Favorite X-Files Guest Stars per Season
The X-Files had a lot of great guest stars, celebrity cameos, and other stunt casting throughout its original 9 season run. Some of these were famous faces before they joined the X-Files team for their roles, and some were fresh young actors about to make their unique mark on Hollywood. Here are some of my favorite guest appearances and cameos from the first 9 season of the X-Files, highlighting one per season in order.
Season One: Felicity Huffman in Ice
Long before her breakout role as Dana Whitaker in Sports Night, and before her star rose even further with her starring role on Desperate Housewives, and way before her award-winning turn in Transamerica, actress Felicity Huffman guest-starred in one of the X-Files' best episodes of its debut season: Ice. Huffman plays one of the scientists that accompanies Mulder and Scully as they investigate the murder-suicide at the Icy Cape, Alaska scientific outpost. Huffman had a solid guest performance in this classic X-Files story of suspense and horror.
Other notable guest stars in Season One: Brad Dourif in Beyond the Sea; Seth Green in Deep Throat; and Zeljko Ivanek in Roland.
Season Two: Tony Shalhoub in Soft Light
Tony Shalhoub had been working as an actor in films and television successfully since 1986 when he joined the X-Files for the season two episode Soft Light, where he played the lead "monster of the week", dark matter scientist Chester Ray Banton. Shalhoub's performance is solid work in this fine Vince Gilligan-directed episode. Shalhoub later went on to make a big splash as the lead character in the long-running series Monk and is fondly known by modern audiences for his recurring role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Other notable guest stars in Season Two: Dean Norris in F. Emasculata; CCH Pounder in Duane Barry; and Bradley Whitford in Firewalker.
Season Three: Peter Boyle in Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose
Season 3 of the X-Files is full of great guest stars, but Peter Boyle is easily my favorite. I remember first watching Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, first aired on October 13 (Chris Carter's birthday, as you surely know), 1995. I was excited to see the episode airing on that special day, and I was excited to see such a famous actor playing an important role in an episode that was clearly going to be a light one, based on the promos. The episode didn't disappoint and remains my all-time favorite episode to this day. And I'm so happy that Boyle, expertly playing a reluctant psychic, won an Emmy for this part -- the only Emmy Award of his career.
Other notable guest stars in Season Three: Jack Black and Giovanni Ribisi in D.P.O.; Lucy Liu and B.D. Wong in Hell Money; Ryan Reynolds in Syzygy; Charles Nelson Reilly, Jesse Ventura, and Alex Trebek in Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"; and J.T. Walsh in The List.
Season Four: Jodie Foster in Never Again
While Season Three was full of exciting guest stars, there are fewer to choose from in Season Four. But there was one huge Hollywood star in the episode Never Again, which featured a voice cameo by Jodie Foster. In the monster-of-the-week episode, Foster voices a tattoo on the episodes main guest star, Rodney Rowland.
Season Five: Richard Belzer in Unusual Suspects
Who doesn't love a good cross-over? Back when we all watched network television, it was pretty cool when a character from one network crossed onto a show on another network. That's what happened in the Season Five episode Unusual Suspects, when actor Richard Belzer, playing the character of Detective John Munch, made an awesome cross-over appearance. Belzer is famous for playing Munch in several different series as a regular and many more as a guest star -- on no less than five (!) different networks -- from 1993 to 2016. The episode Unusual Suspects is a Lone Gunman origin story that takes place in Baltimore, where Detective Munch was working.
Other notable guest stars in Season Five: Luke Wilson in Bad Blood; and Lili Taylor in Mind's Eye.
Season Six: Bryan Cranston in Drive
Drive writer Vince Gilligan cast busy character actor Bryan Cranston in this great episode from Season Six. Cranston later broke out with his role on the popular comedy series Malcolm in the Middle. Years later, when Gilligan was looking to cast the lead in his new dark comedy Breaking Bad, studio executives were skeptical of having Cranston play Walter White. Can you imagine? After seeing Cranston's great dramatic turn in Drive, they became convinced of the casting choice and television history was made.
Other notable guest stars in Season Six: Michael McKean and Nora Dunn in Dreamland; M. Emmet Walsh and Jesse L. Martin in The Unnatural; Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin in How the Ghosts Stole Christmas; and Bruce Campbell in Terms of Endearment.
Season Seven: Tea Leoni in Hollywood A.D.
This guest turn is just a cameo, but it's a super fun one. At the time of filming, Leoni was married to David Duchovny, who wrote and directed this funny, self-referential episode of Season Seven. Leoni played herself playing Agent Scully in a film-within-the-show scene at the end of this episode, opposite Garry Shandling playing himself playing Agent Mulder.
Other notable guest stars in Season Seven: Kathy Griffin in Fight Club; and Shia LaBeouf in The Goldberg Variation.
Season Eight: James Franco in Surekill
James Franco had a small part in this Season Eight episode, playing "Officer No. 2". Franco had been acting on television since 1997 when this 2001 episode was filmed. He was a regular in the cult series Freaks and Geeks and went on to receive acclaim for his role as James Dean in the Hollywood biopic of the same name.
Other notable guest stars in Season Eight: Danny Trejo in Redrum; Keith Szarabajka in Via Negativa; Ayre Gross in Salvage; Penny Johnson Jerald in Medusa; and Frances Fisher in Essence.
Season Nine: Aaron Paul in Lord of the Flies
Aaron Paul had only been acting for a couple of years when he was cast as a teen in a group of kids doing stunts for cable TV in Lord of the Flies. Paul played the leader of the group that was seriously plagued by flies. It would be a few years before Aaron Paul found his breakout role in Big Love, and then later achieved fame and acclaim playing Jessie Pinkman in Breaking Bad alongside fellow X-Files guest star alum Bryan Cranston.
Other notable guest stars in Season Nine: Jane Lynch in Lord of the Flies; Burt Reynolds in Improbable; and Michael Emerson in Sunshine Days.
Do you have different favorites? Did I miss any notable guest stars?
