Connor Storrie Is Bringing His Most Dangerous Role Yet to ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’
Connor Storrie has spent the better part of the past year becoming one of the most talked-about young actors on television, and the role that put him on the map could not be further from what he is bringing to screens right now. The Texas-born actor gained wide recognition for his portrayal of Ilya Rozanov in the Crave sports romance series ‘Heated Rivalry’, adapted from Rachel Reid’s novel, in which his performance as a hockey star brought him international attention. The role required him to master a convincing Russian accent to bring the closeted pro athlete to life in the rivals-turned-lovers story. For fans who fell hard for that world, the pivot he is making next could not be more thrilling.
Before ‘Heated Rivalry’ made Storrie a household name, he had already been grinding through small roles in Los Angeles for years. When Crave dropped the first official trailer for ‘Heated Rivalry’, Storrie had around 10,000 followers on Instagram, a number that changed dramatically within 72 hours of the premiere. What most people did not know at the time was that, even before the world caught on, he had already quietly filmed something that would prove exactly how wide his range truly is.
People shared an exclusive first-look clip this week revealing that Storrie will make his debut in the Paramount+ crime drama ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ on June 11, portraying Lance Kingston, a narcissistic man accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend who quickly becomes a key figure in a Behavioural Analysis Unit investigation. Showrunners have described Kingston as a “charming narcissist with a deep sense of entitlement”, and his storyline is tied to this season’s central villain Elias Voit. The explosive outburst visible in the People clip suggests Storrie is leaning fully into the unsettling complexity of that character description.
Showrunner Erica Messer told TV Insider that Storrie was originally only supposed to appear in one episode but impressed the team so thoroughly that they expanded his role. “He was only supposed to be in Episode 4 and he was so good that we were like, ‘No, he’s going to have a bigger role than we thought,'” Messer explained. Director and series star Adam Rodriguez, who helmed that fourth episode, also revealed there was initial “pushback” on the casting, but with Messer in his corner he was able to push the choice through. Rodriguez later reflected warmly on the experience, saying it was “a really exciting thing” to watch Storrie’s career take off seemingly overnight.
Season 19 of ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ features a stacked guest roster that includes Clark Gregg, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jeri Ryan, Cress Williams, and Kofi Siriboe, among many others. The season premiered on May 28 and follows the BAU as they pursue a dangerous new adversary known as “The Fan”, whose obsession is tied to serial killer Elias Voit, played by Zach Gilford, with new episodes dropping weekly on Paramount+. Storrie’s Kingston sits squarely at the intersection of that central mystery, making his four-episode arc far more than a novelty cameo.
What makes this moment particularly striking is the timing of it all. Storrie filmed his ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ guest arc in the window between completing ‘Heated Rivalry’ and its release, meaning he was already impressing people with his work on a psychological crime thriller long before the world knew his face from a hockey romance. The clip making the rounds this week is, for many fans, their first glimpse of what he can do when the warmth and vulnerability of Ilya Rozanov are stripped away entirely. Whether Kingston turns out to be a threat, a victim, or something murkier in between is one of the most intriguing questions heading into the back half of the season, and if you have a theory about which side of that line Lance Kingston lands on, the comments are waiting for you.
