A. J. Cook

Andrea Joy Cook[1] (born July 22, 1978),[2] known professionally as A. J. Cook, is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau on the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds (2005-2020). Cook has also appeared in The Virgin Suicides (1999), Higher Ground (2000), Ripper (2001), Out Cold (2001), Final Destination 2 (2003), and Tru Calling (2003–2004).

A. J. Cook
Cook at the 2012 Fan Expo Canada
Born	Andrea Joy Cook July 22, 1978 Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian American
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Nathan Andersen ​ (m. 2001)​
Children	2

Early life

Cook was born in Oshawa, Ontario. She spent most of her life growing up in nearby Whitby, where she attended Anderson Collegiate Vocational Institute. She has three siblings: Nathan, Paul, and Angela. Cook was declared legally blind in the second grade because of severe astigmatism, but wore contacts and thick glasses to correct her vision. In 2007 she underwent surgery during which a lens implant corrected the impairment.[3] A dancer from age four,[4] Cook began taking jazz, tap and ballet lessons. She danced competitively for many years, before deciding at the age of 16 that she wanted to try acting. Cook also taught dance when she was younger and has stated that if she hadn't become an actress, she would most likely have set up a small dance studio somewhere. In an interview, she said that she still tap dances.

Career

Cook at the 2010 National Memorial Day Concert

Cook's first job was in a McDonald's commercial in 1997. She graduated to series work with a guest role on the television series Goosebumps, and parts in two television movies, In His Father's Shoes and Elvis Meets Nixon. Cook launched her feature film career as one of five suicidal Lisbon sisters in 1999's The Virgin Suicides. Also that year, she took a starring role in the TV series Higher Ground, in which Cook played Shelby Merrick, a teenage girl dealing with abuse and heartache at a wilderness school for struggling kids. Higher Ground lasted one season, ending with a romance between Shelby and Hayden Christensen's character, Scott.

After Higher Ground, Cook appeared in the 2000 TV movie The Spiral Staircase (alongside Higher Ground alum Kandyse McClure), and then captured leading roles in several films, including Out Cold (as Jason London's love interest), Ripper, I'm Reed Fish, and Final Destination 2. In 2003, Cook guest starred in Dead Like Me. She was also in season one of Tru Calling as Lindsay Walker.

Since September 2005, she has starred as Jennifer "J.J." Jareau in the CBS drama Criminal Minds. On June 14, 2010, it was announced that her contract option would not be picked up for season six as a series regular reportedly due to budget cuts on the show,[5] but she returned for two episodes to wrap up her character's storyline due to thousands of letters and petitions written to the show's producers.[6] She also returned for one episode for the departure of Paget Brewster from the series.[7] On April 16, 2011, it was reported that she had signed to reappear for two more seasons of the show.[8] Cook would continue to appear in the series until it ended in 2020 after 15 seasons.

Other ventures

In 2013, it was announced she was hired as a spokeswoman for Proactiv.[9] She appeared in the January/February 2014 issue of Maxim magazine.[10] She was ranked at 88 on the Maxim Hot 100 2014 list.[11] She was the Grand Marshal for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia on April 3, 2016.[12]

Personal life

Cook is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,[13] but does not limit her acting solely to roles reflecting her beliefs.[14] On August 3, 2001, she married her long-time boyfriend, Nathan Andersen. The two met in a film class at Utah Valley University, and she later moved to Salt Lake City, Utah[15] to be with him. They reside in Los Angeles, California with their two sons.[4]

In September 2008, their first son Mekhai Allan was born.[16][17] He makes a brief appearance as Henry LaMontagne in an episode of Criminal Minds, when Cook's character is buying children's medicine from a pharmacy.[18] He reprised the role in the two-hour season seven finale in 2012 and several other episodes throughout the series. The couple's second son, Phoenix Sky, was born in July 2015. He also appeared in Criminal Minds as JJ's second son, Michael.[19]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Laserhawk	Pretty Girl #1
1999	The Virgin Suicides	Mary Lisbon
	Teen Sorcery	Dawn	Direct-to-video
2001	Ripper	Molly Keller
	Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell	Diana Collins	Direct-to-video
	Out Cold	Jenny
2002	The House Next Door	Lori Peterson
2003	Final Destination 2	Kimberly Corman
2006	I'm Reed Fish	Theresa
2007	Night Skies	Lilly
2008	Misconceptions	Miranda Bliss
2010	Mother's Day	Vicky Rice
2012	Least Among Saints	Cheryl
2013	Wer	Kate Moore
2019	Back Fork	Nida

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Elvis Meets Nixon	Hippie chick	TV film
	In His Father's Shoes	Lisa	TV film
	Goosebumps	Kim	Episode: "Don't Wake Mummy"
	Psi Factor	Jill Starling	Episode: "Second Sight/Chocolate Soldier"
1998	Psi Factor	Lee Mason	Episode: "Hell Week"
1999	Blue Moon	Alison	TV film
2000	The Spiral Staircase	Local Girl	TV film
	Higher Ground	Shelby Merrick	Main role
	First Wave	Lindsay Tilden	Episode: "The Flight of Francis Jeffries"
2003	Dead Like Me	Charlotte	Episode: "Sunday Mornings"
2003–2004	Tru Calling	Lindsay Walker	Main role in Season 1; 20 episodes
2005	Bloodsuckers	Fiona	TV film
2005–2020	Criminal Minds	Jennifer Jareau	Main role in seasons 1–5, 7–15; recurring in season 6
2006	Vanished	Hope	TV film
2011	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Dr. Debbie Shields	Episode: "Mask"
	Bringing Ashley Home	Libba	TV film

Director

Year	Title	Note
2019	Criminal Minds	Episode: "Chameleon"

References

1. Sean Daly (2003-02-01). "Whitby star reaches her Destination; Career, love life on roll Teen flick pure fun". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
2. "Empire". Empire. 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
3. Cartel, Mari (2011-10-05). "A.J. Cook Seeing 'Criminal Minds' Clearer Thanks to a Medical Procedure". healthbistro.lifescript.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
4. Braun, Liz (January 31, 2003). "A.J. Cook's career starting to sizzle". jam.canoe.ca. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
5. Ausiello, Michael (June 14, 2010). "Breaking: 'Criminal Minds' drops A.J. Cook". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
6. Ausiello, Michael (June 25, 2010). "'Criminal Minds' update: Cook and Brewster returning – but for how long?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
7. "A.J. Cook Returns to 'Criminal Minds' for Paget Brewster's Final Episode". Screen Rant. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
8. Ng, Philiana (2011-04-16). "A.J. Cook Returning to CBS' 'Criminal Minds'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
9. "AJ Cook for proactiv". Twitter. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
10. "AJ cook- maxim magazine". Retrieved May 7, 2014.
11. "Hot 100 - Maxim". Maxim. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
12. "Criminal Minds Star AJ Cook To Serve As Grand Marshal For STP 500". Martinsville Speedway. April 3, 2016.
13. Pierce, Scott (April 3, 2015). "From Philo to Donny – 22 Mormons who made their mark on TV". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
14. 2009 radio interview with A. J. Cook. Published on A. J. Cook's channel on YouTube.
15. The Arrow (April 21, 2002). "INT: A.J. Cook". Joblo presents Arrow in the Head. Archived from the original on 2012-02-20. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
16. "A. J. Cook Welcomes Son Mekhai Allan". People. Archived from the original on 2009-06-21. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
17. Wheat, Alynda (March 24, 2008). "Spring TV preview: Criminal Minds". Entertainment Weekly. New York City: Meredith Corporation.
18. Marsi, Steve (September 19, 2011). "Exclusive: A.J. Cook Previews Criminal Minds "Season for the Fans"". TVFanatic.com. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
19. Leon, Anya; Michaud, Sarah (July 23, 2015). "A.J. Cook Welcomes Son Phoenix Sky". People.

External links

• A. J. Cook at IMDb
• A. J. Cook at TV Guide
• A. J. Cook Bio at CBS — Criminal Minds