Criminal Minds ran for 15 seasons, not including its successor Criminal Minds: Evolution and two spin-offs Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour, and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. With 324 episodes, Criminal Minds was bound to have some awesome guest stars. Now because there are so many, I have broken it into three categories: horror legends, recurring, and everyone else.

Let’s go!

Horror Legends

1) Robert Englund

Episode: Heathridge Manor

Season 7, Episode 19

Role: Detective Gassner

2) Tim Curry

Episode: Our Darkest Hour / The Longest Night

Season 5, Episode 23 / Season 6, Episode 1

Role: Billy Flynn

3) Brad Dourif

Episode: The Lesson

Season 8, Episode 10

Role: Adam Rain

4) Tobin Bell

Episode: Blood Relations

Season 9, Episode 20

Role: Malachi Lee

5) Matthew Lillard

Episode: The Apprenticeship

Season 8, Episode 6

Role: David Roy Turner

6) Anton Yelchin

Episode:  Sex, Birth, Death

Season 2, Episode 11

Role: Nathan Harris

7) Evan Peters

Episode: Mosley Lane

Season 7, Episode 19

Role: Charlie Hillridge

8) Finn Wittrock

Episode: True Genius

Seasons 7, Episode 11

Role: Harvey Morell

9) Adrienne Barbeau & Bill Oberst, Jr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Episode: Blood Relations

Seasons 9, Episode 20

Roles: Cissy Howard & Unsub

10) Kyle Gallner

Episode: Heathridge Manor

Season 7, Episode 19

Role: James Heathridge

11) Jamie Kennedy

Episode: Lucky

Seasons 3, Episode 8

Role: Floyd Feylinn Ferell

Recurring Guest Stars

1) C. Thomas Howell

Appears in Seasons: 4,5,9, and 15

Role: George Foyet

2) Aubrey Plaza

Appears in Seasons: 11, 12, and 15.

Role: Cat Adams

3) Jane Lynch

Appears throughout the seasons

Role: Diana Reid

4) Meredith Monroe

Appears in Seasons: 1, 2, 3, 5, and 9

Role: Haley Hotchner

5) Josh Stewart

Appears throughout the series

Role: Will LaMontagne Jr

6) Jayne Atkinson

Appears in Seasons: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 15

Role: Erin Strauss

Other Guest Stars

1)  Jackson Rathbone

Episode: Conflicted

Season 4, Episode 20

Role: Adam Jackson

2) Ariel Winter

Episode: Seven Seconds

Season 3, Episode 5

Role: Katie Jacobs

3) Will Wheaton

Episode: Paradise

Season 4, Episode 4

Role: Floyd Hansen

4) Brian Baumgartner

Episode: Fatal

Season 9, Episode 12

Role: Bill Harding

5) Keith Carradine

Episodes: No Way Out / No Way Out Pt.2

Season 2, Episode 13 and 23

Role: Frank Breitkopf

6) Danny Glover

Episode: Derek

Season 11, Episode 16

Role: Hank Morgan

7) Adrianne Palicki

Episode: The Thirteenth Step

Season 6, Episode 13

Role: Sydney Manning

8) Aaron Paul

Episode: The Popular Kids

Season 1 Episode 10

Role: Mike Zizzo

9) Frankie Muniz

Episode: True Night

Season 3, Episode 10

Role: Jonny McHale

10) Elle Fanning

Episode: The Boogyman

Season 2 Episode 6/ Season 2 Episode 23

Role: Tracy Belle

11) Cameron Monaghan

Episode: The Boogyman

Season 2, Episode 6

Role: Jeffery Charles

12) James Van Der Beek

Episode: The Big Game and Revelations

Season 2, Episode 13 and 14

Role: Tobias Hankel

13) Luke Perry

Episode: Minimal Loss

Season 4, Episode 3

Role: Benjamin Cyrus

14) Michelle Trachtenberg

Episode: Zugwang

Season 8, Episode 12

Role: Diane Turner

15) Mark Hamill

Episode: Brothers Hotchner and The Replicator

Seasons 8, Episode 23 and 24

Role: John Curtis

In Conclusion

Criminal Minds has some great guest stars. Yes, I know that’s not every guest star who ever appeared on the show, but these were the ones that surprised me the most. Also if you have a thing for Criminal Minds and lists, check out our list of The 12 Most Unsettling Episodes of Criminal Minds here!