“Everybody is asking, from our wardrobe department to our grips, ‘Is there a way to bring him back?’”
Criminal Minds, now Criminal Minds: Evolution, has had legendary celebrity guest stars over the course of its 19 seasons. Many of them, including Aaron Paul and Evan Peters, got to play creeps, killers, and kidnappers/kidnappees before they became household names. This season, Heated Rivalry breakout Connor Storrie will continue the tradition with a four-episode guest stint. As Lance Kingston, “a charming narcissist with a deep sense of entitlement,” Storrie becomes a major player in a Behavioral Analysis Unit investigation after being accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend.
It’s a perfect time for any show to cash in on Storrie-mania — fans are clamoring for more of the actor while waiting for season two of Heated Rivalry — but series creator Erica Messer tells Vulture that Storrie was cast and shot his part last summer, long before anyone knew the Canadian hockey romance would become such a sensation. “We were very much interested in finding somebody that would stand out a bit. Connor won that, hands down,” Messer says. “The interesting thing is, none of us knew what Heated Rivalry was. Even if it was on his résumé, I think the conversation was, ‘He’s just finished this thing that hasn’t aired yet.’ It wasn’t anything more than that.”
When casting director April Webster and her department chose Storrie, he was only meant to appear in one episode and shoot for two days. He brought such enormous screen presence, however, that the writers immediately expanded his part. “We were like, ‘Okay, I know he was important for episode four, but we’ve got to make him more integral to the rest of the season,’” Messer says. Storrie went from a one-episode guest-star slot to a four-episode arc, “100 percent because he was so compelling,” Messer says. Vulture got an exclusive first look at the character alongside series stars R.J. Hatanaka, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez, and A.J. Cook.
As for what fans can expect from Storrie’s arc, Messer says he goes “toe-to-toe with the BAU,” and there’s a scene where “Adam’s character kind of alphas him, in a way.” On set, Messer says Storrie made such a good impression that “everybody is asking, from our wardrobe department to our grips, ‘Is there a way to bring him back?’”
Well? Is there a way Storrie could come back? “I would just say, on Criminal Minds in general, you never say never.” Storrie’s first episode, titled “The Witching Hour,” premieres June 11 on Paramount+.
