{
  "id": 15532866,
  "title": "Criminal Minds Star A. J. Cook's Breakout Role Was On A TV Drama With Hayden Christensen",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/criminal-minds-star-a-j-cooks-breakout-role-was-on-a-tv-drama-with",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-19T01:12:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TVLine",
    "slug": "tvline",
    "url": "https://www.tvline.com/2287116/criminal-minds-aj-cook-tv-breakout-role-drama-hayden-christiansen-higher-ground/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A.J. Cook, best known for her role as Jennifer Jareau in Criminal Minds, has had a long career in television. Before her breakout role on Criminal Minds, she starred in the TV drama Higher Ground alongside Star Wars actor Hayden Christensen. The show, which aired in 2000, followed the lives of a group of at-risk teenagers at Mount Horizon High School. Cook's character, Shelby Merrick, was a student at the school, having been admitted due to her history with drugs. She had a romantic relationship with Scott Barringer, played by Christensen, who was a former football star and a student at the school. However, their relationship did not last long. The show was canceled after Disney bought the Fox Family Channel and renamed it to ABC Family. Despite this, the two actors had previously worked together in the 1999 film The Virgin Suicides, where Cook played Mary Lisbon and Christensen played Jake Hill Conley, an admirer of the Lisbon sisters. In the film, their characters did not share a romantic relationship, unlike in Higher Ground where Cook's Shelby and Christensen's Scott were romantically involved.",
  "summary": "Didn't know about Criminal Minds' Star Wars connection, did you? The fact is that Darth Vader and Jennifer Jareau used to hang out together.",
  "key_points": [
    "A.J. Cook starred in Higher Ground with Hayden Christensen.",
    "Higher Ground aired in 2000, focusing on at-risk teenagers.",
    "Cook's Shelby had a romantic relationship with Christensen's Scott."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The shared history between Cook and Christensen highlights how early career collaborations in both film and television can precede long-term success in major procedural dramas.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}