The 15 Best Criminal Minds Guest Stars Ranked

Famous for his role as Dawson Leery on the teen drama "Dawson's Creek," James Van Der Beek has continued to work steadily in television through the years, appearing in the main cast of "Don't Trust the B—- in Apartment 23," "CSI: Cyber," and "Pose." He has also appeared as a guest star on a number of TV shows like "Ugly Betty," "How I Met Your Mother," "Medium," and "Modern Family," just to name a few. But Van Der Beek's two-episode appearance as Tobias Hankel in "Criminal Minds" Season 2 would prove one of the creepiest performances of his career, as well as one of the more memorable unsubs to cross paths with the BAU.

After suffering from severe religious abuse as a child that left him branded with a hot poker and nearly drowned by his father, Hankel becomes hooked on a pretty intense homemade drug cocktail. The trauma and drug use cause his personality to split into three, one of whom considers himself the vengeful angel Raphael. Hankel's dueling personalities, theological knowledge, and hacking skills converge dangerously. While Reid eventually takes him down, it's only after Hankel kidnaps him, tortures him, and gets him strung out on Dilaudid, leaving the brainy profiler with lasting trauma that would haunt him throughout his BAU career.

Jason Alexander is most recognizable for the role of George Constanza on "Seinfeld." As Jerry Seinfeld's good friend from childhood, the balding Costanza is one of television's more neurotic and surprisingly relatable characters, despite his tendency to fly off the handle. Alexander's over-the-top performance style was perfect for his portrayal of the frustrating George. 

The same hammy approach to acting made for a pretty weird villain when the actor guest starred on "Criminal Minds" in the Season 4 episode "Masterpiece." Sporting a silky sterling mane straight out of a L'Oréal ad, Alexander's Fibonacci-obsessed serial killer Henry Grace presents Reid and Rossi with the ultimate scavenger hunt while dropping pretentious lines about existentialism and light bulbs. One of the great things about "Criminal Minds" is that the show doesn't take itself too seriously, which is exactly what makes Alexander's ridiculous performance bad in all the right ways.

The stunning Tricia Helfer is best known for her portrayal of the various Cylon Model Six copies on "Battlestar Galactica." Dubbed "The Woman as Machine" in Ronald D. Moore's series bible, the challenging role found Helfer portraying at least seven distinct versions of the model as they struggled to overcome their programming and find their humanity –- or at least the closest facsimile thereof. Since helping the Twelve Colonies find their way to ancient Earth, Helfer has continued to guest star in primetime dramas, appearing on "Burn Notice," "The Librarians," "Supernatural," and "Falling Skies," among other great shows. 

In 2012, she appeared in the recurring role of serial bomber Izzy Rogers on "Criminal Minds." After years of working as an assassin, Rogers and her anarchist lover decided to become terrorists, although she was only ever in it for the thrill of watching others suffer. With her black wig and femme fatale energy, Helfer's character arc would have made John Cavil proud.

Mark Hamill has acted in plenty of roles over the years, but he's most famous for his legendary role as Luke Skywalker in the original "Star Wars" series. Throughout his prolific career, the actor has appeared on stage, in films, and on television as well as racking up a long list of credits as a voice actor and audiobook narrator. Although he played the ultimate good guy in the "Star Wars" saga, Hamill has proven himself more than comfortable slipping into a villain suit over the years whether he's playing the Joker in a "Batman: The Animated Series" or Chucky in the 2019 "Child's Play" remake. 

Hamill appeared as FBI special agent John Curtis on Season 8 of "Criminal Minds." After a series of professional setbacks, Curtis became a "wound collector," blaming others he perceived as wronging him and taking on the persona of the Replicator, a serial killer who mimicked the style of previous BAU cases. Although fans hated the end of the story in the Season 8 episode "The Replicator," they praised Hamill's performance. As Redditor u/Insipidwoodchipper put it, "Mark Hamill is great, and they gave him nothing to work with."

Although most folks recognize Aaron Paul as the scrubby meth cook Jesse Pinkman on the award-winning AMC series "Breaking Bad," he has worked on loads of other dramatic series including "Beverly Hills, 90210," "The X-Files," "NYPD Blue," "Veronica Mars," and "Bones," just to name a few. Two of his more notable roles find the actor in a world where religion is at odds with the world around it, with "Big Love" exploring the world of Mormon and fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints and "The Path" delving into the fictional cult of Meyerism. 

In Paul's earlier performance on "Criminal Minds," the actor played small town pseudo-cult leader Mike Zizzo. Armed with a serious smoky eye look and a facial hair situation straight out of Hot Topic, Zizzo led a band of misunderstood misfits called the Lords of Destruction. Despite being framed by a real killer and having a vague interest in the occult, though, the Lords of Destruction are mostly into jamming out to metal and dissing mainstream religion than any kind of actual cult activity.

As a child actor in the 1980s, Wil Wheaton was best known for his role as Gordie Lachance in "Stand By Me" and Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." While Wheaton still acts in his adult years, he has also developed a reputation as a professional geek culture enthusiast, hosting his web series "TableTop" and writing extensively about pop culture and the gaming community. He also has an extensive list of audiobook narrations. 

As "Criminal Minds" Season 4 unsub Floyd Hansen, he played a Nevada hotel operator with a dark side. A malignant misogynist and sexual sadist, Hansen holds couples captive and tortures his female victims. Many fans found the episode, which also guest stars Robyn Lively, to be highly underappreciated, with one Reddit user even calling it "the most underrated episode" of the series. It's definitely worth the watch to see such a notoriously nice actor portray a twisted unsub so convincingly.

After getting her start as a child actor on Disney's "Kids Incorporated" and the peak '90s YA drama series "Party of Five," Jennifer Love Hewitt has continued to add notable film and television credits to her resume over the years. In 1998, Hewitt starred as Julie in "I Know What You Did Last Summer," and she played Liz in the "Garfield" live-action films. From 2005 through 2010, Hewitt played the small-town medium Melinda in "Ghost Whisperer," and she joined the cast of "9-1-1" as Buck's sister Maddie, who would eventually start a family with Buck's good friend and coworker Chimney. 

Before joining the cast of "9-1-1," Hewitt spent a season working on "Criminal Minds" as profiler and former undercover agent Kate Callahan, who eventually leaves the BAU to spend more time with her family. Over the years, the BAU saw a few profilers cycle in and out of the team, and Callahan was one of the more memorable among them thanks to the charm, warmth, and humanity that Hewitt brings to every character she plays.

Before getting her career as a notoriously deadpan improv and sketch comedian off the ground, Aubrey Plaza once worked as an NBC page, telling Elle, "I wasn't outright fired, but it was suggested that I leave" after an off-color joke and a clash with corporate culture. In 2006, she revisited that job on "30 Rock." Plaza went on to play the iconic role of apathetic intern April Ludgate on "Parks and Recreation" and has also appeared on episodes of "Portlandia," "Drunk History," and "NTSF:SD:SUV::" over the years. 

However, Plaza is more than capable as a dramatic actor, something she had a chance to demonstrate in her four-episode appearance on "Criminal Minds" as hitwoman and serial killer Cat Adams, who turns the tables on Reid after the BAU seemingly lures her into an undercover operation. Fans of Plaza and the show went wild over her performance, with many asserting that she is one of the best unsubs in the series and praising the chemistry between Cat and Reid. As Redditor u/mccabebabe put it, "I find myself wishing they'd had some way to redeem her character so they could capitalise on the obvious attraction between the two."