Help shape these rankings by voting on this list of 32 Stars Who Were On 'The X-Files' Before They Were Famous
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson weren't the only celebrities on The X-Files, but many guest actors just weren't celebrities yet. The X-Files let fans join Mulder and Scully in the chase for conspiracies, ghosts, and aliens for much of the '90s. Many of the characters they ran into were played by people who would later become famous. The show's helped pave the way for many future stars, as X-Files cameos from future stars were plentiful.
With 10 seasons, including 2016 reboot, X-Files episodes provided plenty of chances for stars to show up as guests. In fact, you'll find household names such as Ryan Reynolds, Jack Black, Brian Cranston, Aaron Paul, and Jane Lynch all appeared on the show. Some of the stars who appeared on the show even owe their careers to their appearance.
The truth is out there, but the 33 stars who made appearances on The X-Files before they hit it big, they're below.
Everyone's favorite raucous comedian and singer shows up in the episode "D.P.O." In his X-Files guest appearance, Black plays the best friend of a strange young man who can bend lightning to his will.
You may know him best as the neurotic detective Monk, but it turns out Tony Shalhoub has a shadowy past, having played the creepy Dr. Chester Ray Banton in the episode, "Soft Light."
Luke Wilson helps Mulder and Scully investigate what might very well be a vampire in Season 5's "Bad Blood," playing "aw-shucks" simplicity years before Idiocracy.
A desperate man breaks the law and races through the desert to save his wife. It almost sounds like an episode of Breaking Bad, but it's actually The X-Files episode "Drive," which features a young Bryan Cranston.
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Aaron Paul
Photo: FOX
In the episode "Lord of the Flies," a teenage Aaron Paul hosts his own version of Jackass aptly called Dumbass. But when one of his stunts get someone killed, he winds up in front of Doggett and Scully.
Back when everyone's favorite Merc with a Mouth still had a baby face, Ryan Reynolds appeared in an X-Files episode called "Syzygy," about the mysterious death of a high school basketball player.
