Who did Amber Heard play in Criminal Minds? List of episodes and character explored 

Amber Heard appeared in an episode of Criminal Minds in its first season (Image via Getty Images/Lawrence Busacca)
Amber Heard appeared in an episode of Criminal Minds in its first season (Image via Getty Images/Lawrence Busacca)

American actress Amber Heard rose to fame due to her high-profile marriage to Johnny Depp before being recognized worldwide for her role in Aquaman.

During her brief marriage to the actor, Heard frequently made headlines for their alleged marital problems. Five years after their public divorce, the two are embroiled in a nasty legal fight where the they have sued each other for millions.

Long before she met Depp, Heard had tiny roles in films and TV shows. In a 2006 episode of the hit TV show Criminal Minds, she played a brief role that was often overlooked by viewers.


Amber Heard appeared in one episode of Criminal Minds

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Criminal Minds premiered on CBS in 2005 and quickly became one of the network's most popular crime dramas. The show features a group of FBI profilers who are entrusted with tracking down various serial killers.

For the first two seasons, the series was led by Homeland actor Mandy Patinkin, who notably left the show suddenly after grappling with the amount of brutality it showed. Amber Heard, who first appeared in an episode titled Somebody's Watching in Season One, was just 20 years old when she started her career.

Somebody's Watching aired in 2006, giving Amber Heard one of her first roles after films like Friday Night Lights. In the episode, Gideon (Jason Patinkin) and Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) are consulting on a murder case in Los Angeles, and Reid is introduced to an actress called Lila Archer (Heard).

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Lila Archer, a Juilliard School alumnus, works as a server as she waits for her big break in the entertainment world.

The character's life is flipped upside down after gaining a position on a TV programme when her friend and temporary roommate, Maggie Lowe (Katheryn Winnick), starts following her. Maggie is accused in the murder of Lila's manager Michael Ryer, and later in the episode, Lowe threatens Archer with a pistol.

Lila and Spencer Reid develop a romance after meeting at an art gallery, but over the course of the episode, it is clear that nothing will happen between them.

Although Lila's name is briefly mentioned to Reid in Season 4's episode Catching Out and Season 5's The Performer, Amber Heard did not physically appear on the show. Heard later went onto appear in films like Zombieland and Pineapple Express, which were her breakout roles.


Depp married Heard in 2015, but they split in May 2016 after Heard filed for divorce and sought a domestic violence restraining order against him. Depp denied her charges of abuse, and the former couple settled out of court in August 2016.

Depp is suing Amber Heard for defamation after an op-ed she wrote in December 2018 about coming out with abuse allegations, although she did not name him. Heard has responded by suing him for slander and $100 million in damages. She claims Depp launched an internet effort to disprove her complaints as "fake" and a "hoax," harming her reputation and career.

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Edited by Saman