Criminal Minds Season 13: Daniel Henney on His 'Seamless' Transition and the Season Finale Cliffhanger
04/06/2018 | By Mace Parker
Last season, Criminal Minds ended with most of the team's lives hanging in the balance. If you thought that the CBS drama would give you a break this year, you'd be wrong. Be prepared for a crazy finale.
Criminal Minds' newest addition, Daniel Henney (Matt Simmons), spoke to Buddy TV about his seamless transition from Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, the upcoming Season 13 Finale cliffhanger and more. PART 1 BuddyTV: Can you talk about going from Beyond Borders to Criminal Minds? Have you seen any differences in your character? Is there anything you've been able to do that you didn't before? Daniel Henney: "I think initially just the transition itself was a challenge. Going to a show that is as big as Criminal Minds, the mothership as we call it, it's intimidating, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't step on anyone's toes. In hindsight now, I'm so surprised at how much of an amazing family they are and how they accepted me. It was seamless. Now it feels like I've always been there. It's like the way it always should have been. "In terms of the character, I think because we have such a large, ensemble cast and everyone's able to pull their own weight, which is great, it gives us a chance to take risks. And Criminal Minds, having been around for as long as it has, it always frees up that opportunity, so we're able to do episodes like [this one], which is basically, it's about Matt and his wife. I don't think with a show like Beyond Borders that's just trying to get started, it's not as easy to do those character arcs, so it's nice to be on a show that's as stable as it is so we can try new things, that's for sure. "And the character, I'm just really happy with his trajectory. I'm super-stoked that we got to keep the family involved from Beyond Borders, and it's just been a great situation all around." I have to admit that when we first met your character on Criminal Minds, there's the line about how his wife is a saint with all the kids. For some reason that line stuck with me and I didn't want anything to happen to her. Then we have this episode. "I know, and it's funny because on Beyond Borders, we had a few episodes with Kelly [Frye], who plays my wife, Kristy, and she's amazing, and we did an episode in Seoul, Korea, and I was over in Seoul, Korea, because Matt's roots are Korean, and she was kind of on pins and needles with him being over there, which was fun to play around with. "I was actually sitting around with some of the writers, and I thought, you know, it would be great sometime in the future if we could ever have a situation, where, Matt, being such a family-oriented guy, if something were to happen to a member of his family. Of course, it sounds kind of morbid in a way, but as an actor and as a writer, that's fun to play with, so they really went for it. And Christopher Barbour, who wrote the episode, he nailed it, so we're really excited for you guys to see the episode." Speaking of this week's episode, what can you preview about the case? "We get a call from the director, and he's asking for the BAU's help with this case which is kind of out of the ordinary because it's not a normal type of situation for the BAU, where we're going after a singular killer or an UnSub, if you will. What's happened is there's been a hostage takeover at a major corporate law firm. I can't divulge much, but Kelly's definitely involved. There's been multiple hostages taken. They've put C4 on all the doors, so no one can get in or get out, and they're communicating with us just over cell phones. It gets pretty dodgy at a certain point and we find out that the group that is actually holding the hostages is connected with someone who's actually in prison and they're trying to facilitate his escape or his release." Would you describe this as Simmons' worst nightmare and toughest case yet? How does he react to his wife being in danger? Do we see him stay levelheaded or want to rush in? "I think it's a juggling act for him the whole time, which was real exciting and really scary for me as an actor. Look, at the end of the day, we gotta get through the exposition and the technical stuff that the BAU has to talk about throughout the case, but this time, Matt had to deal with what was going on in the back of his mind the entire time, which was, 'Is my wife going to die?' She's his whole world, and he had to keep it together because the team needed him. "Prentiss allows him to stay on board, somewhat going against protocol in this situation, and he kind of promises her that he's going to be okay. She extends an olive branch and says, 'okay, you can stay, but you have to promise me you're going to be okay,' and he tries his best. I'm not going to give anything away, but at a certain point, things get pretty tricky for him and you'll see it kind of unfold." PART 2
We didn't see an adjustment period for Simmons because of the circumstances under which he joined the BAU and his experience with the IRT. Do you think that helped him not be the "new guy" like Luke was? "I think so, and I think it also helped that he was very familiar with the family. In 2015, we did the embedded pilot for Beyond Borders, where Simmons spoke a lot with Shemar's character [Morgan] about their paths, so they've known each other. He was also close with Rossi's character. And then, of course, Alana [De La Garza] and I came over last season to lend a hand to Reid in his situation in the prison in Mexico. So, there's a lot of connective tissue there, and that always helps. "And I think yeah, his training, him wanting to probably stop traveling as much as he was with the IRT was very helpful. I think Matt's just, he's a team player, he wants to contribute, and that's just like me as an actor. We, like I said, we came together seamlessly, and it's just very much a family." And it probably helped that Garcia was very welcoming, too, and didn't give him a nickname. "Garcia's amazing. I loved how the first episode, they brought Matt and her together and how she needed help and she was kind of left on an island there, back at the BAU while everyone was going through this chaos and Matt came in to help her. I thought that was a really smart way to bring him in, because that's who he is. He's a protector and he's someone who's very comforting, and he's a solid guy. But it also helps when Penelope's very open and sweet to him, and they have a great back-and-forth, those two." Simmons more than anyone knew what Barnes was capable of permanently doing to the team. Do you think there was there anything she could have said or done that would've changed his mind about her? "Well, I don't think so because, to be honest with you, what happened to the IRT last season, if you watched, was pretty intense, and not only was it out of nowhere, but she was trying to pin our team against each other. These teams, they travel the world together. The BAU, they've been together for so long, they know each other in and out, and they'd die for each other. When someone comes in and tries to be a puppeteer and try to turn us against each other, there's no real way to come back from that. I think in Simmons' mind, she's pretty much a bad egg." What can you tease about the season finale's case and the cliffhanger? Should we expect as many lives to be in danger as last season's car crash? "I don't want to give away too much. There's definitely a cliffhanger. ... There's some psychological elements to it that's going to play with our fans' minds, and there are two very, very important characters that are in the mix. I don't want to give too much more away, but there will be some questions that arise." Can you say anything about this former FBI special agent, Owen Quinn, with the bizarre account? "I can't say much. He worked in a different department than the BAU. ... He's got himself in a situation, a very, very, intense situation, and we stumble across that situation and we start to put the puzzle pieces together and find out that he is involved in something very sticky and very heavy that not even his department fully knew about and that brings us together with that department, and we try to figure out what's going on. But there's a big flip twist turn, like Garcia would say, that no one is going to be able to predict." If Simmons could bring one person or one thing with him from the IRT, who or what would it be? "I can't say people because I'd bring my whole team, definitely my whole team. But one thing, if I could bring it, would've been our jet. Because the BAU jet is so small." That jet was amazing. "I know. Our jet, it was our whole set actually, for the IRT. It was huge, and it was to scale. It was functional. I believe it was a C-5 cargo jet. I would've loved to bring that jet and I wouldn't mind bringing my motorcycle too. I miss that." Catch the two-hour Season Finale cliffhanger of Criminal Minds Season 13 on Wednesday, April 18 at 9/8c on CBS
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