CRIMINAL MINDS: THE PAGET I KNOW
BY Kris Orr
Beautiful
Funny
Smart
Sincere
Engaging
Quick witted
Elegant
Self-deprecating
Yes, the Paget Brewster I know is all of these things and more. I first had the pleasure of meeting Paget about a year and a half ago. She is all the good things that people think about her and then some. I’ve struggled for days to write this because I don’t think anything I write will do her justice.
Paget is a unique individual. Equal parts elegance and panache mixed with a terrific sense of humor and casualness about her. The woman is cool.
Beautiful was the first word that popped into my mind the first time I met Paget. If you think that she looks beautiful on television, she is even more so in person. Warm, inviting, and personable are your next reactions as you speak to her. She genuinely listens to what you are saying and looks you in the eye as she’s speaking to you. She gives you her undivided attention no matter what is going on around her.
Easy to laugh, and that laugh is contagious by the way; she connects with people and makes them feel welcomed and special. She makes you feel like you are a friend. And I am a friend of Paget’s. Oh not in a bff, we do lunch kind of way, but I do belong to what I think is a small subset of people that have been playfully smacked in the rump by a riding-crop wielded by Ms. Brewster. I do know if I were to run into her on the street she would know my name and we would catch up like friends would.
I discovered that the first time Jill took me to their set. They were on location in South Pasadena and we needed to get there early so we could get through any red tape we might encounter. I was kind of nervous because I had met her before and I wasn’t sure how she would feel about me showing up in CM world. My fears were laid to rest when she happened to see me before I saw her. I’ll never forget her voice as she said, “I thought that was you,” as she approached me from behind. I turned and she gave me a big hug.
That’s the Paget I know.
Always friendly and inviting. It kills me that she has to go through this. She didn’t deserve this anymore than AJ did and, if I live to be a hundred, I’ll never understand CBS’s decision. Critics think she is one of the best things about Criminal Minds. I don’t always agree with what the critics say but I whole-heartedly agree with them here. We need more Emily Prentiss and Paget Brewster, not less. Emily is a great role model for young women everywhere. Paget plays her well, she is every bit the tough chick when she steps into Emily’s skin. I hope we get her back next season. I know a lot of us do.
