If Josh Stewart didn’t return to film Will’s death scene on Criminal Minds — how did the show pull that moment off?
A.J. Cook was asked about reuniting with her onscreen husband Stewart, 48, in an episode earlier this month where Will (Stewart) died. The only problem? Cook, 46, confirmed Stewart wasn’t on set for seasons 2 or 3 of Criminal Minds: Evolution.
“People don’t know this, I guess,” Cook revealed to TVLine on Monday, May 26. “But he wasn’t coming back to the show. Our writers had to get very creative.”
Cook pointed to Will’s past health scare, adding, “Remember the cancer storyline that we wrote in [during Evolution‘s first season]? We so badly were like, ‘We don’t want [Josh] to think he’s going to die,’ we got so freaked out by it, that we pulled this scene [of Will collapsing]. That’s how much we did not want Josh to leave us.”
The Criminal Minds creative team revisited the deleted scene when it came time to kill Will off.
“Our brilliant showrunner [Erica Messer] was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have this scene that we never used,’” Cook recalled. “Erica Messer put the pieces of a really complicated puzzle together, and it worked. It’s weird how it happened that way — but that just goes to show how much we just did not want any more pain to come to this family.”
During the May 15, episode of Paramount+’s Criminal Minds: Evolution, JJ’s (Cook) husband, Will, collapsed after experiencing a headache. The team rushed to the hospital to support JJ, only to find out that Will didn’t make it.
Before the twist, Stewart had a recurring role as Will since 2007. Viewers have tuned in week after week to watch a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit. The crime drama explores different fictional cases and shows how behavioral analysis helps the team locate their unknown subjects.
Stewart previously raised eyebrows when he revealed in January 2024 that he would not be reprising his role in future seasons of the show.
“[S]adly, my days of playing Will LaMontagne Jr. are over,” Stewart wrote via X in response to a question about his future on the show. “You guys have been the absolute best.”
After Will’s shocking onscreen death, Adam Rodriguez, who plays Luke, weighed in on where the show goes from here, exclusively telling Us Weekly, “It’s not somebody you want to see die. It gave AJ the actress a chance to really demonstrate the level of talent that she has. Because I think she’s a great actress and having this to play really gave her an opportunity to sink her teeth into something substantial.”
Rodriguez, 50, acknowledged that not every fan would be pleased by the decision.
“Her character — and fans of the show — are tough. This was an opportunity to let JJ’s guard down. Obviously she has to be strong for her family but you really get to see that vulnerable side of her,” he continued. “She’s had an opportunity to get some great stuff to do and I’m glad people are getting to see that.”
New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution air Thursdays on Paramount+.
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