Evolution Friends In Real Life? – Exclusive

After one dinner date that takes place off-screen, Garcia and Alvez reunite on "Criminal Minds: Evolution" under the guise of working together again, which leads to some ball-busting banter. In real life, Vangsness' dynamic with Rodriguez is somewhat similar, she admits.

"When he started on the show, I organically hated his guts when I would be in my Penelope self," says Vangsness. "Just hate. Hate everything he does. Disdain. And it works really well."

But like their characters onscreen, Vangsness and Rodriguez's friendship has "evolved" over time, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"What's nice is that during the pandemic, Adam and I became closer to the point that we were having dinners with our partners and stuff like that," says Vangsness. "So we are close, and we've been doing a lot of scenes together in this series. I don't want to give anything away, but we do a lot of stuff together and we bond in different ways. No one is going to be able to guess — trust me. But you'll be delighted, I think."

As for their on-set dynamic, Vangsness says the teasing spills over into real life.

"He loves to tease," she says. "He's a teaser and I'm very gullible, but he teaches me that it's okay. We spend so much time before takes being like, 'Could you try to be a better actor in this? Could you maybe give me something?' It translates because when we start acting, we understand that our intention is to not throw each other as actors, but as characters. I'm going to try to push [his] buttons. We spend a lot of time doing that, and it's really fun."

"Criminal Minds: Evolution" airs Thursdays on Paramount+.