15 Photos Of The Criminal Minds Cast Then & Now

Criminal Minds first ran from 2005 to 2020, but fans didn’t have to wait too long for the procedural to be revived with Criminal Minds: Evolution on Paramount+. Here’s a look back at the original stars — some who are on Evolution and others who have left the franchise.

Matthew Gray Gubler played Spencer Reid for the entire original run of Criminal Minds — his first major role ever.

Gubler made his final appearance as Reid in 2020 and did not return for Evolution. According to showrunner Erica Messer, his absence came down to scheduling conflicts. “He’s been doing other projects and a lot of those were lining up during our window,” she told Deadline.

Shemar Moore, Mandy Patinkin, and Thomas Gibson were there for the start of Criminal Minds in 2005. They played Derek Morgan, Jason Gideon, and Aaron Hotchner, respectively. Patinkin left the show after three seasons, but Moore and Gibson both stayed for more than ten.

Since leaving Criminal Minds, Moore took on another procedural role — this time, leading S.W.A.T. as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson.

According to Variety, Gibson was fired from Criminal Minds in 2016 following “an on-set altercation with a producer.” His most recent roles include 2017’s Axis (directed by Criminal Minds co-star Aisha Tyler), and 2019’s Shadow Wolves.

A.J. Cook, Paget Brewster, and Kirsten Vangsness play Jennifer Jareau, Emily Prentiss, and Penelope Garcia, respectively. They all reprise their roles in Evolution, making them three of the franchise’s longest-running stars.

In addition to going through a lot onscreen, the women have supported each other offscreen, too. In 2010, Vangsness told Screen Rant that the network firing Cook was “a bad decision,” and she helped organize a petition to keep Cook on the show. By Season 7, she was back.

Brewster’s Criminal Minds co-stars also play a pretty important part in her life. For example, in 2014, Gubler served as the officiant at Brewster’s real-life wedding to Steve Damstra.

Joe Mantegna joined the Criminal Minds cast in Season 3, playing David Rossi.

Rossi returns in Evolution. “I’ve been in this business a long time,” Mantegna told Hidden Remote, “[so] when you find yourself in a situation where you are comfortable and you enjoy the people you work with and like what you are doing, why wouldn’t you?”

Two members of the Criminal Minds cast, Aisha Tyler (Tara Lewis) and Adam Rodriguez (Luke Alvez), joined the show more recently than much of the cast. They’re both back for Evolution.

Like Tyler and several of his Criminal Minds co-stars, Rodriguez has also directed the show before. “I find that the gross stuff itself is never as shocking as when it’s just insinuated,” he told TV Insider in 2018 of his approach to framing the show’s disturbing subject matter.

Tyler confirmed to Newsweek that her character is pansexual. “She was someone who really cared about the work and loved the intellectual challenge of doing this really difficult, all-consuming work, and so it’s been a real surprise for her to fall for someone again,” she said.