Zach Gilford’s exit from Criminal Minds came as a surprise to some — but could he return in the future?
“Me and [showrunner] Erica Messer, we had this idea of a spinoff,” Gilford, 44, teased exclusively 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 wouldn’t mind reprising the complex role of serial killer Elias Voit, who went from committing disturbing crimes to helping out the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.
“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,” he continued. “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.”
After playing Voit for four seasons since 2022, Gilford wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
“We can both hope [my character Voit will return] but all I know is I’m not there filming right now,” he said of his potential return for season 20 of Criminal Minds: Evolution. “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 continued: “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.”
For Gilford, Criminal Minds was the perfect challenge, 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 told Us he struggled to say goodbye to Criminal Minds.
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“It was a bummer and I am really like, ‘I’m not good with emotions,’” he shared. “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.’”
While the Thursday, July 23, season finale of Criminal Minds hinted at Voit’s exit, the door was left open for a return. 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+.
