'Criminal Minds' season premiere to feature Aisha Tyler, JJ's new baby

QUANTICO, Va., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Criminal Minds, the popular CBS crime-drama series returns for its season 11 premiere Wednesday, featuring new character Dr. Tara Lewis played by Aisha Tyler.

Tyler, who cut her hair short for the role, will gust star as Dr. Tara Lewis, a no nonsense forensic psychologist who joins the BAU team after impressing Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner played by Thomas Gibson.

"She is definitely not one of those people who gets up in the morning and gets dressed up. She just goes," Tyler said to TV Guide."She's fun and she's funny and engaged and passionate, so I think she connects with the team in that way. She means business for sure. She has a really, really specific set of goals. It definitely fits her and you definitely understand who she is when you see that haircut."

Lewis, the third new BAU member in four seasons, will become a recurring character on the show. She is currently booked to appear in six episodes, a number that Executive Producer Erica Messer hopes could increase as fans get to know Lewis.

"There has been a lot of changes recently, but that's what happens in life. People come and go at work, but people also stay and we've been lucky to have our core heroes for as long as we've had," Messer says about characters who have left the show.

"Aisha is filling both right now, so it feels like if it we're lucky to keep her around, it'll be an extension of that. Hotch in the premiere mentions we need to find someone else, not just with JJ gone, but with Kate. We're down two agents right now, but we'll still be down one when A.J. comes back. Can we survive as a team of six instead of seven? I think we can, but we'll see. We love Aisha so much and we want everyone to get to know Tara."

Actress A.J Cook will not be returning to the series full-time until the seventh episode while she is away on maternity leave. However, Cook and her real-life baby will be making a cameo appearance during the premiere.

"You'll get to meet A.J.'s real little baby, Phoenix. Like what she did with Mekhai [playing JJ's first son Henry], she's having her actual child play JJ's child," Messer explained to TV Guide. "His name is Michael. Henry and Michael. Her whole family will be TV stars."

Cook welcomed Phoenix in July with her husband Nathan Andersen.

Criminal Minds returns Wednesday at 9/8c on CBS.