You know what’s a good time? Revisiting old episodes of The Mentalist . The long-running CBS procedural starring Simon Baker has been streaming on Hulu since March (and also is available with a Max subscription , among others.) Since some of the best streaming services have the show right now, I decided to get back into it and have not been disappointed.
But as I’ve been doing that I just learned a BTS secret about Patrick Jane and Red John I didn’t realize during the show’s original run. Yes, Simon Baker Actually Played Red John For The Majority Of The Show As the main antagonist, we hear from Red John myriad times before the big conclusion at the end of the show, and Simon Baker told the State Journal Register that he actually voiced Red John until creator Bruno Heller figured out how the final showdown would pan out. All those times we heard the voice of Red John? That was me.
Yes! In the Season 2 finale, when Jane was captured and Red John did that 'Tyger, Tyger' thing with the mask on? That was me. I played both characters in that scene. There was a fan theory running around when the show was first on the air that Patrick Jane might actually be Red John, and Simon Baker was well aware of the fact, noting it was "the reason" both he and Heller felt like it was a great idea to pepper this little Easter egg in repetitively.
That was the reason I did that. There was a point where Bruno was saying, 'We don't know who we're going to cast to play [the masked Red John].'.