q) In relation to Voit, there has been some online discussion on whether Dr. Ochoa may be more of a villain, if that’s something to be revealed. So, is this something that will be explored or is she just strictly advocating for him as his doctor?
A) I cannot confirm, Mariah, but “Criminal Minds always has twists and turns and curveballs. And you think it’s right and it’s left, you think it’s down and it’s up. So, I don’t know. I guess we’ll just like, wait and see if she’s a good doctor or if she’s like a Harley Quinn type.
Q) As the season goes on, will she keep her neutral stance towards Voit or will she ever grow fearful and kind of see him from the BAU’s perspective?
A) That’s a great question. I think initially she has blinders on because she’s a medical professional and, while the BAU sees Voit as a thorn in their side and as a deviant monster serial killer, Dr. Ochoa sees him as a patient coming out of a coma, as a patient recovering his memories, as someone who is healing. And when someone’s healing, they’re really delicate. And so, I think as she goes outside of the hospital and there’s a couple scenes possibly in future episodes where she goes to the BAU where she may start seeing what they see because she’s in there. She’s on their turf instead of hers. And I think the more you learn, the more your eyes are opened.
Q) Dr. Ochoa, of course, jokes that the BAU is the most emotionally constipated group of people she’s ever worked with. We see her heavily work with Voit, Rossi, Lewis and JJ. Will we see her work closely with other BAU members?
A) I hope so. I mean, I’m a huge fan of the show and I love all of them. And if she doesn’t die this season…I mean because everyone’s heads on the chopping block and “Criminal Minds,” especially if you’re a guest – I would love for her just to be a resource, a mental resource for this team that really has to walk through hell on earth.
Q) Do you have any favorite memories from filming this last season?
A) Oh, so many, so many. First of all, I love Joe [Mantenga]. He’s such a class act. We were doing a scene in an elevator and he went around and shook every single background actor’s hand who was playing a cop, and he’s like, “I’m Joe. I’m Joe. Nice to meet you. I’m Joe.” I mean, just such a class act and Paget…The first day, I was spewing off all this medical jargon, and she just hugged me when I did it without any sort of script, and that just made me feel instantly comfortable. Kirsten [Vangsness], I completely fangirled when I met her and she is a great hugger, just like another Lopez we might know. AJ, we still keep in touch. Zach and I worked with on a show way back when. So, it was really nice to reconnect. And just the family feeling. Everybody roots for each other and the special effects are amazing. So, one of my coolest experiences was just being in the makeup trailer, seeing how they make all these special effects. There are so many reasons the show resonates for eighteen years, but the special effects are really cool. I thought they were real. Like, “Oh, I’m just on the set of ‘Criminal Minds.’” But like I told you before, lots of dismembered limbs and whatnot, and lots of blood. And your first day on set the blood is alarming. And then by your last day on set, you’re like, “Oh, just another blood machine.” So, it was really cool to see the special effects this season.
Q) Do you have a message for the fans of “Criminal Minds” as they finally get to see more of Dr. Ochoa?
A) Well, my message would be that I am a fan myself. So, just thank you for letting me play in this wonderful team of cast and thanks for watching. Thanks for rooting for her, Thanks for seeing if she is who she says she’s gonna be. Who knows? But I think what Dr. Ochoa represents is seeing the good in someone bad. And I think that that’s really important. Can someone redeem themselves? Can someone go from a monster to an innocent victim? Can someone go from a victim to a monster? Can someone go from good to evil? Can someone go from evil to good? And, so, I think she represents the side that says you can reboot your brain, just like you can reboot a computer. And if the brain happens to belong to a monster or serial killer, you can reboot his or her brain and start with a clean slate, which I think is really inspiring because if a serial killer can be rebooted, then we all can be redeemed.