10 TV Stars Who Went Dark for ‘Criminal Minds’
The long-running CBS procedural Criminal Minds had been off for only a year (and exactly one year) in February 2021 when fans learned a revival series was in the works at Paramount+. And now, after a year of relative radio silence about the project, we now know that the Criminal Minds continuation is “alive and well” at the streaming service.
So now we’re contemplating who could return—and, for that matter, who appeared in the original. Regular viewers likely remember that James Van Der Beek and Aubrey Plaza played “unsubs” on the show, and they weren’t the only small-screen stars to do so. Scroll down to see how 10 other television actors, many of them known for lighthearted roles, took a dark turn for Criminal Minds guest spots.
Jason Alexander
The Seinfeld star (wearing a magnificent gray wig) guest-starred in the Season 4 episode “Masterpiece,” playing a serial killer who challenges the team to find five potential victims before he kills them.
Keith Carradine
This Madam Secretary and Fear the Walking Dead actor played serial killer Frank Breitkopf in two Season 2 episodes—and the character killed Gideon’s (Mandy Patinkin) girlfriend in one of them.
Mark Hamill
The Star Wars vet and longtime TV voice actor played John “The Replicator” Curtis, the serial killer who took out victims throughout Season 8 and even offed BAU Section Chief Erin Strauss (Jayne Atkinson).
Camryn Manheim
This alum of The Practice and upcoming Law & Order actress guest-starred in “The Inspired”—a two-parter that opened Season 9—as a mother who tried to get her twin sons to turn on each other.
Adrianne Palicki
After her Friday Night Lights stint but before her time on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Orville, Palicki appeared in Season 6’s “The Thirteenth Step” as robber and murderer Syd Donovan.
Luke Perry
The late Beverly Hills, 90210 and Riverdale actor guest-starred in Season 4’s “Minimal Loss,” playing Benjamin Cyrus, a cult leader who holds Prentiss (Paget Brewster) and Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) hostage.
Grant Show
Speaking of Aaron Spelling faves, this Melrose Place actor—more recently a star of Dynasty—played Colton Grant, another villainous cult leader, in Season 10’s “The Forever People.”
Michelle Trachtenberg
This alum of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl played Diane Turner, a stalker who abducts and kills Reid’s girlfriend Maeve (Beth Riesgraf) in Season 8’s “Zugzwang.”
Wil Wheaton
Long after his breakout role on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wheaton guest-starred as rapist and killer Floyd Hansen in Season 4’s “Paradise.”
Anton Yelchin
This late Huff actor played Nathan Harris, a troubled teen who draws a knife on a sex worker before turning the weapon on himself in Season 2’s “Sex, Birth, Death.”
