Most people see A.J. Cook and immediately think of a beige FBI vest. It's understandable. When you play Jennifer "JJ" Jareau for nearly twenty years across Criminal Minds and its revival Criminal Minds: Evolution, you basically become the face of network procedurals. But if you think her career starts and ends with profiling serial killers, you're missing a massive chunk of why she's actually one of the most resilient actors in the business.
She's not just a TV staple. Honestly, she’s a survivor of the early 2000s teen horror boom, a former competitive dancer, and a director who is increasingly taking the reins behind the camera.
The Horror Roots and That Highway Crash
Long before she was a BAU legend, Cook was the "it girl" for a specific brand of early 2000s cinema. If you were alive in 2003, you remember the logs. You know exactly which ones I mean—the ones that flew off the truck in Final Destination 2. Cook played Kimberly Corman, the lead who has the premonition that traumatized an entire generation of drivers. It wasn’t just a "scream queen" role; she brought a weirdly grounded vulnerability to a movie that was essentially about creative ways to die.
But her filmography goes deeper than just mainstream slashers.
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- The Virgin Suicides (1999): This was her big break. She played Mary Lisbon in Sofia Coppola’s dreamlike cult classic. It’s a quiet, haunting performance that showed she had serious dramatic chops before she ever touched a script about "unsubs."
- Out Cold (2001): A total pivot. She played Jenny in this snowboarding comedy that has since become a nostalgic favorite for people who miss the Jackass era of humor.
- Ripper (2001): Back to horror. She played Molly Keller, a survivor of a massacre who studies serial killers. Sound familiar? It’s basically the dark, twisted precursor to her role as JJ.
Why A.J. Cook Movies and TV Shows Keep Us Hooked
The secret sauce of Cook’s longevity isn't just the shows themselves; it's the fact that she’s a Canadian-born actor who actually cares about the "human" side of the industry. She almost lost her career—or at least her most famous role—back in 2010.
Most fans remember the "budget cuts" scandal. CBS let her and Paget Brewster go, and the backlash was so fierce that the network had to cave. Thousands of letters and petitions forced them to bring her back. That doesn't happen unless an actor has built a genuine connection with the audience. In the 2024–2025 seasons of Criminal Minds: Evolution, we’ve seen her tackle "BAU Gate"—a storyline about AI deepfakes—that felt incredibly relevant to the real-world anxieties actors face today.
"When you don't resist life, beautiful things happen." — That’s a quote she’s lived by, especially after being declared legally blind in the second grade due to severe astigmatism. She didn't get her vision fully corrected until surgery in 2007, right in the middle of her early Criminal Minds run.
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The Evolution into Directing
Lately, the conversation around A.J. Cook movies and tv shows has shifted from her acting to her work in the director's chair. She isn't just showing up for hair and makeup anymore. She directed "Chameleon" in Season 14 and more recently the "Contagion" episode in Season 17 (2024).
She’s part of a growing trend of long-term series leads who take over the technical side of the production. It’s smart. It gives her a level of creative control that most actors who started in McDonald's commercials (her first job in 1997!) never get to see.
What Most People Get Wrong About Her Career
People assume she’s just been doing the same thing since 2005. They forget the "gap" years and the indie projects.
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- Tru Calling: She was a series regular as Lindsay Walker. If that show hadn't been cancelled too soon, we might never have gotten her as JJ.
- Higher Ground: She starred alongside a young Hayden Christensen. It was a gritty show about a school for at-risk teens, and it’s where she really honed her ability to play "broken but strong."
- Wer (2013): A found-footage werewolf movie. Yeah, she did that too. It’s actually better than you’d expect, mostly because she carries the emotional weight of the investigation.
- Back Fork (2019): She teamed up with her Criminal Minds "husband" Josh Stewart for this indie drama about the opioid crisis. It's a heavy, small-budget film that proves she still wants to do the "actor's actor" work.
The Personal Connection (Literally)
One of the coolest, and kind of weirdest, things about her current TV work is her family. Her real-life sons, Mekhai and Phoenix Andersen, play her on-screen sons, Henry and Michael LaMontagne. When you see JJ crying over her kids in the recent Season 18 episodes (which aired in 2025), those are real tears for her real children. It adds a layer of "human-quality" acting that you just don't get with child actors who are strangers to the lead.
Where to Start if You’re a New Fan
If you’ve only seen her on CBS at 9:00 PM, you’re only getting half the story. To really appreciate what she brings to the screen, you should follow this specific viewing path:
- Watch The Virgin Suicides first. See the range she had at 21.
- Check out Higher Ground. It's dated, sure, but her chemistry with the cast is the blueprint for her future success.
- Skip to Final Destination 2. It’s the peak of her "scream queen" era.
- Then hit the Evolution era of Criminal Minds. The acting in the later seasons (especially seasons 16-18) is much more nuanced and "prestige TV" than the early episodic stuff.
Basically, A.J. Cook has survived industry shifts, network firings, and the transition from film to streaming without losing her footing. She’s currently filming Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19, which is slated for a 2026 release.
Next Steps for Fans:
If you want to support her latest work, the best thing to do is catch up on the Evolution seasons on Paramount+. Pay close attention to the episodes she directs; the visual style is often distinct from the rest of the series, leaning into more claustrophobic, psychological framing. You can also look for her 2019 film Back Fork on VOD services for a look at her more grounded, indie side.