Criminal Minds’ Star Called His Participation in the Show ‘The Biggest Mistake’
The show’s endless violence was just too much for him.
There have been a lot of characters on Criminal Minds – they came and went, and then some of them came back. Some of the BAU members are completely forgotten, but there is one character that absolutely everyone remembers – Jason Gideon, an experienced and respected profiler who stole all the attention in the early seasons of the show.
Gideon immediately became a favorite character for many viewers, which made his unexpected exit from the show after the second season all the more surprising.
His character's departure was chaotic and illogical, and now we know it was due to the fact that Patinkin disappeared from the set as abruptly and without warning as Jason Gideon himself.
One day, the actor simply did not show up on set. It was a blow to the writers, who had to figure out how to write Gideon off on short notice.
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Mandy Patinkin later explained that filming Criminal Minds was a challenge for him – he hates violence on TV shows, and what happened in the procedural was simply unacceptable to him.
In an interview, he called his participation in Criminal Minds the biggest mistake of his acting career:
“I never thought they were going to kill and rape all these women every night, every day, week after week, year after year. It was very destructive to my soul and my personality. After that, I didn’t think I would get to work in television again.”
After leaving Criminal Minds, the actor joined Homeland, for which he was criticized by some fans. Homeland is also full of violent scenes, and the fact that Patinkin went from one violent show to another seemed a bit duplicitous.
However, the actor himself later explained that Homeland makes viewers think about questions such as who is the oppressor and who is the victim in this world, and the show's writers have managed to create a multi-dimensional plot that touches on current issues.
Homeland, which won the 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Series, is a remake of the Israeli show Prisoners of War. Patinkin played the role of CIA veteran Saul Berenson.
Source: New York Magazine