A.J. Cook as Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau and Adam Rodriguez as Luke Alvez in CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION – Season 2 and/or Season 17 – “Piranha” | ©2024 Paramount+/Michael Yarish
Adam Rodriguez joined CRIMINAL MINDS on CBS in its twelfth season in 2016 as FBI Supervisory Special Agent Luke Alvez with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Actor and character remained through 2020’s Season 15, when CBS canceled the series.
When Paramount+ revived it as CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION for a sixteenth season on streaming in 2022, Rodriguez immediately returned, along with the majority of the regular cast. The show is now in the midst of Season 19, with new episodes streaming on Thursdays.
Like Luke, Rodriguez is from New York. He’s had previous experience in a law enforcement procedural over ten seasons of CSI: MIAMI as Eric Delko. Other projects include the MAGIC MIKE movies and regular/recurring roles in EMPIRE, JANE THE VIRGIN, THE NIGHT SHIFT, RECKLESS, UGLY BETTY, the original ROSWELL series, RESURRECTION BLVD, ALL SOULS, FELICITY, and BROOKLYN SOUTH.
Additionally, Rodriguez has directed episodes of CRIMINAL MINDS, CSI: MIAMI (for which he also scripted two episodes) and SCORPION, and produced the documentary series FINDING MAGIC MIKE and the telefilm A CHRISTMAS PROPOSAL, also starring in the latter.
Luke has a background as a U.S. Army Ranger that comes in especially handy whenever the BAU finds itself in a tactical, boots-on-the-ground situation. His home life has centered around his beloved Belgian Shepherd dog Roxie, who was introduced in Season 12 not long after we met Luke.
This season (19) in Episode 2 of CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION, Luke faced the heartbreak and very specific grief of losing an animal companion when Roxie was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Rodriguez gets on a Zoom call to discuss this development and more.
For starters, Rodriguez reassures us that, so far as he knows, the canine actor who portrayed Roxie is still alive and well.
“She was originally introduced on the show when I first joined in 2016. So, she’s ten years older. At least, last I knew, she was still around.”
The inspiration for this arc, Rodriguez believes, is that “This was about really telling a story that it was time to tell. We hadn’t seen or heard anything about Roxie in a long time, other than just referring to her in passing on the show, and so, it felt like there was an opportunity to tell a story that the audience could connect to.
“It was something for Luke to experience as a character, and develop that character further, and really give the audience a glimpse of more of who he is and what’s going on in his life. I think it was a matter of that, and it just being Luke’s turn to carry the ball on the show.
“And so, I felt lucky, I felt great about having a chance to play that, and I knew it would be a sensitive topic for the character, and I knew that the audience is going to probably feel emotional about it as well. I think that’s the point of telling stories, is to make people feel something.”
Normally on CRIMINAL MINDS, when one of the characters endures a personal trauma, they share their feelings with one or more of their friends and colleagues. Does Luke feel like he can’t do that because they’re surrounded by so much human death? And is there anything different in playing that than the normal kind of upset that people experience on the show?
“First of all, I think Luke is the type of person who does not freely share his emotions, especially in terms of the pain that he carries, and I think that he’s very good at masking, and it comes off as maybe being quiet or sardonic, or even masking it with general humor. But I think that his coping mechanism is just burying the emotion and I think that this is one of those things that’s just too painful to be able to fully bury.”
Luke does ultimately confide in the unit’s tech whiz, animal lover Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness). “I think Garcia’s character is empathetic and intuitive enough to know that her friend is going through something, and she gives him the space to open up in a way that nobody else could, and I think that’s why their relationship is so special.”
Rodriguez adds, “There’s a great scene in the second episode where Luke actually opens up to somebody in a really unique situation that seems like the last place you would find somebody to relate to, but I think Luke realizes that this other character is in the same kind of pain that he is, and [the other character is] just choosing to express it in a negative way. It gives Luke a chance to try and help the guy, and then also help himself, by opening up about where his head is at, and where his emotions are.”
Rodriguez has so far directed five episodes of CRIMINAL MINDS, including this season’s fourth segment, “The Witching Hour.” He enthuses, “I had some incredible guest cast. I got to cast Dash Mihok, and I got to cast a guy named Connor Storie who has subsequently had a career that has exploded [Storrie is one of the leads on the much-lauded series HEATED RIVALRY]. We’ve got great people in the show throughout the season.”
CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION – Season 4 | ©2026 ABC Studios /CBS Studios Inc
This season of CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION has everyone dealing with the sudden fame of now-incarcerated serial killer Elias Voit (Zach Gilford). Nobody is happy about this, least of all Voit, who has had a near-fatal brain injury that seems to have re-wired his personality and morality, so that he is now helping the BAU with their cases. How much of this affects Luke?
“Everybody’s got their individual things going on, and Luke is dealing with a lot – a lot of loss and working through that loss to get to a place of acceptance. I think throughout the season, you see Luke continue to deal with that and find his peace.
“In terms of dealing with Voit, the Voit character could create a fair bit of conflict, because you’ve got some folks who have gotten to know Voit well enough to feel like, ‘Oh, my God, he actually is a human being,’ and then other characters, like Luke and Rossi [Joe Mantegna], who are less convinced of Voit’s humanity and don’t really want to treat him like a human being. They are convinced that he’s an animal and should be dealt with that way. But we also are left with no choice. Voit ends up being a tool that we think we can use, and so we’ve got to accept that we need him and use him to do some greater good. So, there’s that struggle going on as well.”
Rodriguez concludes, “Really, Season 19 has got so many layers that I think the fans have got a lot to dig into, especially the fans who have been with the show for a long time. There’s so much to digest, I think they’re going to have a great time watching this season.”
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Article: Exclusive Interview: Actor and director Adam Rodriguez gives the scoop on the latest season of CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION
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