The Criminal Minds Actor You Didn't Know Played Simon In Alvin And The Chipmunks

When an actor stars in a long-running television series, it's easy to associate them with just that character. After all, a character who's appeared in dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of entertainment is far more likely to leave an indelible mark on audiences than a character who only exists within a two-hour movie. It's why over a decade after "Breaking Bad" ended, Bryan Cranston is still synonymous with Walter White.

That goes double for the main cast members of "Criminal Minds." The show had over 300 episodes to its name, with many actors appearing in most, if not all, of them. However, they all have storied careers outside of the police procedural. Joe Mantegna may be known to millions as David Rossi, but you've undoubtedly heard him far more often as iconic Springfield mobster Fat Tony on "The Simpsons." And while Spencer Reid might be Matthew Gray Gubler's most famous role to date, he has an extensive filmography outside of that. He's starred in the likes of "500 Days of Summer" and "Horse Girl," but he's also part of a franchise you may have never realized before until now.

You'd be forgiven if you didn't realize until now Matthew Gray Gubler played Simon in the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" films. After all, his voice is significantly altered in order to attain the high-pitched squeaking that's become synonymous with the titular rodents. However, that's undoubtedly Gubler in the role of Simon alongside Justin Long and Jesse McCartney as Alvin and Theodore, respectively.

He originated the role in the original 2007 movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks" as well as its three sequels — "The Squeakquel," "Chipwrecked," and "The Road Chip." It was a distinct honor for Gubler to land the part, as he said in a 2010 interview to Page Six: "The minute I got the phone call, it was like 'Holy heck yes!' Actors talk about dreaming of playing Othello, but for me, it's Simon. It's the biggest deal to me — even the older records from the '50s, they have my heart, and to be a part of that legend is mind-blowing."

Gubler's been out of the "Chipmunks" franchise since the last installment in 2015, and with "Criminal Minds" ending in 2020, the sky's the limit for what Gubler can accomplish now.