Nicholas Brendon

Nicholas Brendon Schultz, known professionally as Nicholas Brendon, is an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Xander Harris in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003) and Kevin Lynch in Criminal Minds (2007–2014). Brendon played Xander Harris for seven years and appeared in all but one of 144 episodes. For his role as Xander, Brendon was nominated for a Saturn Award in 1998 and 1999 for Best Genre TV Actor and in 2000 for Best Supporting Actor. He continues to regularly attend comic conventions and sci-fi conventions. He has been involved in development of Xander's character in follow-up comic books, and has been credited as a writer for several issues. Although Brendon has continued to work as an actor, with regular recurring parts in TV series and starring roles in limited release films such as Coherence and Big Gay Love, his struggles with substance misuse and depression have overshadowed his professional career. Brendon has attracted public attention for his multiple arrests and convictions on a variety of charges since 2010.