Fashion Looks of A.J. Cook

A.J. Cook born Alexander Joy, has been entertaining audiences from an early age. She began her entertainment career in her hometown, Oshawa, Ontario

Born on July 22, 1978, in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, to Mike and Sandra Cook, Andrea Joy Cook is one of the rising young stars in Hollywood today. Though she didn't begin acting until age 17, Miss Cook has appeared in nearly a dozen films and several TV shows before the age of twenty-five. Before taking up acting.A.J. Cook, born Alexander Joy, has been entertaining audiences from an early age. She began her entertainment career in her hometown, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada as a competitive dancer and dance teacher.

A.J.'s acting career began when she was 17 years old. Her first major role was in "The Virgin Suicides". Since then, this beautiful starlet has taken Hollywood by storm, starring in films such as "Higher Ground" and "Final Destination 2" as well as several guest star appearances on television. A.J.'s new film, "Night Skies", will be released this summer.Every week, editors Adam Bryant and Natalie Abrams satisfy your need for TV scoop. Please send all questions to mega_scoop@tvguide.com.

Got any scoop on Meredith and Derek on Grey's Anatomy? — Amanda
NATALIE: Losing Zola will have serious ramifications on their marriage. "The partnership they've created after all these years is in jeopardy," executive producer Shonda Rhimes tells us. "When you lose a child, that could be possibly more devastating than almost anything else. The two of them are deeply in love with Zola and want that to work. They're also going to be trying to salvage and sustain their marriage."

I really liked Ted Danson on CSI. When will learn more about his character's background? — Randy
ADAM: Every episode is a discovery! In the next episode, we'll learn that.Now that A.J. Cook is back on Criminal Minds, she has one goal: to get beat up.

"I have volunteered to get beat up! I want to get into a really bad fight this year," she tells TVGuide.com. "I'm like, 'Everyone else has gotten the crap beaten out of them! It's JJ's turn!'"

Fall Preview: Get scoop on your favorite returning shows

She may get her wish now that JJ is a full-fledged profiler since she returned to the BAU after a year in the State Department. Though JJ said way back in Season 2 that she had no plans to take extra classes to graduate from media liaison to profiler, Cook believes the promotion is "organic" and in line with JJ's story — not to mention her own story off-screen.The opener picked up three months after the finale at a Senate hearing, where the BAU was grilled about its rogue operation pursuing Prentiss' IRA nemesis Ian Doyle (Timothy V. Murphy). After Doyle's son, Declan (Conrad Bluth), was kidnapped — but not by Doyle — Prentiss (Brewster) came out of hiding to help the team, which now finds JJ (Cook) as a profiler, solve the case.
Tonight's episode of Criminal Minds—the second of the new season—sees the departure of series costar A.J. Cook after it was revealed earlier this summer her contract would not be renewed.

Kirsten Vangsness, who plays Penelope Garcia on the CBS procedural, has made no secret that she's not happy with the firing…

"You know, it's like we had seven arms and somebody cut one of the arms off and we're walking around with this phantom limb," Vangsness told me. "And that's the honest to God truth. That's what it feels like."

Deadline TV reported earlier today that Star Trek actress Rachel Nichols was said to be replacing Cook, but she apparently will only appear on three episodes as a new FBI cadet.

"We're still sort of hungover from her leaving," Vangsness said. "But there's this point where you're like, 'OK, she's gone and she's going to rise like a phoenix and it's going to be great.' You can't keep fighting it. But it's weird when it's like this person is just gone and the nature of the network beast is almost like, 'They don't exist. Now we act like that never happened.' "

A.J. Cook grew up in Toronto, Canada. At the age of 4, she began taking ballet, tap and jazz lessons. Her first acting job was in a McDonald's commercial. By age 19, she had landed a guest role on the series Goosebumps and in two TV movies, In His Father's Shoes and Elvis Meets Nixon. Her big break came in 1999 when she was cast in The Virgin Suicides. Later that year, she won a spot on Higher Ground, but that was cancelled in 2000. Her feature film credits include: Out Cold, The House Next Door, and Final Destination 2. She is married to Nathan Anderson and lives in Los Angeles, California.