Ripping stories from the headlines is a common practice in crime procedurals. “Law & Order: SVU” has made a habit of this, taking the most grisly cases, such as the Casey Anthony trial, and condensing them to a 40-minute episode (via Entertainment Weekly). “Criminal Minds” was no different, but took on one of the most sadistic real-life serial killers to task with the most twisted “Criminal Minds” character, Frank Breitkopf (Keith Carradine). During her audition process, Paget Brewster identified Frank’s inspiration quickly because she was fascinated with true crime.

“I was one of those people who had every serial killer book, I knew everything, I watched everything … If there was a book about it, I owned it and had read it,” Brewster told A.V. Club in 2015. “So they said, ‘Come in and meet with [executive producers] Ed Bernero and Mark Gordon and Simon Mirren.'” The “Friends” actor went on to describe an upcoming villain that they were working on at the time. Brewster recalled that the producers explained: “‘[R]ight now we’re working on a script about a guy who’s got a trailer and it’s outfitted with torture devices, and he’s in the desert, and his girlfriend…” And I said, ‘Oh, you’re talking about the Toybox Killer.'” The producers were shocked. Brewster had identified one of the most notorious serial killers, David Parker Ray, as the inspiration for Frank right off the bat.

Emily Prentiss is one of the most popular characters in “Criminal Minds,” with countless fans consistently taking to social media to praise the character. The positive reception toward Prentiss can no doubt be due to Brewster’s talent as an actor but also due to her immense knowledge of true crime.