00:02She's been hunting bad guys in the Criminal Minds franchise for more than a decade now.
00:06Ayesha Tyler plays a forensic psychologist, Dr. Tara Lewis, in Criminal Minds Evolution.
00:11It's the latest chapter of this long-running hit crime drama series.
00:15So the show follows the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, known as BAU,
00:20as their elite profilers investigate chilling crimes.
00:23And let me just tell you, chilling is the word.
00:26Yowza.
00:27In this clip from today's season finale, Dr. Lewis profiles a calculating killer
00:33who is taunting both the FBI and a former serial killer.
00:39Crowley's constant game-playing and taunting of both Voight and us,
00:42his sudden shifts between his own victimology and his obsession with Sicarius,
00:46it all is starting to reveal a man at psychological war with the two sides of himself.
00:51One side represented by the symbolism of those typewriter fonts,
00:54the other expressed by his mastery of modern technology.
00:57One side the man he thinks he is, the other the god he hopes to be.
01:01And that conflict truly makes him feel pathetic.
01:04But there is one thing that could calm those waters,
01:07and it would be once and for all to surpass his idol.
01:12The word pathetic is very crucial in this particular series.
01:16Aisha Tyler, welcome.
01:18We're so glad to have you back.
01:19It's so good to see you.
01:19Good to see you, too.
01:20Glad to be here.
01:21Listen, you've been in this role for 10 years and counting.
01:24When you started it 10 years ago, what were you thinking?
01:26I'll do this for a couple of seasons.
01:28We'll see how this goes.
01:29I hope it lasts a long time.
01:31Well, first of all, I was,
01:32they asked me to come in and pitch hit for AJ Cook,
01:35who was away on maternity leave.
01:37I was only supposed to do six episodes of the show.
01:39Just six, which was great.
01:41I mean, I loved the show and I thought it would be fun.
01:43And it just felt like home, like literally right away.
01:45Like I think on like day two,
01:46Joe Mantegna was like,
01:47it feels like you've been here forever.
01:48I was like, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
01:51And, you know, 10 years later, I'm still there.
01:53I love the show so much.
01:54And I feel like something that's been great for us as actors
01:57and also for the fans as a show is always literally,
01:59pardon the pun, evolving.
02:00Like it's always growing.
02:01The characters grow.
02:02The stories get spookier and more intense.
02:05And so this show still has, I mean,
02:06I think we're doing our best work.
02:08It's crazy to say in season 19 of a show
02:10that you're doing your best work.
02:12I like how you say the stories get spookier.
02:14Chilling, sadistic, scary.
02:16I think everybody's interested too in your role
02:18and the, you know, the forensic psychologist,
02:21you know, the solving the mystery.
02:23Has that affected you in real life at all?
02:25Well, you know, I feel two ways about it.
02:29I know that people watch the show and they're like,
02:30this made me more aware of my surroundings.
02:32Yes.
02:32It made me more kind of like, you know,
02:34more protective and taking kind of steps
02:35to keep my family safe.
02:37I think I'm more like that guy's lying.
02:39Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:41That guy is full of it.
02:43So that's really where it's affected me.
02:45I kind of know when someone's trying to like sell me a line of yes,
02:49as the kids say.
02:50Yes.
02:50Connor Story from Heated Rivalry made his criminalized debut.
02:54What is it like working with him?
02:55Well, people call him Heated Rivalry's Connor Story,
02:58but he is Criminal Minds Connor Story, too.
03:00There we go.
03:00Thank you very much.
03:02I love telling the story.
03:03We did the table reefer, his first episode,
03:05and then Padgett and I were like,
03:06that kid, he's pretty good.
03:08He's going to go places.
03:10Oh, really?
03:10You know, cut to him carrying the Olympic torch.
03:13You know, I had no idea.
03:16Look what we did for his career.
03:18Look what we did.
03:19Look what CM did for him.
03:20But I also feel like this show's been on forever.
03:22So many huge stars have come through our careers.
03:25And it's a joy to give people an opportunity to play in our sandbox
03:28and do something different.
03:29And, you know, the show, because it's so strong,
03:32it gives people a strong opportunity to do something cool.
03:34He plays a completely different character.
03:36Yeah.
03:36Than he does on...
03:36But look at your life, Aisha.
03:38I remember you on The Talk.
03:39The Talk seemed so long ago.
03:40It seems like a million years ago.
03:41You were a stand-up comedian.
03:43Stand-up comedian.
03:44Writer.
03:44Host.
03:45I remember you from that, too.
03:46Host.
03:47I mean, director.
03:47She's done it all, Gil.
03:48You can do anything.
03:49Yeah, when you look at your life, what do you...
03:51It's all workaholism, you guys.
03:52No, but when you look at your career, what do you think?
03:55Yes.
03:55And what do you want to do?
03:57I am an ambitious person, and I think it's important for women
04:00to not apologize for being ambitious.
04:02I think we have to be, well, you know, I'd like to do this.
04:04I love that.
04:04I'm like, let me get out here in these streets and do what...
04:07Nora and I like the A word, ambitious.
04:08Yes, we do.
04:09Try everything.
04:10You can't do anything great without believing that you're capable of it.
04:13But I also feel like, for me, as a woman of color,
04:17if I can break doors down, it makes a difference for the women
04:20that come behind me.
04:21You know, I started directing about 10 years ago,
04:24and I've been directing a lot of television.
04:25And movies?
04:26And films, and it's been lovely for me, not just because I love it,
04:30but also, can I create space for other people to come behind
04:33and do the same thing, and somebody they can point to and say,
04:35well, she did it, so I can, too.
04:36You know, and that's really important to me.
04:38Yes.
04:38I'm such a fan.
04:39You must have learned it all at Dartmouth.
04:41I did.
04:43My crazy behavior.
04:44And I started a cocktail company a little while ago.
04:47Again, you know, there's very few...
04:48What's the name of it?
04:49Oh, it's called Lossophy, like philosophy, L-O-S-O-P-H-E.
04:52It's a line of organic, ready-to-drink cocktails.
04:54I really love cocktails, and I hate to make them.
04:56I don't want to make my counter sticky,
04:57so I really made this for myself.
04:59Now you're just showing off.
05:00Well, you know what it was?
05:01It was like I wanted to solve a problem that, you know,
05:04I had and other people have.
05:05But for me, again, it's also, there's so few women in this space.
05:08Can I be a founder in this space
05:09and be an example to other founders that, you know...
05:11Do you make your own clothes and play the piano?
05:14I need sweaters, I need clean windows.
05:18All right.
05:18Well, Ayesha Tyler, thank you so much for joining us.
05:21We appreciate you.
05:22The season 19 finale of Criminal Minds Evolution
05:24is streaming now on Paramount+,
05:26which is the same parent company as CBS.
05:29Make sure you have a sip of philosophy.
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