With potential Criminal Minds spinoff characters now a part of the mother ship’s spring agenda, the powers that be have put their heads together and begun looking for actors to fill out their would-be cast. Now it’s our turn. Who do you think should play these newbies, keeping in mind that, should the series be greenlit, we’d be seeing them every week, come fall?
* Cooper is the B-team’s leader, a middle-aged alpha male who’s as loyal to his team as he is sketchy about his past. How come he’s laid so low for nearly a decade? Something tells me that over the course of the show we’ll find out. My pick: Tyler Perry fave Lamman Rucker.
* Thirtyish Gina escaped the mean streets of Baltimore, only to wind up being sent back to them as an undercover agent. After her father died not knowing she hadn’t really fallen in with a bad crowd, she quit the FBI… until Cooper re-recruited her. My pick: Mental escapee Marisa Ramirez.
* Ex-British Special Forces operative Mick, 30, a sniper who’s as good with words as he is with a firearm. My pick: soap stud Paul Leyden (As the World Turns).
* And last but not least, Prophet, also in his 30s, is a born-again African-American ex-con who’s eager to clean the slate he so completely filled pre-prison. My pick: Angel alum J. August Richards.
OK, you’re up. Who do you see filling these roles? Sound off below!
Michael, you do realize Paul Leyden is an Aussie right, not British?
I could totally picture J. August Richards as prophet, it’s about time he gets a part on a good show again. And they should get Michael Trucco on the show, although I guess he looks too young to portray Cooper… Maybe they can hire Jeffrey Dean Morgan for that part?
PAULY SHORE,RICHARD SIMMONS,ROSEANNA BARR AND MICHAEL RICHARDS A DREAM TEAM.
He can be an Aussie and still be a member of the ‘British Special Forces’. They are on the same side you know.
No spin off please.
Amen. Tv is already wall-to-wall CSI, NCIS, Law & Order.
Bet your bottom dollar that there is some network think tank working on a way to spin off The Mentalist.
Amen I like Criminal Minds but not another spin off I need a different concept to watch. Also the FBI would not be using those type of people to make up a team get real CBS.
Cooper – Neil McDonough. Loved his character on NCIS!
Prophet – Roger Cross (Curtis Manning, 24)
Gina – Amy Lynn Carlson (Alex Taylor, Third Watch)
Who did Neil McDonough play on NCIS? I must have missed that… but I LOVE him! he’d be awesome! Anyone else think Cooper sounds a bit like the character Chris O Donnell plays on the NCIS spinoff?
Correction – meant to write that Neil McDonough played Dr. Stephen Connor, the team leader of NIH on Medical Investigation in 2004.
Totally agree with Neal as Cooper if he can loosen up a bit, unlike his role on Medical Investigation.
And no, Cooper does not sound like Callen. Callen was never supposed to be the leader of that team; doesn’t know his past, so can’t really try to hide anything about it; and he doesn’t TRY to lay low, he just doesn’t want to draw attention to himself.
I agree with Erica for Prophet – Roger Cross (Curtis Manning, 24). LOVE him.
Gina- Gina Torrez (Zoe, Firefly)
LOVE Gina Torres, but she’s not exactly 30-ish.
I’ve been waiting to see Gina Torrez on TV again. I have always loved her. Especially on Firefly and Alias.
Love McDonough! He was soooo good in Band of Brothers! Quick question, how does an ex-con get into the F.B.I?
probably the same way an uber-hacker gets in…remember how they recruited Penelope?
Good choice. Especially Neil.
Alex Taylor, GREAT choice! Third Watch was one of the most well-written and well-acted shows ever, and so few people ever watched it!
I think Kelsey Grammer as Cooper–he’s sketchy about his past as a radio shrink.
Cooper= Johnny Messner. Messner has Alpha written all over him and sketchy is his middle name, lol
I would love to see the British charater be played by Richard Armitage. He is the best. If he was younger, Blair Underwood could have played the 30 something AA. I would love to see him back on TV.
Richard Armitage would be brilliant. He is a wonderfully talented actor who I’d love to see in this!! And I agree with J. August Richards. He’d be amazing as Prophet!
I second the choice of Richard Armitage. He would be an absolutely brillant choice and he needs more exposure on American TV.
Mick – Adrian Lester (Mickey Stone, Hustle)
Cooper – Jeffrey Dean Morgan (John Winchester, Supernatural)
Gina – Elisha Dushku (Faith, Buffy/Angel and Echo, Dollhouse)
Prophet – Aldis Hodge (Hardison, Leverage)
JDM is more of a “perfect world wish” because he’s probably a little expensive for a new television series, but I still think he’d be a good choice. He can do shady like nobody’s business!
NONONONONONONONO!!!!
No Eliza Dushku!!!!
She is NOT a strong enough actress to pull off this sort of character.
God No–didn’t Dollhouse prove that Eliza isn’t good enough to carry a show? On the other hand Summer Glau can act-although she might look too young for the part
D–She wouldn’t be carrying the show. She’d be part of an ensemble.
Fair enough-but after Dollhouse I’m not over eager to see Eliza anytime soon.
I agree.and everyone else can quit hatin’ on my girl Eliza,who is a perfectly fine actress.Dollhouse was cancelled because it was too smart for the ignorant masses who’d rather watch brain-dead reality tv.
I’m not saying she’s a bad actress, I’m saying she’s not a strong enough actress to pull off this character as I perceive it from the sketch the Ausiello gave us.
And I’m sorry, Dollhouse was a piece of crap. Good premise, horrible execution of said premise.
Joss needed to iron out some of the kinks before he put it on film.
I don’t think they could get Jeffery Dean Morgan. He’s a busy actor. That’s why he couldn’t be in Supernatural more. If they could get him, he would be awesome as the lead character. Or Paul Gross would be a great leading character. Since they cancelled Eastwick, stupidly I must say. Acting talent like Gross is hard to find these days.
Personally I’d rather Hodge continue being awesome on Leverage. And if we’re gonna bring in Dollhouse alumni, let’s not do Dushku, we just saw how well that works. Let’s do Gjokaj. He’s all kinds of awesome. Morgan’s definitely too expensive for a new show, unless said new show’s budget is a couple orders of magnitude higher than Supernatural’s, because Supernatural’s been trying for ages to get him back for a guest appearance and hasn’t been able to afford it. (Since I keep hearing he wants to come back to Supernatural, why he doesn’t agree to take what they can afford to pay him is beyond me–it’s not like he’s not already wealthy beyond my wildest dreams.)
Listen CBS if you cancel the abysmal NCIS LA show, I’ll give the Criminal Minds spin off a chance.
Cooper – Bradley Cooper
Gina – Marisa Ramirez (agree)
Mick – Andrew Lee Potts
Prophet – J August Richards
*Kevin – Nicholas Brendon (as the new teams computer wizard)
*not mentioned but helps provide a link to the original as Garcia’s Boyfriend (¿husband? by the time the show starts) with plenty of glorified extra (err, guest starring) scenes.
Totally agree with Kevin being part of the new show.
hey, how’d you do the smiley? All I can do is alt-1 (numeric keypad)
I used the old reliable emoticon : then – then )
Compy program translates that like a instant messenger usually does.
yes yes yes to andrew lee potts!
I’m on the fence about a spin-off to begin with, but if they have to do it I definitely agree with J. August Richards. I’ve been waiting to see him in something entertaining again.
So just one female role out of the four then?
Note : Original series has 7 regulars, 3 women, 4 men. This show is only POSTING for 4 characters, 3 men, 1 woman. There could be more character regulars still in development.
exactly…and why not a female lead???
Cooper could work as a female lead, with the right actress. (Now HERE is where Gina Torres comes into play! Or Elizabeth Mitchell, if V gets cancelled.)
OOOOOOOH!!!!
You are so right about that. Good point. Gina Torres would be excellent!!!
Cooper- I agree about Johnny Messner. If not, Neal McDonough is the next best one and another good suggestion
Gina- Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) or Monique Curnen (The Unusuals)
Mick- Chris Vance (Mental and Prison Break)
Propher- The J. August Richards pick is perfect, if not him… Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker_
I just had a thought about Cooper, why not Eric Roberts?
ummm…you really don’t want people to watch do you? although he would make a great re-occuring villian
Dude, they tried to give him an FBI show in late 90′s called ‘C-16:FBI’.
He played the Cooper in that show and was pretty good, but it tanked. No one’s given him that kind of a chance since, cause he is soooo much better as a one off heavy or a villain (as in Heroes…stopped watching when they offed Thompson).
I’m on the fence with a spin-off, but if there is one, then I definitely agree with J. August Richards.
How does a British citizen become a FBI agent? You have to be a US citizen to become an agent. He he being borrowed?
Ummm, Kate was an FBI agent. They head hunted her from the British secret service.
You do NOT have to be American-born to be an FBI agent, simply an American citizen.
Mick is an Ex-British Special Forces sniper, but that doesn’t mean that he is not an American citizen.
they’ve done it before…the episode with in NY…explained she had dual citizenship, so maybe it will be the same thing
Legally, in order to work for the government, if you have dual citizenship, you have to give up your non-American citizenship. They would see it as treason if you kept it. But TV is known for not following the correct procedure. So who knows.
Cooper: Neal McDonough or JDM (both were great suggestions from others)
Prophet: Jason Winston George (from Eli Stone, Eve)or Alimi Ballard (from Numb3rs)