Development
Gibson was cast as Hotchner having previously starred in the comedy series Dharma and Greg. Of the transition to Criminal Minds, he explained: "It's very nice to do a little bit of the darkness after a little bit of the lightness. Variety is the spice of life. I enjoy both and hopefully I will be able to do as big a variety as I possibly can." Gibson's family lives in San Antonio, Texas, while he commutes to Los Angeles to film Criminal Minds on a weekly basis, something he feels gives him an insight into Hotch's divided priorities. Discussing the effect working in the BAU has on the agents' personal lives, Gibson opined: "I think it can't help but take some toll. And the first casualty may not be the agents themselves, but their families, spouses and children." Prior to Hotch and Haley's divorce, in a 2007 interview Gibson stated that he hoped the two would make their relationship last, explaining: "Marriage can certainly survive lots of hardships. You think about in real life the marriages that survive. They certainly suffer... and I think it's going to be very interesting to see how they work it out because I know it's certainly taking its toll. Haley wanted the marriage to work out." Discussing the conflict between Hotch's career and home life, Gibson detailed:
| “ | He knows his family is getting the short shift. He knows his job is costing him in time spent with his wife and son. I think he's sincere when he says he wants to be there for his family. But it's really, really hard doing what they do - being on call and dedicated to the job. To be able to pull both of those things off, I think that his ambitions have to come face to face with a certain reality that's in contradiction with what he thought was possible. It'll be very interesting to see how it all shakes out, because I think his realistic appraisal of all the balls he thought he was capable of keeping in the air at the same time - something's gotta give... I'm not sure he's reconciled what's gotta give. His job is very important. | ” |
Gibson characterized Hotch as having "moments of levity", but continued: "Unfortunately, he has a very, very, probably-dusty-it's-so-dry sense of humor. It's pretty dark. It's pretty bone dry. We all need a little levity, but I wouldn't necessarily look for him to break into song and dance. I think Hotch feels there's a lot at stake all the time." Prior to the departure of Mandy Patinkin's Jason Gideon from the series, Gibson described Gideon and Hotch as "an old married couple", deeming them father figures to the rest of the BAU and professional peers to one another. Of Hotch's relationship with the rest of the BAU team, Gibson commented:
| “ | I think they all know he is dedicated to doing the job. I think he understands how to negotiate both his responsibilities to the team and his own responsibilities to the job and put aside some of the things that might be sources of conflict within the time. When you spend that much time with people you're going to have conflict, and he's aware of that... There's also a kind of detachment that has to be there for you to do this job acceptably, but at the same time there's a very engaged quality to the work where you have to dedicate yourself to the idea that you're putting yourself in these criminals' shoes, because that's how they're effective at doing it. | ” |
Before Gibson was cast in the role, the character was originally envisioned as a "blonde haired, blue-eyed Mormon".
Read more about this topic: Aaron Hotchner
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