Criminal Minds is already filming new episodes but the season 19 finale confirmed that one main cast member isn’t returning to the show.
Zach Gilford spoke exclusively to Us about season 20 of the hit Paramount+ show, saying, “We can both hope [my character Voit will return] but all I know is I’m not there filming right now.”
Gilford, 44, confirmed Voit wasn’t going to come back.
“It was hard to say goodbye. It definitely was one of my favorite characters I’ve ever gotten to play and partially because what a gift,” he gushed. “Every season I got to do a different side of this character. It wasn’t like I was just doing the same thing every year.”
The actor was grateful for the way Criminal Minds challenged him, adding, “To give this guy some redemption and go out on a good guy note — so to speak — was nice. It’s weird. You wrap a show and a lot of times you’re like, ‘I don’t know if I’m coming back next year and if we’re going to have another season in general.’ On this, I did know that it was the end.”
Gilford continued: “It was a bummer and I am really like, ‘I’m not good with emotions.’ So I literally — before they even officially wrapped — I had a feeling it was the last take. I just left. I didn’t say goodbye to anyone. I just snuck out. They’re like, ‘Zach, where are you? Where’d you go?’ And then a few people saw me driving out of my car. I’m like, ‘Bye, I’ll see you later.'”
The first season of Criminal Minds: Evolution (a.k.a. season 16 of OG Criminal Minds series) introduced Voit as the main antagonist. The BAU spent the entire season hunting down the prolific killer, who they nicknamed Sicarius after linking him to 62 murders — and for being the mastermind behind an online network of fellow serial killers.
After Voit was arrested — for a single murder — he became a professional criminal consultant for the BAU. Voit is now no longer the villain due to memory loss that made him develop empathy and disgust for his past crimes.
The Thursday, July 23, season finale of Criminal Minds followed Voit as he saved his daughter, who killed a man that kidnapped her. Voit took the fall and was taken to another prison where he would serve out 63 consecutive life sentences. His fate was left unclear after past seasons found a way to still involve Voit despite him being behind bars.
“Me and [showrunner] Erica Messer, we had this idea of a spinoff,” Gilford teased to Us. “I would love to do a spinoff. The hard thing unfortunately is it’s a joint studio. It’s Disney and Paramount. It’s kind of hard to convince them to do it.”
Gilford didn’t rule it out, adding, “It’s just convincing them to make it because no one’s going to give the rights to someone else and they don’t want to own it together. So unfortunately, I doubt it will ever happen, but there are dreams of it. … Let’s start an online movement or whatever we do nowadays.”
While reflecting on his departure, Gilford said he “was not surprised” that Voit was kept alive.
“I know the writers, I love them and I know they love to keep their options open for the future. But at one point while we were filming, the second in command [on the show] was like, ‘Do you think we should have killed you?’ And I go, ‘100 percent you should have killed me,'” he quipped. “I’m not complaining. I was just like, ‘I feel like the journey of this character — the ultimate sacrifice for someone who’s been bad — would be to give his life for good.’ And they said, ‘We just wanted to know if we needed you back, we could.'”
Gilford, however, has remained booked and busy.
“I’ve been working since I left for the most part. I’ve had some downtime with my kids, which is always the best. But I got to do a Christmas romcom, which was so fun,” he teased. “It was just so nice to do something nice and cute. Then I went and did an Evil Dead movie, which was the complete opposite.”
Criminal Minds is now streaming on Paramount+.
