Criminal Minds: Evolution Star Reveals The Unexpected Truth About Will’s Death Scene: “We Got So Freaked Out By It”

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In Criminal Minds: Evolution, it was time for JJ and her team to bid farewell to Will, but the process of shooting his final scene turned out to be more complex than it seemed at first glance.

After the airing of Criminal Minds: Evolution’s season 3, episode 2, actress A.J. Cook shared insights with TVLine regarding the filming of her on-screen husband’s demise. Contrary to expectations, Josh Stewart, who plays Will, did not return to set for the purpose of enacting his character’s death in season 3. Instead, Criminal Minds: Evolution utilized a previously discarded scene from season 1 as a substitute for Will’s death sequence. Cook elaborated on this unique approach by stating:

“Josh Stewart did not appear to film the death scene for season 3 of Criminal Minds: Evolution. Instead, they used an old scene from season 1 to portray his character’s demise.

I think many people might not realize this, but our decision to write off the character [Josh] wasn’t made lightly. Our writers were extremely inventive as a result, because they didn’t want him to leave us. Remember the cancer storyline we introduced in season 1? We were so anxious about it, fearing that Josh might think his character was doomed, that we came up with the scene where Will collapses. This was our desperate attempt to keep him around.

However, when it was decided that Will would die, our showrunner [Erica Messer] had a brilliant idea. She recalled an unused scene from earlier in the series and skillfully integrated it into the storyline. It’s quite strange how things turned out, but it just goes to show how much we were determined to avoid causing any more distress for this fictional family.

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2025-05-27 16:27