Who Are The Stars Of Criminal Minds – And They Are Not Returning – Season 19?
Criminal Minds seemed to hint at the possible exit of the main cast before season 19 – but who is expected to return so far?
The official account of the hit series Paramount+ shared a photo from the set of May 2025 with the caption, “The BAU is back on the case! The new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution it has officially started filming.”
On social media, Joe Mantegna, Aisha Tyler, Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Rodriguez, AJ Cook, Paget Brewster again Ryan-James Hatanaka they all smile for the camera. The only main cast member missing? Zach Gilford.
The first season of Criminal Minds: Evolution (season 16 of OG Criminal Minds series) introduced Voit as the main antagonist. The BAU spent the entire season hunting down the killer, whom they named Sicarius after linking him to 62 murders – as well as masterminding the creation of an online network of serial killers.
After Voit was arrested – for one count of murder – he became a trained crime consultant for the BAU. Voit's status as a criminal was left up in the air when earlier this season he lost his memory which made him no longer labeled a psychopath.
“That's what I love about his brain patterns. His brain has literally changed. So, in theory, he's a good person and he's a normal person now. But he's done all those things,” Gilford exclusively told Gilford. Us Weekly May 2025. “It's a really cool idea that even though emotionally this person is never going to do this again — he's done it. It's just a crazy idea that has no real answer to it. In the end I'm like, 'Well, he did it all … it's suspected.'”
Voit's unclear future on the show comes after that Josh StewartCharacter 's Will was killed off. In the May 2025 episode, JJ's (Cook) husband, Will, fainted after suffering a headache. The team rushed to the hospital to support JJ, only to find that Will had failed.
Paramount+ confirmed in March 2026 that Gilford will return with new guest stars: Connor Storrie, Justin Kirk, Yvette Nicole Brown, Clark Gregg, Paul F. Tompkins, Cress Williams, Kofi Siriboe, Lyndon Smith, Richard Cabral, Jeri Ryan, Rob Yang, Nicholas Gonzalez, Inny Clemons, Nicole Pacent, Dash Mihok, Joseph Cross again Cara Jade Myers.
Keep scrolling to find out what you know Criminal Minds Characters are returning – and they may not be:
Joe Mantegna
Mantegna is about to return to the role of Rossi that he has held since taking over Mandy Patinkin in the first one Criminal Minds the show.
AJ Cook
Cook will return to play JJ, who is still mourning the loss of her husband.
“We're definitely touching on many stages of grief. And it's not like we film one episode and he goes through it all and it's tied up neatly with a nice bow. That's not how grief works,” Cook said. TV Insider in May 2025. “So this is going to be something we're going to see throughout the season. And then after that.”
She continued: “This will never go away. This has now set her up to be a new single mother, and it will continue to shape her as she now learns to live this way. So I'm excited to see what that looks like for her. It's been a journey, and it will continue to be a journey of criminal minds.”
Kirsten Vangsness
Since Vangsness was in the picture from the set, it seems safe to assume that Garcia isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Aisha Tyler
Another character who seemed to be safe was Tara (Tyler) after going through some problems in her life before meeting girlfriend Rebecca (Nicole Patient) in season 18.
Zach Gilford
Gilford – and others Criminal Minds cast – admitted that Voit can't stay on the show forever.
“I was supposed to leave the show a long time ago and I've been throwing, 'Well, I have to leave at some point. If you don't kill me, we have to have a spinoff,'” Gilford told Us in May 2025. “It's called Criminal Mind: Voit and it follows what Voit does when he is out in the world. Somehow he escapes or is released and he is the white whale who goes to the BAU. So Criminal Minds can continue to exist [unsub] of the church — but they'll always be like, 'I wonder if Voit had something to do with this.'”
He is expected to return in the 19th season.
Ryan-James Hatanaka
While season 18 explored Tyler (Hatanaka) working with the BAU while training to officially join the team, it was revealed that he may have been taken elsewhere for information. Tyler seemed horrified that it might take 10 years for him to officially become part of the BAU team — but so far the program has found ways to keep him working with the rest of the team in the field.
Adam Rodriguez
Rodriguez, who may be returning as Luke, recently spoke with him Us about how high quality the show is.
“You never want to turn the page [and find out that your character was killed off]. But I will say that I thank our manager and leader in the program, [showrunner] Erica Messer, no one would be surprised by that. “You're going to get a call a long time before that happens,” Rodriguez said Us in May 2025. “He will be informed, I can say for sure. But nobody wants to get that call.”
Rodriguez recommended Criminal Minds being a great place to work, he added, “We love being there. This is a dream job. It's a great place to show up and go to work every day. Nobody wants it to end and nobody wants to leave. So hopefully we'll be doing the show for a long time.”
He continued: “I hope that no one will sacrifice themselves for the sake of good television and that we find other people that we can build that are suitable. Will finally achieved that goal this year. But I think that he will bring something else to the show that the fans can enjoy and suffer with us.”
Paget Brewster
According to flashbacks, Prentiss is alive and well by the time season 18 comes to an end.
Matthew Gray Gubler
Despite making a cameo in season 18, Gubler is not expected to continue returning in future episodes. He last played Reid on the show when it was on CBS and did not return for the Paramount+ revival.
“We love it [Matthew] and will always be part of the family. We would love to get a chance to show up to bring him back. And we tried – and he has tried,” the runner Erica Messer you are only told Us in July 2024. “It didn't work out on schedule. But it's not for lack of trying.”
Gubler is currently filming his upcoming CBS series, Einstein.
