Title: Penelope Garcia
Content:  Penelope Grace Garcia is a fictional character on the CBS crime dramas Criminal Minds and its short-lived spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, portrayed by Kirsten Vangsness. She is the technical analyst of the Behavioral Analysis Unit that is the center of both shows. She has also made multiple guest appearances on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, making her the only character in the franchise to appear in all three of its series.
Title: List of Criminal Minds characters
Content:  Played by Kirsten Vangsness, Penelope García is the team's Technical Analyst at BAU headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. She is flamboyant, a non-conformist, kind, fun-loving and provides the rest of the team with comic and compassionate relief whenever it is needed. Penelope is an "only child," and her parents were both killed in a tragic car accident when she was a minor. She was later adopted and her last name was changed to García by her adoptive parents. Although she is an Anglo-Caucasian, she celebrates presumably Mexican/Mexican-American traditions from her adoptive parents. She and SSA Morgan share a very friendly-flirty relationship which never goes beyond that, although Penelope did show mild jealousy when she saw him dancing with two other women. In turn, Morgan, responded 
Title: Penelope Garcia
Content:  Garcia also appeared in the spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior as a series regular.
Title: Criminal Minds
Content:  ; Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), BAU technical analyst and BAU communications liaison (recurring season 1; main seasons 2–15) ; Garcia joined the BAU after bringing attention to herself by illegally accessing some of their equipment, while she was an underground hacker; she is offered a job in lieu of a jail sentence. She submitted her resume to Hotch on pink stationery. She usually supports the team from her computer lab at Quantico but occasionally joins them on location when her skills can be used in the field. She is a leader in a support group for those who have lost 
Title: Criminal Minds (season 1)
Content: Kirsten Vangsness as Special Agent Penelope Garcia (BAU Technical Analyst) 
Title: Kirsten Vangsness
Content:  Kirsten Simone Vangsness (born July 7, 1972) is an American actress and writer. She is best known for her portrayal of FBI Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia on the CBS drama series Criminal Minds. She portrayed the same character on the spin-off series Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.
Title: Criminal Minds
Content:  When the series premiered in September 2005, it featured FBI agents Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Jennifer "JJ" Jareau (A. J. Cook), and Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness). For season 1, Garcia was not a main cast member but rather had a recurring role, although she appeared in all but episode five. Glaudini departed the series in season 2 to return to live in New York City; Paget Brewster replaced her in the role of Emily Prentiss. Patinkin departed the series at the start of season 3, due to being disturbed by its content. Joe Mantegna replaced him as 
Title: Penelope Garcia
Content:  Garcia also appeared in the spin-off Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. Her first appearance was in season one in a scene with Russ "Monty" Montgomery (Tyler James Williams), who playfully hides Garcia's octopus mug. In July 2016, it was announced that Garcia would make several appearances in season 2.
Title: Criminal Minds
Content:  Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Jennifer Jareau (A. J. Cook), and Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness). The cast underwent major changes throughout the series' run, with several of the show's original members being replaced by nine additional starring characters: Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), Ashley Seaver (Rachel Nichols), Alex Blake (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Kate Callahan (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler), Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez), Stephen Walker (Damon Gupton), and Matt Simmons (Daniel Henney). Criminal Minds became a rating hit for CBS, regularly featuring as one of the network's most-watched shows throughout its 15-year-long run. Its 
Title: List of Criminal Minds characters
Content:  when asked for proposal advice by her then-boyfriend, fellow FBI computer tech, Kevin Lynch. Penelope taught herself to hack after she dropped out of college and was aligned with the best underground hackers in the world. After being caught by the FBI, she was given a choice of living in a high-security prison for the rest of her life or working for the BAU division of the FBI as an analyst. Two episodes focus on García's character. In "Penelope," she was shot and almost killed in season three. When Jennifer Jareau leaves the BAU for a promotion to a position at the Pentagon, García volunteers to take up her responsibilities as media liaison, completely changing her looks. She quickly realizes the job is 

Question: actress who plays penelope garcia on criminal minds?
Answer: Kirsten Simone Vangsness.