The Shield guest stars
114 actors have guest-starred in The Shield across 88 episodes and 7 seasons. The most-credited is Forest Whitaker, Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh in 13 episodes. 52 of them have also guest-starred in five or more of the other shows in this catalogue.
Who came back most
| Actor | Character | Eps |
|---|---|---|
| Forest Whitaker | Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh | 13 |
| Laurie Holden | Agent Olivia Murray | 13 |
| Brian White | Tavon Garris | 11 |
| Michael Peña | Detective Armando Renta | 10 |
| Laura Harring | Rebecca Doyle | 8 |
| Alex O'Loughlin | Kevin Hiatt | 7 |
| Natalie Zea | Lauren Riley | 5 |
| Cedric Pendleton | Tio | 4 |
| Danny Pino | Armadillo Quintero | 4 |
| Joel Rosenthal | Matthew Mackey | 4 |
| Kimberly McCullough | Deena | 4 |
| Marguerite MacIntyre | Emma Prince | 4 |
| Brent Roam | Tomas Motyashik | 3 |
| Franka Potente | Diro Kesakhian | 3 |
| Lucinda Jenney | Lanie Kellis | 3 |
| April Grace | Frances Housely | 2 |
| Clark Gregg | William Faulks | 2 |
| Jamie Anne Allman | Connie Riesler | 2 |
| John Diehl | Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy | 2 |
| Juan Garcia | Moses Hernandez | 2 |
| Mageina Tovah | Farrah | 2 |
| Melanie Lynskey | Marcy | 2 |
| Michael Auteri | Sergeant Nathan Peterson | 2 |
| Nichole Hiltz | Tulips | 2 |
| Stana Katic | Ayla | 2 |
The Shield guest stars by season
| Season | Guests | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 92 | Joel Rosenthal, Brent Roam, April Grace, Cedric Pendleton, Jamie Anne Allman, John Diehl, Juan Garcia, Kimberly McCullough, Michael Auteri, Amy Bollenbacher, Amy Moon, Ana Argueta and 80 more |
| Season 2 | 8 | Brian White, Danny Pino, Marguerite MacIntyre, Lucinda Jenney, Cedric Pendleton, Melanie Lynskey, Carl Weathers, Nichole Hiltz |
| Season 3 | 7 | Brian White, Natalie Zea, Clark Gregg, Stana Katic, Caroline Macey, Kimberly McCullough, Mageina Tovah |
| Season 4 | 2 | Michael Peña, Mel Winkler |
| Season 5 | 4 | Forest Whitaker, Laura Harring, Daniel Mandehr, Jesse Escochea |
| Season 6 | 3 | Alex O'Loughlin, Franka Potente, Forest Whitaker |
| Season 7 | 6 | Laurie Holden, Brian White, Chelse Swain, Julia Campbell, Kimberly McCullough, Mageina Tovah |
Guest stars you know from somewhere else
The hardest-working character actors in this show's guest cast, ranked by how many other shows in this catalogue they have also guest-starred in. Not the most famous names, the most prolific ones.
| Actor | In The Shield | Other shows |
|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah Birkett | Hooper | 27 |
| April Grace | Frances Housely | 25 |
| Andy Mackenzie | Owen | 23 |
| Joyce Guy | Nadine | 23 |
| Tamlyn Tomita | Wanda Higoshi | 23 |
| Yancey Arias | Jose Garcia | 23 |
| Jim Ortlieb | Dr. Bernard Grady | 21 |
| Julia Campbell | Ellen Carmichael | 21 |
| Carlos Sanz | Det. Carlos Zamora | 20 |
| Jorge-Luis Pallo | Gang Leader | 19 |
| Valeri Ross | Two Time's Mother | 15 |
| Mageina Tovah | Farrah | 14 |
| Marguerite MacIntyre | Emma Prince | 13 |
| Lucinda Jenney | Lanie Kellis | 13 |
| Efrain Figueroa | Jorge Machado | 12 |
Shares a cast with
- ER — 25 shared actors
- CSI: Miami — 22 shared actors
- Criminal Minds — 19 shared actors
- Cold Case — 18 shared actors
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — 17 shared actors
- Bones — 13 shared actors
- CSI: NY — 12 shared actors
- Judging Amy — 11 shared actors
Cast data from TVmaze, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.