Damon Gupton has joined the cast of the CBS procedural, Criminal Minds. Gupton will play Special Agent Stephen Walker, a new hire who hails from the Behavioral Analysis Program, the counterintelligence division of the FBI. A seasoned profiler, he will bring his spy-hunting skill set to the BAU. Gupton’s character will be introduced in the eighth episode of season 12.
His casting comes roughly a month and a half after the sudden exit of star Thomas Gibson, who was fired from the long-running drama after an alleged on-set altercation with a series writer. Gibson had been with the show since its 2005 debut. Gupton joins recent new addition Adam Rodriguez, who was added for season 12 following the departure of another longtime star, Shemar Moore, who left toward the end of season 11. Additionally, former star Paget Brewster signed on to return as a series regular for season 12 in the wake of Gibson’s exit.
The upcoming second episode of the season, which airs Wednesday, will be Gibson’s last. However, it remains to be seen how his character will be written out of the series.
Other castmembers on Criminal Minds include Joe Mantegna, Matthew Gray Gubler, A.J. Cook, Aisha Tyler — also promoted to series regular for season 12 — and Kirsten Vangsness. Criminal Minds is co-produced by ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios.
A Juilliard grad, Gupton’s small-screen credits include recurring roles on Empire, Bates Motel and David E. Kelley’s upcoming Amazon legal drama Goliath. His film credits include the upcoming Oscar hopeful La La Land, Whiplash and This Is 40.
Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBS.
