8. Joe Mantegna
Besides having a name that causes people to perpetually confuse him for Joe Montana, Joe Mantegna has made a career out of being a remarkably consistent character actor. He was featured heavily in The Godfather Part III which, while not as good as the first two, is still quite an achievement, and excelled as the ambitious father of a chess prodigy in Searching for Bobby Fischer. The Italian-American actor had more than proven himself, but in the late 90s, he was acting in a lot of uncredited roles and made for TV movies -- not exactly the stuff dreams are made of. He got a little bit of his mojo back with his supporting role on Joan of Arcadia. But he really caught a break on Criminal Minds. Hey, Mandy Patinkin's loss turned out to be his incredible gain. Patinkin's departure from the hit procedural after only two seasons left the role of Sage Elder wide open, and Mantegna was more than happy to step in. The result? He has a hit television show on his hands, one that's been going strong for nine years and shows no signs of slowing down.