"We have the Ghost Whisperer," added Shemar Moore (Morgan), referencing Hewitt's last (successful) TV show. "That's pretty cool. It's fun to have her. She's sweet and she's really good."
Executive producer Erica Messer sees Hewitt's addition as an opportunity for stories previously unexplored by the show.
"One of the goals in creating a character like that to join in season 10 is to give her enough layers that right when we meet her we are sort of seeing someone new and different. So the idea behind Kate Callahan was she's got a skill set we've alluded to the others having, but we've never seen anybody really do it in action, which is undercover work.
"And her home life will reveal she is raising a 13-year-old niece. So that way the character is a mother, but different from the way that JJ's a mom, and different from Hotch being a working dad."
Although Moore and Gubler have been with the show since the beginning, they still find inspiration in coming to work after 10 years.
"We're part of a really lucky group of actors that get to play a single character for, like, a decade," said Gublar. "I think one of the special things about our show, and the reason it has an appeal, is it's important, I think, for TV characters to grow. And a lot of times, you know, in the old days, in the TV that I grew up with in the 1980s, the characters were always kind of stuck in time and didn't allow for a lot of growth, maybe."
"In 10 years I know I've become a better actor," said Moore, who cut his teeth on soap opera The Young and the Restless. "I've grown up as a person in my own life. So as I evolve, I think that shows up on the screen. I think we do have a family atmosphere. Everybody has a position in the family. I feel like Morgan's the big brother to most of the cast. You know, I'm kind of the protector."
What: Criminal Minds new season
When and where: 8.30pm on TV One tonight
