‘Supernatural’ series has one last twist
Show wraps final season after 15 years, a writers’ strike, 2 networks and COVID-19
“Supernatural” has enjoyed 15 years of masked and made-up characters roaming the set, but in the final weeks of production, a different type of mask was on the minds of cast and crew.
“It was weird not seeing the faces that you’ve been looking at for 15 years, because they’re covered with a mask,” says Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean Winchester — a nomadic hunter of demons and other supernatural beings — on the show.
“It was unique, but I feel like ‘Supernatural’ has been through a lot. Writers’ strikes and network changes and characters dying and characters coming back and families and births and deaths,” says Jared Padalecki, who plays Dean’s younger brother and fellow hunter, Sam. “‘Supernatural’ is used to change, so let’s embrace it.”
One last change looms: “Supernatural’s” final seven-episode run began Thursday on the CW.
When the show started, the CW was still the WB Network, and after the series airs its finale, the completed 327 episodes will make “Supernatural” the longest-running sci-fi/ genre show in the history of American prime-time broadcast television.
This interview with Padalecki and Ackles has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: What were your emotions going into filming this last season, given the times we’re in?
Jared Padalecki: A lot of the unknown. I felt like, we have been going in to shoot a TV show for 15 years in “normal times,” and now it’s like “Hey, we have some regulations.” There are lanyards that have different colors and only certain people can be around certain people so we can contact trace if, God forbid, somebody contracts COVID-19. There’s a taped-off entrance and a taped-off exit so we can keep it oneway. All of the food is individually wrapped, and there’s no browsing at craft services.
Between action and cut, it was business as usual. You’re with your director and your cameramen and women and your cinematographer and with your fellow actors and actresses. And you’re like “Got it. This is comfortable. This is like a warm blanket.”
Jensen Ackles: The good news for our industry is that you’re capable to be still working and utilizing these protocols to stay inside and stay healthy. I know that Jared and I, we take our cues from the reactions that we get from our crew members, which is essentially our audience. Our audience is the twodozen people that are onstage with us. The guy holding the mic, the guy behind the camera, the one pulling the focus. We know that if we can make them laugh or make them cry or get some kind of emotion out of them, we’re doing something. And that got taken away. So that was interesting. We just have to rely on our instincts and on each other to tell each other, “You hit it, you nailed it, you got it.”
I miss shaking hands. I know that sounds weird. I just miss giving someone a bro hug. I know that sounds trivial, but that contact is an important part of what we do on a daily basis in terms of the tone that we set on our set.
Q: Was there a show that you liked growing up that informed what you do now, or that you went back to during “Supernatural’s” run for inspiration?
P: My dad and I liked “Twilight Zone.” And the original “Star Trek.” William Shatner as Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock. And I watched a lot of animated shows growing up like “The Simpsons,” and they were kids’ shows because they were animated, but they also had a lot of adult humor. Like “Animaniacs.” I think “Twilight Zone” and “Star Trek” are the main ones that have informed what I’ve been doing for the last 15 1⁄
2 years in terms of treating the fantastical as reality, which is what both those shows did.
A: I didn’t watch a whole lot of TV growing up. I would say that a lot of what you’ve seen me do on “Supernatural” was more inspired from film characters that I’ve watched, like Indiana Jones. In my opinion, as long as you keep Dean Dean, you can put him in any world you want. I can stay true to this character no matter what canvas you paint him on. I love characters like that. You can see Dean sitting at the end of the bar with Norm in “Cheers.” But you can also see Dean in “Star Trek.”
Q: You guys beat out Harry Potter as the top fandom in pop culture back in 2016. How has your understanding of fandom changed by being on a show as popular as “Supernatural?”
P: No way! I had absolutely no idea. To be mentioned in the same sentence is really a testament to just how talented our writers and crew are, and just how wonderfully and passionately supportive our fandom is. Behind the scenes, we refer to “our fandom” as “The #SPNFamily,” as they have become a family of their own. They’ve spent countless hours spreading the word about the show and showering us with the love and support that we certainly needed and felt during rough times. Being on the opposite side of that, I’ve realized just how much good people can accomplish together. A lot of them have made best friends, visited various cities and raised an incredible amount of money and goodwill for assorted charities. It’s been an honor to be a part of it.
A: We beat out Harry Potter? That’s crazy! I think that the Harry Potter fans were probably just looking for a more mature show and that was us. I will say that the fandom that this show found, or that found this show, really have become an integral part of the success of this show. They are part of the fabric of what has kept this show alive and running as hard and as fast for 15 years that it has. They are also wellconnected, which is really rare for a show that started 15 years ago. It’s probably more customary now for fans to get online and have chat rooms. “Supernatural” started before the iPhone was around. We were still shooting on 35 mm film.
Q: What kept you around for 15 years?
A: There’s an old adage in Hollywood, ‘You want to see an actor complain, give him a job.’ Well, that wasn’t going to happen with me. The last thing I wanted to do was sabotage a good gig just to go back and find another one. I was super stoked right off of the bat with the story and this character. It’s the kind of character I always loved seeing in movies. The character was modeled after Han Solo and another one of Harrison’s Ford characters, Indiana Jones. He had some of that flavor in there. Kind of a John McClane.
When it comes down to it, why did I stick around all these years? Because I truly loved it.