When Criminal Minds lost FBI Special Agent Derek Morgan during Season 11 and after over 250 episodes, because actor Shemar Moore was ready to move on, fans of the show likely cried themselves to sleep over the Shemar-sized hole that would exist during Season 12 of the CBS series. But, knowing a good business opportunity when they see one, Criminal Minds has gone on to pick another awesome actor to replace Moore on the show: Adam Rodriguez.
CBS confirmed to CinemaBlend today that Adam Rodriguez will begin his stint as a series regular for Criminal Minds in the Season 12 premiere this fall. His, currently unnamed, character is a member of the FBI Fugitive Task Force who joins up with our criminal profiling friends at the Behavioral Analysis Unit.
As a member of the Criminal Minds cast, Adam Rodriguez has returned to his CBS family. He is, perhaps, best known for his role as Eric Delko on the CSI spinoff CSI: Miami. Rodriguez spent a whopping 10 seasons on the show, meaning his tenure there lasted for the entire run of the series, and has given him the right history to work on a dramatic procedural. After getting his start in an episode of NYPD Blue in 1997, Rodriguez has gone on to rack up an impressive list of almost 50 credits in film and television work. Along with CSI: Miami, the actor has been featured in Brooklyn South, Felicity, Resurrection Blvd., Roswell, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, Ugly Betty, The Night Shift, Empire and Jane the Virgin. He’s also known for his…uh…stimulating performances in Magic Mike and the sequel, Magic Mike XXL.
Criminal Minds is no stranger to cast changes over its 11 seasons on the air. Until Shemar Moore exited last season, he and only four other cast members, Thomas Gibson, Matthew Gray Gubler, A. J. Cook and Kirsten Vangsness, had been on the show for its entire run. Other cast members have included Mandy Patinkin, Lola Glaudini, Paget Brewster, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Derek Morgan left the BAU to focus on taking care of his family, but the loss of the character seemed sure to leave the team without a confident, assertive and frequently hot-tempered agent. There’s no word right now on the particular talents that Adam Rodriguez’s character will bring to the team, but it’s probably a pretty safe bet to guess that he’ll at least be sure-footed, smart, savvy and an all-around solid addition to the agents. The BAU don’t suffer no fools, y’all. We can all see how Rodriguez fares when Season 12 of Criminal Minds debuts in the fall.
