The ‘Criminal Minds’ Crew Once Played a Hilarious Prank on Shemar Moore
The stories on Criminal Minds might be dark, but the show’s team keeps things light behind the scenes.
Recently, Criminal Minds: Evolution actor Zach Gilford was a guest on SiriusXM’s The Julia Cunningham Show, where he shared a story about a hilarious prank involving original cast member Shemar Moore.
Shemar Moore got pranked by the ‘Criminal Minds’ team
“I heard a great story that on Criminal Minds – this was years ago. It was before I was there – but Shemar, apparently, he wrapped and went home and shaved his goatee ’cause he thought he was done for the season,” the Midnight Mass alum shared. “And they called him, they’re like, ‘Hey, you’re not wrapped.’”
“He was like, ‘What?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, we have one more scene to shoot,’” Gilford continued. “He’s like, ‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry.’ So then they come in and it’s like a first-time director and she’s like, ‘I’m really sorry, but you know, we gotta match and makeup’s not gonna work, so we gotta put this green tape on.’”
Since Moore had shaved his facial hair, the green tape would supposedly allow his missing mustache to be added using CGI during post-production. But in reality, it was all an elaborate prank.
“And they kept coming in and doing more tape and apparently, he was like such a trooper about it, but the whole time, everyone was just f***ing with him,” the actor said, laughing. “He was wrapped. It was all done.”
Zach Gilford plays a terrifying killer on ‘Criminal Minds’
Gilford wasn’t around for that prank, but he’s since become part of the Criminal Minds family. He joined the long-running show in 2022, when it was revived for a new season on Paramount+. (Original BAU member Moore – who played FBI agent Derek Morgan – didn’t return, but he had a good excuse. He’s been busy starring in CBS’s S.W.A.T. and the upcoming spinoff S.W.A.T. Exiles.)
On Criminal Minds: Evolution, Gilford plays serial killer Elias Voit, one of the most terrifying bad guys in a show with no shortage of creepy characters. The role was a far cry from his turn as awkward quarterback Matt Saracen in Friday Night Lights, which made him a star. But he’s said it’s his everyman quality that helped him land the part of Voit, along with his more recent role as a troubled man with a difficult past in Netflix’s Midnight Mass.
“I think really between Midnight Mass and maybe even some Friday Night Lights is kind of how I got this role,” he told Showbiz Cheat Sheet in 2022. “I think the creators, I know they were big fans of [Midnight Mass]. I think it was just seeing that like kind of the darker side of me that I think they’re like, ‘Oh, he could be a serial killer.’”
“I think the Matt Saracen aspect brings it to the human side of Voit where [people were like] ‘I think Zach can make an audience like anyone, even a serial killer,’” he added. “So we’ve basically marrying Friday Night Lights and Midnight Mass and that’s Criminal Minds: Evolution.”
New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 drop weekly on Thursdays on Paramount+ through July 10.
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