"The X-Files" is best known for its leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. But a lot of famous actors and actresses have appeared on the show over the years. Here a re a few of the big ones you probably don't remember.
Jodie Foster Never would have guessed this one, but she was the voice of the possessed tattoo in fourth season’s “Never Again.” Fun fact, it was Foster’s academy award winning role as Clarisse Starling in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ that was the inspiration for Scully.
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Bryan Cranston This was the role that convinced network executives that the father from ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ could be Walter White. Season six’s “Drive” was written by Vince Gilligan, who went on to create Breaking Bad.
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Danny Trejo Danny’s always playing a guy with knives. He appeared in season 8’s “Redrum.”
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Giovanni Ribisi In one of his more odd roles, Giovanni played a less than average kid who could control lighting in season three’s “D.P.O.”
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Jack Black Also in season three’s “D.P.O”… was one half of Tenacious D as the lead characters friend and arcade owner.
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Dean Norris In season two’s “F. Emasculata,” Dean played a federal marshall, and also captured the attention of Vince Gilligan.
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Alex Trebek and Jesse Ventura These two played men in black in season three’s “Josie Chung’s From Outer Space.” Wonder if that’ll ever be a Jeopardy question?
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Michael Buble This one required some precise use of the pause button, but one of his only acting roles was in season 3’s “Piper Maru.”
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Tyler Labine Before he was on Breaker High or Sons of Tuscon, Tyler was a stoner on several X-Files episodes in season 3, including “Quagmire” and “War of the Coprophages.”
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Kurtwood Smith Despite not calling anyone a dumbass, Red Foreman himself, played an old mentor to Mulder in season three’s “Grotesque.”
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Don Swayze Brother of Patrick, better known for his roles in Sons of Anarchy and True Blood, appeared in the season 9 episode, “Hellbound.”
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Xander Berkley Berkley’s been in a lot of projects over the years, but you’ll never forget his death scenes in both Terminator 2 and on 24. He was in season one’s “Ice”
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Felicity Huffman Also in season one’s “Ice,” this was one of her first mainstream roles.
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Scott Wilson Before he was Herschel on the Walking Dead, Wilson played a pastor during season 7.
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Tobin Bell Jigsaw himself, played a test smoker with some eerie powers in the episode “Brand X” during the seventh season.
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Michael Emerson Before he was Zepp in the first Saw film, or Ben Linus or Harold Finch on Person of Interest, he was just a guy living in a Brady Bunch house in season nine.
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Jeff Kober You might remember this guy from the Walking Dead, or 24, but he played the memorable character of Bear in season one’s “Ice.”
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Dave Grohl Another one that needed the pause button, but Dave makes a ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” appearance in the FBI Headquarters in the episode “Pusher.”
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Jewel Staite Firefly fans rejoice, it’s Jewel! An unfortunate kidnapping victim in the season three episode “Oubliette.”
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Tony Shaloub Season two’s “Soft Light” was one of the highlights of the season, due to Tony’s performance.
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Shawnee Smith If you’re a fan of the Saw films or Becker, you’ll recognize Shawnee in season one’s “Ice.”
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Jesse L. Martin Before he was killing it on The Flash and Law and Order, Jesse played an alien disguised as a black baseball player in the ’60s, in season six’s “The Unnatural.”
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Lucy Liu We were surprised to see Lucy in this episode (but she was dating David Duchovny at the time), in season three, in an episode called “Hell Money.”
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B.D. Wong In that same season 3 episode as Lucy Liu was B.D. Wong, as a police detective, well before he got himself well known with Jurassic Park/Word, Law and Order and Oz.
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Eddie Kaye Thomas Remember ‘sh*tbrick’ from American Pie? He’s gone on to do other things, but he made an appearance in season’s 7 and 8. Fun fact, he’s now on the tv show Scorpion with another X-Files alumnus – Robert Patrick.
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David Faustino Bud Bundy himself made an appearance in the second last episode of the show called “Sunshine Days,” and ends up with a unique death.
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Joe Morton Another T2 alumnus, Joe acted alongside Robert Patrick in season 8’s “Redrum.”
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Bruce Campbell Can’t get enough of this guy. Did you know he was in a season six episode “Terms of Endearment” as a demon who’s trying to have a normal baby.
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R. Lee Ermy Known for always playing a drill sergeant, this time he was a priest, faking stigmata in season three’s “Revelations.”
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Ryan Reynolds Season 3’s “Syzygy” had him play a football player named Boom, who followed the wrong girls into the woods.
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Luke Wilson One of the funnier episodes of season five, “Bad Blood” had Mulder and Scully remembering a case very differently.
It also had the redheaded kid from The Sandlot in it.
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Shia Labeouf Before ‘Even Stevens’ and the Transformers, Shia played a sweet sick kid in season seven’s “The Goldberg Variation.”
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Will Sasso As a big fan of MadTV and HIMYM, it was great to see Sasso on the X-Files in season 7’s “Je Souhaite.”
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Burt Reynolds In recent interviews, Burt doesn’t remember this guest role, but he played a God-like character in season 9’s “Improbable.’