Jared Tristan Padalecki (born July 19, 1982) is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and came to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in several Hollywood films, including New York Minute and House of Wax. Padalecki plays Sam Winchester on the CW television series Supernatural.
Padalecki was born in San Antonio, Texas. He is of Polish ancestry on his father's side. He has an older brother, Jeff, and a younger sister, Megan. He started taking acting classes at the age of 12.
He attended James Madison High School in San Antonio and was named a candidate for the 2000 Presidential Scholars Program. In 1998, Padalecki and his partner Chris Cardenas won the National Forensic League national championship in Duo Interpretation. Padalecki won FOX's 1999 "Claim to Fame Contest"; he subsequently appeared at the Teen Choice Awards, where he met his current manager. After graduating from high school in 2000, he moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career, although he had originally planned to attend the University of Texas.
Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor and director. He is known for his roles in television as Eric Brady in Days of our Lives, which earned him several Daytime Emmy Award nominations, as well as Alec/X5-494 in Dark Angel and Jason Teague in Smallville. Ackles currently stars as Dean Winchester on the CW series Supernatural.
Ackles was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of Donna Joan (née Shaffer) and Alan Roger Ackles, an actor. Ackles has a brother, Joshua, who is three years older, and sister, Mackenzie, who is seven years younger. He is of English, Irish and Scottish ancestry. He had planned to study sports medicine at Texas Tech University and become a physical therapist but instead moved to Los Angeles to start his acting career.
After modelling on and off since the age of 4, Ackles began to concentrate on an acting career in 1996. He appeared in several guest roles on Mr. Rhodes, Sweet Valley High, and Cybill before joining the cast of the NBC soap opera Days of our Lives as Eric Brady in 1997. He won a 1998 Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Male Newcomer and went on to be nominated three times (in 1998, 1999, and 2000) for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Days of our Lives.
Supernatural is an American supernatural drama television series with humorous elements created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they hunt demons and other figures of the supernatural. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television, in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision. The current executive producers are Eric Kripke, McG, and Robert Singer; former executive producer Kim Manners died of lung cancer during production of the fourth season.
The series, which is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, was in development for nearly ten years, as creator Kripke spent several years unsuccessfully pitching it. The pilot was viewed by an estimated 5.69 million viewers, and the ratings of the first four episodes prompted The WB to pick up the series for a full season. Originally, Kripke planned the series for three seasons, but later expanded it to five. The fifth season began airing on September 10, 2009, and concluded the series' main storyline; however, The CW officially renewed the show for a sixth season on February 16, 2010. On April 26, 2011, the show was renewed for a seventh season for the 2011–2012 season, which began on September 23, 2011. On January 12, 2012, the series won the two awards at the People's Choice Awards which includes Best Sci/Fi TV Series and Best Drama TV Series.
Supernatural is a supernatural drama television series, created by Eric Kripke, that follows brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) as they travel throughout the United States hunting supernatural creatures. Their main adversaries throughout the series are demons. The brothers first attempt to hunt down Azazel—the demon responsible for their mother's death—and then Lilith—who holds the contract for Dean's soul and attempts to free Lucifer. The fifth season features the rise of the fallen angel, whom the Winchesters must stop to prevent the Apocalypse. The series borrows heavily from folklore and urban legends, and explores Pagan and Christian mythology.
In the United States, the first episode of the series originally aired on September 13, 2005. The first season was broadcast on The WB, and following The WB's merger with UPN in September 2006, Supernatural continued to be aired on the new network, The CW. The seventh season began airing on September 23, 2011. The first six seasons are available on DVD in Regions 1, 2, and 4 and are also available on Blu-ray. It became available on Netflix on January 30, 2012.