Criminal Minds #3: Beware The Office Of Unfettered Omniscience

Found this article most probably saw it but if you didn't (and Ducky) will be happy to read and read again MGG talks about his umm injury. And please if you are going to quote, do only the part you want to comment on not the whole post, cause it is long (you were warned lol) thanks.

‘Criminal Minds’ star Matthew Gray Gubler overcomes ‘legendary’ injury

Criminal Minds fans may have noticed star Matthew Gray Gubler, who plays Dr. Spencer Reid, brandishing a cane for most of this season. That isn’t a plot point — Gubler messed up his knee pretty bad doing press for the movie (500) Days of Summer, and he’s been on the long road to recovery ever since. But these days his knee is all good when hunting bad guys on the CBS show, which airs Wednesdays. Criminal Minds is going on a break for a few weeks after tonight’s episode, and returns on March 3 with an episode Gubler himself directed. I talked with the Las Vegas native about his knee injury for this past weekend’s Who’s News page, and read below for more details about how his recovery went and the creative ways that helped him get through it.

We’ve heard from lots of readers who are worried about your knee.
I’ve actually started to feel like a regular person again. I forget which knee I even hurt at times, which is pretty amazing considering it was about a seven-month adventure. I really did a good job. If this were 50 years ago, they would have amputated the leg, so I got really lucky. It was a bad, bad injury. I just got a little too overzealous on the dance floor and managed to pretty much do something that most knee surgeons have never even thought possible or seen in their lives.

What was the official diagnosis?
I just basically dismantled the knee to the point where they were talking about experimental surgeries in Norway. They weren’t even going to try what they did because they thought it might be a lost cause. But they screwed me back together, hoping it would work and thinking it wouldn’t, and luckily my body completely took back everything. A lot of times, cartilage won’t re-adhere because there’s not much blood in it, but it was a miracle that it worked. I ended up not losing anything at all – I’m pretty much back to normal.

That’s great. So you won’t have a permanent limp?
I have a limp now and I’ve been walking with a cane for a while, but it’s going away. I won’t be permanently affected by this, which is pretty odd. It’s really a miracle. They were like, “This is one of the worst injuries we’ve ever seen.” They were saying it was pretty legendary. It’s going to go down in a textbook somewhere for sure.

At what point were you able to look at it and see it as “legendary”?
Moment one. The minute it happened, I knew it was pretty spectacular. I realized you could go one of two ways: I could take in the horrible reality, or realize that I’m lucky it wasn’t my right leg, because at least I can drive. Bad things happen – it’s how you deal with it is what makes it what it is. It made me a lot stronger and a lot more thankful for my leg. I really won in this situation.

When you showed back up to film Criminal Minds, did they try to write the injury into the show?
It was funny, they didn’t really seem to believe me. [Laughs] No one believes I could have done what I did. I think to the day that people at Criminal Minds have honestly no understanding of what kind of injury it was. They think it was just some sort of simple thing – people have knee problems, but again, if this were 40 or 50 years ago, I’d just have no leg. It was really freaking bad. And no one could really say either because it’s never been done before, so no one knew what the protocol was for rehab. They basically had no plan to follow because it was sort of a unique injury. I thought I was going to be out for four episodes on crutches, and it ended up being like 12. It was a pretty crazy thing. I had to have three surgeries. It’s a little hard to focus. It made the season incredibly tough just because when you’re in a constant state of mind-numbing pain, it’s not the easiest to chase criminals. But it made it good, and it was all for the best.

Playing Spencer Reid has been your signature role thus far in your career.
It was my first acting job, pretty much. I’m really lucky – I love the people I work with, I love the character, I love hunting criminals. It’s been a real adventure, and the knee only made it more fun. Even this injury has changed him and it makes my job a lot more fun because I get to see the progression of a human, as opposed to just Sisyphus pushing a rock up the hill or something. I know some people don’t like [Reid] – in the first couple of years, he was much more naive and innocent, he got kidnapped and a lot of terrible things happened to him that changed him for the better, and it makes him more fun to play.

You sketch drawings for your website, and you’re pretty active on Twitter. Do you like maintaining these creative outlets?
I’m a big fan of the classic showmen – P.T. Barnum, Walt Disney and people that never stopped entertaining. Actors I think have a bit of a problem in that they have to be picked to perform, which is what makes a lot of actors crazy in a way. They’re on the shelf waiting for someone to notice them, but I’ve never considered myself an actor in that regard because every day, whether two people see what I do or 18 million, I’m trying to do something to entertain. It’s great with the Internet and Twitter and everything, because I’m happy just doing stuff for my friends, but my network has grown and I have a lot of awesome fans who will watch dumb YouTube videos that I’ll make.

How much did those help you right after hurting your knee?
Oh yeah, that became a big push. The minute I hurt my knee, I started making T-shirts and stuffed animals and buttons, and I finally started writing this children’s book I’ve been working on. When you can’t move, you start definitely resorting to a little different avenues of getting stuff done. It was incredibly helpful on that regard.

Are you going to be worried about dancing ever again?
I’m on very strict instructions not to do anything until October of 2010. I can’t really do anything other than walk, so no running or dancing. I’m sure the show won’t believe me when I say that. They really have no understanding. They’ve called my doctor, and I think they think my doctor is like a paid actor who’s lying to them.

 

Thanks destiny was great to read. wow didnt realise hie injury was that bad can't wait to see that episode though

 

I did not read any spoilers so The deaths in public places was unexpected in last week episode.Rossi was the one that had the major clues .And I like the episodes when we see that the police is sort of frustrated with our analysts.They are not gods afterall.:lol:

Thanks for the spoilers Destiny.:thumbsup:

 

Great article. Thanks for sharing. I am a big fan of his and follow him on Twitter. He is really funny.

 

I enjoy MGG a thousand times more than Reid.

MGG says Reid changed for the better, but his low level of adorkability and major levels of angst and self-pity do not a happy Bryn make.

I'm just hoping that when he comes back fully, he still maintains the same basic characterization he's had when sidelined.

 

I do like Reid but I can see your point Bryn , becouse he does really likes to self pity,right? I still like his dorkiness, especially with Morgan and Emily.

 

Here are four pics From "Mosley Lane" The one MGG will be directing.

 

Found out the greatest thing whilst watching criminal minds with my mum she pointed to a top JJ had on and said i've got that, and i realised, my mum has blonde hair,blue eyes and her initials are JJ :lol: totally made my day.

 

Source: TvGuide Online

Spoiler: Mega Buzz

Any news on Reid coming up for Criminal Minds? He's been off to the side for most of this season.
ADAM: That's what tends to happen when an actor wrecks his knee in real life, Gersh. Fortunately, Matthew Gray Gubler tells us he is finally off his crutches, but Reid will not be ready to return to the field for quite a while. In the meantime, he'll direct the March 3 episode, which focuses on a child abductor. "We got some of the most talented children I've ever seen act," Gubler says.

Okay spoiler but not so much basically what we already know. But to be safe for those who don't know.

 

Thanks ,destiny.The reruns are killing me becouse I want to see something new.Now that the Reaper storyline is over,who should get a big storyline now? My vote is for Emily.It's time to know more about her.

 

How funny is that?!! :lol:

Wanna hear something else funny? In all the time I have been coming to talkcsi I did not know there was thread for CM!! :guffaw:Talk about clueless! Actually I go to the CM message board to chat with fans. The place is awesome. The owner of the site gets the actors, writers and producers of the show to chat with the fans! She often goes to the set and gets the best spoilers.

If anyone is interested and doesn't know the website address, pm me and I will totally give it to you.

I can't wait til next week....I am sooo excited to see MGG's directorial debut! That and I am just so incrediblely tired of reruns!! lol What is great though is that A&E and Ion are always running marathons and the show is on every night on Ion. IMO this show does not get the credit it sooo deserves...nor do its actors.

Yeah it is nice to see that the writers show that they can make mistakes and that they aren't perfect. Like you said they aren't Gods and showing the police reactions/frustrations makes it more real b/c if I were in the police's shoes I would get frustrated b/c they (the BAU) are supposed to be experts in this area and then they are wrong. Not to mention the writers also show how frustrating it is to be a cop, have to call for help but in the end be the one's that answer to the public. The team leaves a town when they are done...the locals are the one's who have to deal with the aftermath.

 

Hi Delkolover!!! :lol: I had no idea you were a fan of CM, too! And it's strange, too, because I'd been thinking about you earlier. I had been wondering to myself why I hadn't seen you posting in the Miami section the last time I was over there. And I figured it must be because you know exactly what's going to happen the rest of this season after talking to your cousin, but you've been sworn to secrecy or something like that. :lol: I'm not kidding, that's what I was thinking. :lol: Well, it's good to see you here, and I think I know what message board you're talking about. I was actually checking it out recently.

And I want to be sure to thank Destiny for posting all that info that you posted about the unusualness of MGG's knee injury. And I know there was some other info, too. I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with some Real Life things that I just couldn't put off doing. As it is, I've been so bad about getting the stuff done, that it's just unbelievable, and now I think I'm actually getting sick, so the stuff will be delayed from getting done even further. :lol:

I'm looking forward to MGG's CM directorial debut this next Wednesday. I know he's going to do great. I watch all the reruns on A&E and ION even though I have all the eps on DVD. :lol: And I'm really ready for a new episode!!!

 

You are much welcome.

 

Spoiler: Big Tease

Source: Umm not allowed to say, probably am, but not chancing it.

Is Jason Wiles really going to be on the ‘Criminal Minds‘ spin-off?

Yes… and no. The ‘Third Watch’ alum does have a critical role in the April 7th ‘Criminal Minds’ episode that introduces Forest Whitaker’s rogue squad of BAU agents and paves the way for the spin-off, playing a husband and father targeted by a serial killer who forces his victims to fight each other for survival. But Wiles would not be a part of the new series’ cast “should” it move forward. (Look at me pretend as if a spin-off of a top-rated CBS procedural, and one starring an Oscar winner, isn’t a lock.)

Okay this is one freaky, freaky preview of Mosley Lane (youtube) but very cool, MGG if it's anything like the preview really then did a great job for his directing.