‘Criminal Minds’ Star Talks Whether Voit’s Amnesia is Real (Exclusive) originally appeared on Parade.
Criminal Minds: Evolution fans just can’t get enough of alleged serial killer Sicarius, aka Elias Voit (Zach Gilford). After all, this is the third season the “big bad” has had a key storyline. But this time around, there’s a major change that may have made him more likable: He has amnesia and apparently doesn’t remember the monstrous deeds of his past. He’s also helped out by the fact that viewers didn’t actually see him commit his heinous crimes.
“It’s a little like a different character,” Gilford tells Parade exclusively. “I guess the difference is I had to treat it like I’m meeting all these people for the first time, and I’m developing new relationships with them. So, I had to forget whatever we had done before; that never happened.”
The season began with a study of what Voit might be like when he’s an “innocent.” Not innocent of his alleged crimes, but more an innocent soul, due to not just his memory loss, but also the fact that his brain scans are registering normal activity as opposed to that of a psychopath.
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“I try to just play it straight and see what happens,” Gilford continues, not revealing if it is a scam on Voit’s part to get out of prison. “I think whenever an actor tries to play a secret within a secret within a secret, you start to overthink it and get lost in what secret you’re in. So, if he is some sort of master actor who can fake this, then I’ll just play it as if it’s real, because I guess he’s a great actor who can do it.”
But is he truly “normal” now? That is the question that has the BAU team split. Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez) is sure that the amnesia is just an act that somehow Voit has managed to make so real that Dr. Julia Ochoa (Aimee Garcia) is convinced. The science is also winning over Dr. Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler). But the jury is still out on the others.
Related: A.J. Cook Opens Up About JJ’s Loss on Criminal Minds: Evolution And What’s Next With Her and Voit (Exclusive)
The issue is so key to JJ Jareau (A.J. Cook) that she returned early from her bereavement leave following the death of her husband Will (Josh Stewart) to work with Ochoa on helping Voit process the return of his memories.
Gilford sees the connection between Voit and JJ as that of family. They are the only two characters who both have children. That said, Voit’s children have been relocated and given new identities, following the reveal of his Sicarius identity. So he is suffering their loss just as JJ is grieving the loss of Will. Gilford sees it as a tie that binds them together.
Related: Criminal Minds Star Kirsten Vangsness Talks Voit’s Questionable Amensia and Garcia’s ‘Terrible Boundaries’ (Exclusive)
“None of the other agents have kids,” he says. “So, Voit and JJ have that shared piece of humanity. As much of a monster as this guy is, I think JJ sees and understands his attachment to his family and knows what that is. And I think, Voit, even when he was being a jerk, I think he connected to JJ in that way, where she’s a mom and he’s a dad. She’s the only one who can tap into that. Everyone else, because they don’t have that experience, they can’t really know what Voit’s going through.”
That said, Voit does see David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) as a father figure, and as much as it pains Rossi, he plays into that to help Voit remember.
“I think at the beginning it almost was like he was a really weird mentor to him,” Gilford says. “When he was growing up, Voit read all Rossi’s books. It’s how he learned a bunch of stuff about how to understand himself better, how to get away with things. I think there always was a respect for Rossi, but at the same time, Rossi was the one person who could take him down. So, he had to prove that the pupil is now smarter than the sensei. It’s like all he knows is this feeling he has towards this person, so he guesses that person must be his dad. I think it actually is a weirdly logical progression.”
Season 3 of Criminal Minds: Evolution drops new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.
Next,Paget Brewster Talks the Two Returns You Won’t Want to Miss on Criminal Minds: Evolution (Exclusive)
‘Criminal Minds’ Star Talks Whether Voit’s Amnesia is Real (Exclusive) first appeared on Parade on Jun 12, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
