After six years of playing multi-lingual Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss on CBS's "Criminal Minds," viewers came to know and love Paget Brewster. So when she and co-star A.J. Cook were suddenly released from the show in its fifth season (due to cost cuts) fans were devastated.
So much so that the outcry saw the network rehire the actors for its sixth season. Brewster eventually left the show for greener comedy pastures, wanting to focus her career in that arena.
Now thanks to endless reruns and a whole new generation of viewers, Brewster is being remembered for the role that provided her start - "Friends".
As Kathy, an actress who first dates Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) then Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) during the shows 1998 fourth season, she provided some of the tensest moments for the two best friends.
"That was like my first big job," the actress tells HNGN. "They cast me, I did six episodes and those guys were so nice because I was terrified."
In fact, it's "Friends" star Matthew Perry, she credits with giving her a career.
"I actually owe Matthew Perry my career," she beams. "He was in the casting room when I got that and I guess he went to bat for me and said, 'She's the funniest one; you have to cast her.'"
Tonight, Brewster's funny bone gets some more exercise opposite another TV icon John Stamos in the premiere of Fox's "Grandfathered," a role she admits landing after treating the actor "poorly" in her audition.
In the show, Brewster plays Sara, a single mother to Gerald (Josh Peck), the illegitimate son of Jimmy (Stamos) whom he never knew existed. All that changes when Gerald pops up with a baby in tow - making playboy Jimmy an instant father/grandfather and the hilarity ensues.
According to Brewster, who's only 46, playing a grandmother comes naturally because she's done it before. "I play a grandmother on "Another Period" on Comedy Central," she says with a laugh. "Now I'm playing a grandmother here. I think I found my specialty, and I love it."
"Grandfathered" premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on Fox and keep reading for more with Brewster.
Were you looking solely to do comedy after doing 'Criminal Minds'?
This year I did every episode of the show called 'Another Period', on Comedy Central. Then did season six of 'Community', also a comedy and a bunch of pilots since leaving along with guest spots on shows like 'Modern Family'. When I left 'Criminal Minds' I stuck to my guns in that I wanted to just do comedy and things that are great, this was the first comedy pilot I shot since leaving that got picked up.
What was it about the comedy here that got you excited?
My character Sarah spends most of her time dismissing and denigrating John Stamos' character, to me that was hilarious. I guess I'm good at being dry, sarcastic and rude. So I thought well, I'm going to treat him poorly - that sounds great to me.
It's nice that you get to dress him down because everyone is usually sucking up to him?
I know! It was the same for me, honestly when I auditioned I thought I'm not getting this, they're going to hire some model. So I just treated him poorly in the room - poor Stamos!
Did that come easily?
It did as I thought I'm not getting this, it wont be me. So I am going in here and I am going to game John Stamos. You know the book 'The Game', it's where you neg, so I acted like I was hitting on the director. I wasn't being rude to Stamos, but it was calculated. When I got the job, which believe me was a shock, I went into wardrobe and the wardrobe woman said, 'Oh we just did John's wardrobe and he said your audition was fantastic, you treated him like a child and he loved it.' I was like, 'Wow it worked!' I hadn't told him about that, but I guess he'll find out now. I told Danny Chun, the writer, that's what I did.
What do you like about this woman that's maybe not evident in the first episode?
That she's kind of doing that too, Sarah never told her son who his father was. In the original script the line was, 'I told Gerald to get a mirror and tub of hair gel and you would appear like Rumpelstiltskin.' She's constantly negating him but she wants him in her son's life and there is a certain spark from back in the day because they did have a very serious thing. I feel she doesn't think she made a mistake in not telling him; he wasn't going to be a dad.
Will there be flashbacks?
I hope so, so far we have a video from 1991 we will be shooting at some point, we've talked to Danny about it and it would be fun. Both of us, big bad '90s hair, they did ask us for old photos that were really tragic. They added bad hair to them. But there are so many photos of Stamos with so much hair.
Do you think it will be a slow burn between them?
They have so much to risk if they do get together. I think that tension can be held for a long time, yet they do have a bond that is so animal, creating a human life and now being in each other's lives. I don't have kids but I've heard, even with exes when people get divorced is something very primal and important about this person you made a child with. I think that's something we'll explore but I don't know when. John was saying, "We should have sex right away, and then not." I guess that's one way to go.
Is it different going to work on a comedy than a drama like 'Criminal Minds'?
There is a part of it is, I was on 'Criminal Minds' for six years so I think I got pretty good at the FBI oppose and the eyebrow lift, it's a very specific kind of acting. Comedy is a little scarier because you want to land the humor and honor what the writers did as they work so hard to craft jokes, so there's a different pressure. The pressure on 'Criminal Minds' was I wanted to honor the men and women in the FBI and police force, these first responders who have to face these tragedies every day. That's not a joke; how do I actually represent these people who are heroes in the real world. So the acting is very different, but the set of 'Criminal Minds' is still really fun. It's funny and we had fun.
Are you still friends with the cast of 'Criminal Minds'?
I love those guys and the writers, I was hoping to go back, till this happened. I'm still friends with everyone there my husband and I are going to Laguna Beach with Joe Mantegna and a bunch of them in a couple of weeks, we are good friends. But returning just didn't workout and that's a shame. I felt really bad because I really wanted to do it and I love the fans.
