What became of Matthew Gray Gubler after ‘Criminal Minds’: It took Wes Anderson’s intern 15 years to say goodbye to Spencer Reid

“Criminal Minds” is one of those cult series that dates back to a time when we had to wait in front of the television for the latest episodes to air – but somehow made it to the streaming age.

The crime series currently has 16 seasons and the following has already been announced. It’s just that ‘Criminal Minds’ no longer runs piece by piece on linear TV, but appears bundled on Paramount +. And that the cast has obviously changed over the course of 18 years: Many stars from the beginning of the series are gone – neither are they Matthew Gray Gubler, who as Dr. Spencer Reid was one of the faces of the show for fifteen years, but then decided to take on other challenges, much to the chagrin of fans.

Before we look at what he’s up to today, let’s take a look back: In fact, Gubler had no intention of becoming an actor at all — he even graduated from New York University with a degree in directing. It wasn’t until he met cult director Wes Anderson (“Asteroid City”) that the decisive change came: Gubler did an internship on the set of “Die Tiefseetaucher” (2004) as part of his studies and was promptly offered a small role in the film.

That whetted Gubler’s appetite, so he applied for—and landed—the role most TV audiences still associate with him to this day. He played FBI analyst Spencer Reid in Criminal Minds from 2006 to 2020.

That’s why Matthew Gray Gubler quit his role in Criminal Minds

Paralleling his dedication to series, Gubler has also appeared in a number of feature films, including the Robin Williams comedy “Die Chaoscamper” and the indie hit “(500) Days Of Summer”. But the 43-year-old hasn’t completely buried his directing dream either: He self-directed twelve episodes of “Criminal Minds,” made the music video for “Don’t Shoot Me Santa” for the band The Killers, also made a handful of short films and published a series on his YouTube channel of videos entitled Matthew Gray Gubler : The Unauthorized Documentary, in which he gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at Criminal Minds.

Then in 2022, after a long hiatus, a new season appeared with “Criminal Minds: Evolution”, in which much of the original cast was back on board, Gubler conspicuously absent. On the one hand, this was due to scheduling conflicts – but on the other hand, it was also because the actor wanted to try other things.

His co-star Paget Brewster revealed this in an interview with the online magazine shed some light: “Matthew is the only person who has played in every episode for the past two seasons,” said the actress, who appears in “Criminal Minds” as Agent Emily Prentiss and is also a private friend of Gubler. “He has been there fifteen years in a row. From the age of 25 to the age of 40 he starred in one series and we shot up to 24 episodes a year. He could never do other things. So I understand that. He wants to direct.’

So if you’re wondering what Matthew Gray Gubler is up to today, you now have the answer: he’s working on his career as a director, and it’ll be interesting to see when his first ‘real’ project will come out. In addition, the star also founded a book publishing company and successfully tried out as an author and illustrator: with “Rumple Buttercup. A Story Of Bananas, Belonging, And Being Yourself’, his first children’s book, appeared in 2021, which even reached first place on the New York Times bestseller list. The sequel “The Little Kid With The Big Green Hand” has been announced for later this year.