The star of ‘Criminal Minds” Aj Cook on Matthew Gray Gubler Reunion and the death of Will

It is difficult to say goodbye.

In the last episode of Criminal Minds: EvolutionA mourn in mourning (AJ Cook) struggling with the funeral of her long -standing husband Will (Josh Stewart), a basic food since season 2 of the original CBS drama. The detective and father of his two boys (played by the sons of Cook Mekhai and Phoenix) suffered an aneurysm after a break in the thyroid artery after a fear of health.

It turns out that the collapse of Will’s cuisine was filmed several seasons, long before Stewart’s decision to leave the show. “We pulled it because it was so bad,” says Cook Weekly entertainment of the scene. “We didn’t want to put Will in this position.” But in the wake of Stewart’s surprise departure, showrunner Erica Messer Recovered the scene for Thursday’s emotional shipment. “We remembered:” Oh my God, we have this sequence that we never used because we did not want to use it. »»

Although Stewart’s release has taken the crew by surprise, there is only love there. “I really have such admiration and respect for Josh,” says Cook. “We know each other forever. We made films together. He and my husband are friends. He is so missed. But again, the series must continue. We just had to do it. ”

Also in the episode: Matthew Gray GublerLarge – although in short – comes back as Spencer Reid. Cook speaks of calling his old friend to ask him to come back, the “fine line” to bring together JJ and Reid, to be slapped by the end of the late Linda Lavinand more.

Entertainment Weekly: What was your initial reaction when you discovered Will’s fate?

AJ Cook: He took us all by surprise when we discovered that he was not going to come back. It took us a while to treat this and to understand the next step. I think that if we were still on CBS with our original format, we would not have taken this route because we have passed seasons without seeing it. It was more procedural at the time. But with this new format, a large part of the show is the personal life of these characters that we love so much. After a lot of deliberations, we do what we always do in this program: we write to life. You can’t choose when someone dies. Life arrives and that blinds you. And I think that’s why it hurts so. We were all so against it, but we didn’t have a say. So, how do we move on without feeling as if we were in a prison of the way we can write for JJ? We wanted this family so safe and protected that when we originally wrote in this scenario, we hate it so much … Believe me, if we came back Josh, we would not have drawn a little thing so short like that. We would have milked it.

Not only does the end and the big Linda Lavin appear as Will’s mourning mother, but she slaps you outright on your face. How was it to argue with her? And were these slaps real?

What an honor to be slapped by Linda Lavin. I had to swear to this woman, ok? Twice! She is so full of life and gives an actress. And an example – a second, you make a scene with a person, the next one you discover that they have died. You would do everything to go back in time to do it no. But it was such a force. It is one of the great honors of my life that I was able to act with her before her adoption. There was such facility between the two of us. We were on the same wavelength regarding the way we approach the scenes. She didn’t slap me. We just made it look really good.

Matthew Gray Gubler is long -awaited. What was the atmosphere on the set that day?

It was like a return home. It was really wonderful. I was so happy that he came back to do this with us. When we were in the design of this episode, Erica and I continued to come back to the idea that Spence must be there. It seems that a huge piece of the puzzle is missing if he couldn’t be there. I called him and I said to myself: “Hey, my friend, what are you doing? Do you want to come do this?” And being the graceful human that he is, he accepted. When I told him what was going on (with) the will, he said to himself: “Do you like it? I will be absolutely there.” It was a short appearance, but so impactful. It meant the world for me and for our cast and I know that it meant a lot for him too.

I wanted to approach it. I already know that some people will not be satisfied with the minimal screen time between JJ and Reid. What do you think of people who still roll in this ship so many years later? You talked about feeling weird about it because they are besties.

This is what I was going to say. And bring it back to the funeral of her husband where these characters said they love each other? It was a thin line. We did not want to identify this atmosphere at all. We wanted it to be like, it is your best friend who presents himself for you if necessary. This is why it was a sensitive thing. It was like, do we make arms? Don’t we kiss? What will people think? It is so polarized with regard to sender JJ and Reid). Everyone is allowed to have a fantasy and think what they want. We were very careful about that. And Erica let the public know that yes, he comes back, but I think his quote was: “He is a small role in a very big episode”, which is true. But you can’t please everyone. We do our best.

Many people do not realize that your sons play your television sons. It was a very heavy episode. What kind of conversations did you have before filming? Was it difficult to shoot?

It was also a large part of decision -making in all of this. My boys are very intelligent humans, very emotionally stable and well -founded that have grown up on this set. They know it acts. But I can see how fuzzy these lines would look for the stranger. What people do not see is that when they call “cut”, Matthew Gray Gubler returns my youngest son around his head. It was so happy. It was such a juxtaposition. We all celebrate to be together and have fun. In addition, as a mother, I am not opposed to children who feel great emotions. They should. You cannot protect your child from the great emotions and the Ifs of life. I think it’s a bad service for them in a way. My children, they understand. We had some of the most beautiful memories that I will have in my lifetime (during) this section of two weeks of filming of this episode. There was so much joy involved in the production of this episode even if it appeared so sad. But they know Josh very well, and my husband is friends with Josh. But yes, it was absolutely something I had to think of and talk to children. And they said to themselves, “Mom, are you serious? We are good. ”

Register Weekly entertainment Free daily newsletter To get television news, the first looks, summary, criticism, exclusive interviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

What will the rest of JJ’s arc look like this season when it sails in this sorrow?

It will be messy. The sorrow is not pretty. There are so many sorrow layers and we will approach a lot. And I would say that she will find healing and comfort in the most unexpected places with the most unexpected people. How is it for a hanging carrot?

Or a cheetah during.

A cheeto, yes.

This interview has been modified for duration and clarity.

New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution Place the Thursdays on Paramount +.