JOE MANTEGNA HAS BEEN AT THE ACTING GAME FOR A LONG TIME. He started his career in the theater back in the late 1960s and is most well-known to film and TV buffs as Joey Zasa in Godfather III, the voice of Fat Tony in The Simpsons, Dean Martin in The Rat Pack and since 2007, as FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi in Criminal Minds. But when it comes to the tequila business, Joe is a newcomer—and a passionate and knowledgeable one at that.

Earlier this year, Joe became co-owner of Señor Rio, a brand of small batch tequila that got its start in Gilbert, Ariz., in 2009. Founded by Debbie Medina Gach and her husband Jonathan, Señor Rio was named after Debbie’s father, who developed the tequila in Mexico. When Jonathan passed away a few years ago, Debbie ran the company alone—until Joe came along. We sat down with Joe at a studio in Long Beach, Calif., to ask him about his new co-ownership of Señor Rio, his work on Criminal Minds, and his life-long dedication to charitable causes.