Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Jensen Ackles

Episode Date: October 4, 2019

Last, but certainly not least, Jensen Ackles joins the show to round out our Supernatural Week! Jensen talks about Supernatural coming to an end after fifteen seasons and how he’s glad for the show���s sake that they’re going out strong on their own terms. He also talks about what it was like for everyone to come to an agreement that it was the right time to end things for the integrity of the show, it’s cast, and crew. Jensen opens up about what it was like to pursue acting growing up as an athlete in a sports dominated area like Texas, stories from his time on-set with Rosey appearing in Smallville, and his directorial experience so far in comparison to his career acting.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I'm telling you you're going to love this place. Keep it classic and cool this fall with long-lasting staple. from Quince. Go to quince.com slash inside of you for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash inside of you. Free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com slash inside of you. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. This is a big one. This is, you know, the last two days here we've had. some brilliant guests. It's Supernatural Week. And it's been fun. Have you guys had fun? I've had so much fun talking to these gentlemen. They've been on this show since most of you were like four years old. And now it's ending. It's the final season. Holy shit. Thank you again for listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Subscribe, write a review. Tell your friends. I mean, whatever you're doing, you're doing it right. Tom Welling and I will be signing October 18th in Columbus, Madison, Wisconsin on the 25th. November 8th in Austin. Then my band goes to Germany, left on Laura our debut album. I mean,

how many albums do you get in your lifetime? I never thought I'd make an album. This is my problem, my only album. Today is the day it comes out on all platforms. So either buy it on iTunes or listen to the hell out of it. Also, you can go to the inside of you store and you could purchase vinyl, the hats, stickers, shirts. We're really excited. At the end of this episode, So we're going to play track four for you from the debut album, Saved by the Ground. And Jensen really liked this album. That's the word on the street. So right now, Jensen Ackles, I don't think I need that.

You know, Dean Winchester. I mean, he was on Smallville. He was actually Kristen Krook, who was Lana. He was her football coach, which was weird because he was like the same age as Tom Welling, and he's in a high school football coach, dating Lana. The times have changed, folks. But then he got his own show. Final season of Supernatural, final guest of the week, Dean Winchester himself, Jensen Ackles.

I love this man, I've known him for a long time, I love seeing his success. Let's get inside, Jensen. It's my point of view, you're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum was not really, recorded in front of a live studio audience jensen ackles dude rosy rosy rosy man how long's it been uh it's been um i don't know when the last time i've seen you i can't remember did we not run into each other in vancouver when you're up there doing um uh impaster yeah my impaster lasted 13 less seasons than you than supernatural right we got we got done with two you you know you know

what again there it is you got in you got out we got it yeah it's like that exactly hey it's the old actles i don't right now i don't know when to leave that's the problem i've i've over i've overstayed my welcome but you know when to leave now this is it well what do you mean well let's let's hope so let's hope this was the uh i mean it was a gamble either way it was a gamble to continue on it was a gamble to call it quit so so you're saying wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute are you right now saying on inside of you that there is a small remote possibility that supernatural might even think about another year after this year that they've decided to end the show are you giving a morsel of hope just a morsel like are you giving like a fragment like uh andre the giant's penis compared

to my penis like a small small uh well i'm i'm nervous to go into that comparison sure i mean look i i don't know. I love a show. I mean, I've gone this long. Why wouldn't we just keep going? But at the same time, it's, you know, and this isn't just coming from me. This is a laundry list of people that have had that have had this conversation and are continuing to have this conversation. But it was one of these things where, you know, let's decide before it's too late. Let's decide before it gets decided for us. And I think that's where a lot of us wanted to reside was we made the call. It was, you know, we wanted to be a little bit like Elway, you know, go out while we're still going strong. Right.

And I didn't, you know, and at this point now, I think the ship has sailed, the, or for the, the code has been written for you youngsters out there. And I don't know that that's, you know, I don't know that we can change that now. Hang on a second. So you're saying, like, well, let's say, how many episodes do you do a year now? 18? We were 23 for most of the series, and we just dialed it back to 20 last season, and we're going to do 20 again. this season. All right.

So let's say episode 15, you're like, do, we've got the highest ratings we've ever had in our lives. The ratings just shot up because it's the final season. And the storylines, the best storyline we've ever had. And, oh, my God, you know what could happen? I know at the very end that Misha dies, his character dies, or whatever. And but what if we did? And then we could you, one of you guys come up with the most insane idea that goes,

we got to do one more. That could happen. I would be in the other camp. You're damn right. We nailed it. We knocked it out of the park. Let's go off into the sunset. I would be more upset if it wasn't that.

So you'd say, God, it really sucked this last year. Let's go. One more. Yeah. Wow. That's when I would be like, guys, we might want to think about another season. We really, we really screwed the, I mean, this is, this is not good. This isn't what we wanted to, this isn't how we wanted to end.

Well, look, man, I remember, I've known you for a long time. I remember... Was it like, wasn't it like Montana? Didn't he go to like Kansas City and... Who remembers that, though? Yes, he did go to Joe Montana went to Kansas City. Yeah, Montana went to Kansas City. It was like, why?

Yeah. Why would you do that? But, but no one remembers Kansas City. They just remember the glory days with the 49ers. Jordan and the Wizards, too. Yeah, but you know what? I remember Kansas City. Do you remember Kansas City?

You don't want people to remember your Kansas. You don't want, yeah. I don't want to go out with, I don't want to go out Kansas City style. That should be the last episode should be called. Kansas City. I want to go out Lawrence, Kansas style. Lawrence, Kansas style. Home of like... See, that's a little tip of the hat to the show, which you may or may not know.

Yeah, I knew what you're talking about. So, yeah. We don't need to go to the big city. We've known each other for a long time. Like, I've known you for probably since, what, around 2000? 2002? Well, yeah, yeah. That was probably right around the time. I mean, let's see, I came on Smallville at, like, it was

like, oh, three. Oh, three. And let me get this straight. You played Kristen Crook's boyfriend, and you were also a high school gym teacher. Yes. Where was the Me Too with them? That shit wasn't a flu. Oh, no way.

Right? My favorite part about that whole situation was I was the coach or the, whatever, I was a coach on the football team of which Clark was quarterback, yet I'm actually younger than Welling in real life. And somehow, somehow that didn't matter to the producers at all. and when they called me and they're like, we've got an idea

that we want to pitch you and bring you on the show. I was like, you want me to play the football coach in what capacity? And they're like, well, let us put it. You're going to play Kristen Crook's boyfriend.

I'm like, whatever you want me to play, that's fine. You want me to be the football coach or the janitor. But I'm in. Kristen's boyfriend, I'm in.

And you're on the show for two, three years? Five years? One, dude. I felt like you were more, more seasons. Well,

that's just because I left a lasting impression. I was one season. Because I remember you and I nude in a scene, like hung up in some like, with our shirts off, or on button hanging up, being tortured. No, that was when we went and played racquetball that one after that. No, no, no, no. There's an episode where we're like, our hands are tied up.

Yes, yes. And ragged ball. And racquetball. And racket ball. I remember that. I also remember, I believe I believe I killed you. You did. Didn't I kill you?

Didn't I throw you off a mountain or shoot you or something? Yeah, yeah. Well, no, I was in the house. I was in the kid house, I think, when it all crumbled to the ground. And I was in that explosion. And were they already talking to you about Supernatural at that point? Yeah, because I had a, I had a two-year deal with Smallville, and so I was supposed to come back and do the next season. So they had to ride a death for me quickly because then.

the network yanked me off of that show and had me ready for Supernatural for the next season. So season one was season five of you guys. And you tested, you went and tested for Supernatural. Of course at that point, right? You weren't a huge star then. Well, it moved quick because Nutter

was the director. And Nutter knew me from, you know, Dark Angel and Smallville. And so we, like, he was like, this is your guy to Crickie who created it. And then Jared, they pulled him off at Gilmore Girls.

So it was a very in-house operation. You know, Gena Lari, who was running the network at the time, he knew both of us. He was more than happy to sign off on both of us. Peter Roth knew both of us at the time. He was more than happy to sign off on us. So the testing process went basically like this. We read once for Eric and David. I did.

And so did. The next time I auditioned was the full network studio test, with Jared and nobody else. No other actors were involved in the test. Usually we show up and there's like four or five other guys, you know, testing period part. Everybody's got their contract. Nobody knows what the hell it says.

Yeah, we just showed up and it was just E&I. Boom, that was it. And when you read the first script, you knew Nutter was directing, right? When you saw the show, the first episode, did you go, we'll get a season from this? Or did you go, I don't know. no I immediately was like oh I think we're I think we got something here but I was like we might get a full season out of this and then as the show started to get into it I was like wow we might actually get more than one season I mean all the while thinking like we can break records here and get like three full seasons before the show gets canned but then after about midway through the first season it was the whole merge it was UPNWB merge and I was like oh no

out, that's it. There's, there it is. New guys are coming in or screwed. Was it close to ever getting canceled? Oh, we were on the bubble every year. Every year you're on the bubble. Every single year, because. To a win. Honestly, until last year.

Until Petow, yeah. I believe we're still on the bubble right now. I'm not sure we're going to get the back nine. I think it was until Mark Pedowitz came in and he kind of assessed. I don't want to point fingers at Don Ostrov. I think I think she

did great. She was, she was given a very difficult task in marrying two networks and then trying to make shows that weren't necessarily her style of show, work within her business plan.

And we just weren't a show that I think she gravitated towards. We just weren't her. This isn't our, this isn't our vision of where the network's going, that kind of thing? Yeah, I mean, she was more of the gossip girl. the reboot of the 90210s the you know it was that that kind of teenage angst drama type of network that I think she was a little bit more in tune with I mean even you guys were a product of this a bit

yeah they threw us at this night Tuesday night all they'll fail at Tuesday and then we killed it so they were trying to get rid of all that stuff and if they would have all these other shows probably wouldn't be there if they would have got rid of small if they would got rid of supernatural then flash arrow all these other shows never would have come about, probably. I agree. I mean, we were launching, we, you know, we became a launching pad for Arrow. We became a launching pad for. When you say we, you're saying Smallville, too, right?

Yeah. Well, you guys were our, you guys were our launching pad. You guys launched, you guys helped launch us, and then we were saddled up with you for quite a while, which I think you guys kind of hit multiple markets in the fact that you were, you know, you were the superhero, but you also. we're playing into that kind of teenage drama of angsty thing, which I think is what, it was easier to digest for her than us. I mean, we were a horror movie every

week. That's not something that she was necessarily into at the time. Which I am. I'm into that shit. It's so fun. It's so fun. I mean, I think it's one of the reasons why we have so much fun on set is because we're not, the stuff we do is so outrageous and so ridiculous. It's fun to do. You know, you can blend this like

crazy genre of horror. with this action-packed kind of adventurous genre, and then you also pepper in some comedy, and it's like, sign me up from 15 seasons. Yeah, I mean, obviously it evolves. I mean, from the first pilot, did they have a lot of the comedy in there, or did it really sort of become funnier and darker and creepier

and all these things? It just kind of evolved like every other show in a way. Yeah, it certainly evolved. I do believe that there was a little bit more of, maybe less comedy, more of that kind of devil-may-care attitude written for my character specifically. In fact, it's no secret that Eric originally, the creator, he said, I based these two characters off of Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo. And Han had some moments. He had some comedic relief moments in those movies. I don't necessarily think that they were

in the script, I think that was just Harrison Ford being Harrison Ford and just adding that flavor. And so I kind of took that as a blueprint and then expanded on it and added a little bit more of kind of the ridiculous humor because I thought it was a nice balance with how deep and scary and horrific the images that you were seeing on screen could be balanced with the goofiness that we could we could provide. Right. I mean, growing up, were your parents always supportive. Did you always want to be an actor? Because you were an athlete, right? You're an athlete in high school. Yeah, I mean, I kind of, I kind of walked both paths. I was, I was doing drama and I was performing in like the, you know, the annual spring plays. Did you love it back

then? Did you love acting? I don't know if I loved it because it wasn't, I wasn't living in an environment that really nurtured that as much as it did sports. You know, I mean, growing up, growing up in Texas, like it's, it's all about what organized sport you're part of. and how good your team is and how, you know, if you're going to get scouted by college scouts. And there's a lot of pressure. I think that's changed dramatically since I grew up here. But the arts weren't really focused on as much as sports were.

And so I kind of took my, you know, lead from that and focused a little bit more on my athletics and less on the dramatics. And then ultimately I just, I started to succeed more. in the dramatics than in the athletics. And that led me to Hollywood and then that was, that was it. Do you think that sports were sort of looked at, or not sports, but like you said,

like with acting, was it kind of like, I grew up in Indiana. I was born in New York, but I grew up in Indiana. And, you know, I don't think theater, again, was one of those big things, although the University of Evansville was like 10 miles away where Ramey Malick went. You know, he graduated from there. He went on to do Bohemian Rhapsody. And who else was from there? I mean, there was a couple of people that went on to be actors.

me being one of them but you know I can't say that everybody wanted to go see the play on a Friday night or Saturday they wanted to go see sports like you said did you get the people look down and you like come on man what are you doing they were they real hard on you they're like come on man what they call you names they call you a fairy boy and wants to do theater yeah and that was you know that was certainly more of a of an acceptable behavior back then I mean I'm glad that those times the times have changed that you know you'll get raked over the coals if you if you ostracize somebody to that degree and good you should because there were some people that that I was in theater with that really really got bullied bad and it was a time and

it was a culture then where it was even looked at like I wish that there were more more opportunities where I could have stood up for for that person sure but you know they didn't speak out because it would just make things worse sad and I'm glad now that people have people like that have voice and and that that people who who can fight for them fight for them I wish I wish I had had a chance and an opportunity to do more of that when I was younger but but regardless yeah that was it was like there's not I don't think there's other folks from it's it's mainly sports athletes you know a couple of musicians not a lot of theater is is given a whole lot of credit hey what's up who's that that's my daughter as JJ say

Hi, JJ. Hey, what's going on? What are you doing? You're going swimming? She can't hear you. You're on the iPhone. Well, then you tell her what I just said. Are you going swimming, baby? He says, I don't know where your love he is. I want you to go find it yourself. That's not what I said. I'm just kidding. Is it not in the car? Okay. Well, it's, I know it's not in here, so keep looking. Okay. No problem. No, we're keeping that in. I think it's a nice touching moment. And by the way, when I said baby, I was saying that because I feel like you would call her baby. All right, baby. I could feel like a little southern accent like you'd say baby.

Yeah. Oh, like, it's all right, my baby. That baby, I love you. I don't know where your band swimsuit is, man. I don't know where I don't know where you're a baby. I don't know where your love he is. I don't know what you love he ass out of my way while Daddy does an interview. You don't talk like that at all.

I know. Not at all. But anyway, where are we? I was just talking about like being an actor and how hard it was. And like, it's clean out. And I'll never forget, my senior year, I did the big spring. We put on a musical and it was West Side Story. Who are you?

Actually, I played Tony. You were Tony. I was Tony. And I had never sung in front of an audience before my life. Oh, my God. It's certainly not an audience of my peers. I remember opening night and I get out there and it's that big opening. Like, could be who knows there's something new.

Anyway, I will know right away Soon as it shows And maybe can't I bother that death from the sky In the inside Right as a rose and bum So that was I'm out there

And I'm just, you know Whaling And the entire Because I was on the baseball team The entire varsity baseball team Is sitting in like the first Two rows And you can't see

When you're on stage You know this There's lights in your eyes You can't really see Past the first two rows Oh I'm getting about that And there they all are And I'll never forget

Coming down proscenium by myself on the stage first song first time you see me come out on state and i'm belting it out and i just see the faces and they're just slack job just like you're staring up at me mouth like open slightly just like who who is this person and what have they done with our friend and so did they applaud at the end so yeah so so it was an interesting you know meet up afterwards you know afterwards i come down and i've got like stage makeup on and it's you know it when you when you get a when you meet a stage actor right after the show like they don't look the same hey jansen can we just do something real quick pretend you're you and i'm

gonna be one of your buddies coming up from the baseball team all right all right ready here we go hey guys what you think what's on your face man oh that's that's that uh you got you got something on yeah no no no it's it's like clown makeup you know what well it's it's more just like it's paint it's like paint it's like theater paint oh yeah what'd you guys think oh i don't know man i don't know you say you sing that's kind of weird yeah you never sang it on the baseball field or nothing no no not between uh chewing sunflower seeds and dipping in the outfield now it was should we get separate uh locker rooms you know probably back then it was probably a little weird it wasn't it wasn't you're not you're not far off but how

However, it was... But they liked you. You were good. They were like... Yeah, they... It was, it was a reluctant kind of applaud. Like, I came up and they were like, they didn't want to look at me in the eye.

They were like, man, that was awesome. Nice job, man. As you're looking down. Right, man, you were great. Yeah, eyes down, not making guy contact. Just telling me like, man, that was really good, man. I didn't know you can do that. That's cool.

All right. Well, we're going to go in the parking lot and crush a six-pack. Are you coming with us? Hell yeah, yeah. Yeah. Why don't you wipe that crap off your face and come meet us for some cures? Did you, Maria had to be a hard song to sing. It was a very difficult song, and I was working with the girl who played Maria.

And it was Kendra Ware. And she was a like all state, all national, like choir genius. And she was like a this phenop. And I'm like, great, great. You're going to put the jock with the like songbird over here. And she's going to make me look like a more. moron. And I remember when we first started rehearsals, like, she came up to me and she was like, look, I'm not, I'm not real comfortable with the whole acting and reciting

lines and like the movement and stuff. She's like, I just stand there and sing. Can you kind of give me some, can you give me a little help with like that aspect? I'm like, if you can help me sing. So we did. We worked together and she kind of gave me some pointers and I helped her out with the blocking and all that kind of stuff. Can you still hit that note? the most beautiful sound I ever heard that last one oh dude I couldn't hit it that night

I don't know what you're talking about but Rob you know what it happens that was kind of it I mean we were kind of there it's such a hard note grab your balls buddy that was a hard song to sing man and we were singing it

I love watching your success and I love watching your success Because to me, you've always been a great guy. You've always been some guy who shows up to set, whether it's showing up to set, and you're prepared, and you're fun, and you're, you're just, you're one of the guys, you're just a dude, you're just, you have a big heart,

you know what's right. So, you know, Tom and I was, we're always like, you know, I remember hearing, supernatural is going off to do supernatural. And we're like, well, what's that? Yeah, you just don't know. And then when we started to see, wow, good. forehand and Jared because I knew Jared too a little bit and yeah you know just seeing good guys do well and that's

always nice you know oh that's well and thank you for the compliment that's uh that's very nice i i mean you guys were certainly um some folks that i i look to for guidance in that regard and and just also uh somebody that i looked to for inspiration on like i don't know that i've ever worked on a set that was more entertained by a single person than by you walking on set. I'll never forget the time you walked on set and we did the entire blocking musically. Do you remember that?

I do remember that. You and I were like in the trailer and we were playing guitar and and you were, they were like, hey guys, you know, it's, they're ready for blocking and we were, it was like your home set. I don't know, I forget what the name of that set was. And you were like, Luther Mansion.

Yeah, that's it. It was a Luther Mansion. And you were like, we were right in the middle of the song. He's like, wait, I'm not that way, we're just finished. You know what? Screw it. Let's just bring this on set and we'll figure it out. And you kept those like three or four chord progression going. And then we ended up doing all the dialogue musically.

And people couldn't work for like an hour because they were trying to calm themselves down from the laughter. Because your name was Teague, right? Your last name was Teague, Jason Teague? Yeah. Jason, I think you should work for me. Jason, I am the mastermind criminal of all time. Mr. Luther. We're idiots.

Oh, man, it is, and then there, you know, there's a couple of other folks in there that just they, either they couldn't sing or they didn't want to sing or they just, they weren't, they weren't going to jump on the rosy bandwagon. They weren't. And you just plowed right through and could have cared less. And I wish I still had that sort of attitude. I mean, I do it. Dude, you're legend.

You're legend. I mean, I still work in Vancouver. And I still, there's still guys that, that work like the first several seasons of Smallville that are on supernatural and have been for many, many years. And they still talk about, you know, Rosie would roll on the set or some joke you did or when you decided to moon the crew 72 times in a day or whatever was. Were your parents always, like, so supportive?

Were they always like, you want to act, act? You want to play sports. Play sports. We love whatever you want to do. They want you to do something. Yeah, they were supportive on kind of all fronts. And I think it's very obvious when you look at more. my sister and my brother. The three of us are wildly different. You know, my brother went and

was more studious and more, you know, less, less of a social presence. And he, he was a drummer on the drumline. And he went to, you know, a college and played in the marching band. And he was just kind of surrounded himself in a lot of much more different people, wasn't an athlete. And And then I came up through the ranks and, you know, kind of cut a wide swath as far as being socially promiscuous and doing things to where my sister kind of had a nice, easy stroll in the park. But she kept it, she's a, you know, she kept it between the lines really well, too. My brother and my sister were, I think gave my mother and father a lot less of a headache than I did.

I was the middle child. What did you do that was so, were you always getting? trouble did you get arrested ever uh once and and then there was a lot of tom foolery that wasn't that i'm sure if they'd known about which some of it they did some of it they never found out what did you do to go to jail oh man this is this is not a i didn't go to jail uh but i was um we went out snuck out of the house went out with some buddies and we decided to to shoot up some uh um heroin no no no no no no i know not heroin we had we had we had we had we We were getting into paintball at this time.

Oh, yeah. And we decided to grab our guns and go for a spree around the neighborhood. And that ended up in a bit of a high-speed car chase on the highway with about 10 cops. And they didn't arrest you. Well, they arrested me until they figured out, they figured out that it was not a real firearm, that it was a paintball gun. And then they held me there while my, they held me there on the side of the highway in cuffs until my dad came and picked me up. Did he beat your ass?

He was not. Well, your parents, did your dad ever give you a smack in the ass? Was he kind of a dad, like a Texas dad? It was like, yeah, yeah, did she? Go get my belt. Go pick out a belt. Go pick out a belt. Yeah.

See, my smart ass would have got like a little girly belt and like bought it for him. No. No, see, that's what you think. Like that the little one hurts more because it's like, it's like a whip. Oh, yeah. No, you want, I wanted the big, thick, you know, the big wide belt. I didn't get my mom's, you know, or 70s wide belt because that one, You know, the kid hit with a magazine as opposed to a whip.

Did you ever try standing up to your dad? No. Was he a big dude? How big is your dad? He's my size. He's my size. I, you know, he was, you know, 6 feet, 200 pounds. But he also never put me in a position where I needed to stand up for myself like that.

He was right. He was right. Yeah. Yeah. He would never act out in a way where I was like, this is injustice. and I'm going to stand up to him. He's a great guy. You guys drink beers together?

No, he's not a, he doesn't, he doesn't drink. He's a pretty conservative fella, but we've, there's a lot of laugh, a lot of laughter in my family. He was a pretty funny guy. With all the work you do, man, though, do you feel like you need a couple beers after work to just let, let go and kind of go to sleep? Do you, do you feel, are you not a drinker, much of a drinker? No, not a couple of beers, more like like a couple of bottles of whiskey who probably do

the trick. Come on, that's bullshit. bit. You couldn't drink a whole bottle of whiskey, could you? Probably. You probably could. Probably. But you, are you the kind of guy who's like? I wouldn't try it.

Yeah, you know, I'm certainly like a come home and, you know, pour a couple of fingers and read my script for the next day and then go to sleep. How fast are you at learning lines? Kind of, well, I mean, at this point, it's, I'll read what I need to learn for tomorrow the day before or the night before. and the next morning i'll get up and i'll read through it in the in the hair makeup trailer and then if it's if it's extensive dialogue i'll run it a few times maybe by myself or with whoever i'm worried if it's with jared i'll run it with jeremy's with misha i'll you know we'll get together we'll run it a few times but for the most part that's that's it is if it's

a fairly simple scene a page scene or whatever like that i won't even have the lines memorized I just understand the blocking and understand what needs to be said, and the lines just kind of come. Really? Yeah. Was there a part or time on the show with the first few seasons where you would really learn the lines inside out and really, like, you know, spend more time on them

and not the day before but try to learn the script in advance and, you know, work yourself to the bone. We're like, this is not working for me. No, Jared will be, he's the complete, he's that. He does that. He reads the script a dozen times, and he goes over it and over it. and I guess works out what he wants to do. I will read it once and then just trust my instincts.

So you don't have to have it word by word. If it's like a little all over, it's okay? As long as it makes sense and it's articulate. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the writers aren't necessarily like comedic writers where it's like, oh, no, no, no. That says do not. That doesn't say don't.

We'll change things. We'll massage dialogue to maybe make it a little bit more conversational. Maybe make it a little bit more character driven. and maybe make it make sense to, I mean, there's been multiple times in the script where it literally says in the stage direction and then just whatever Jensen wants to say here.

Does it really say that? Yeah. I love that. That's great. They'll just literally just throw it to me and be like, and then if he's got anything else, then just have him throw that in. Is there anything you've made up over the years that's become kind of a trademark Jensen Ackles

like that you just know that fans know that you'd do something that you kind of added. And then that became a thing. From the pilot episode, there was a line that Kripke had written where the car gets stolen, essentially, and a ghost, like, possesses the car. But we get it back and then, and then I say the line, son of a bitch. And I don't think it was written to be more than just a, you know, a begrudging me like, son of a bitch. you know, an exasperated kind of a thing. And I, I, like, yelled it out loud like I wanted someone to hear me.

You know, I was like, son of a bitch! Was it unexpected? They didn't expect you to do that? And now that's like, that's like the, like, anytime that's like the catchphrase in, like, so many different facets, you know, whether it's yelling, whether it's... Do you ever sign that? Do you ever sign son of a bitch for people?

I just put SOB. You put SOB? they're like can you spell that out please i don't i don't know yeah can you put some of a bitch on there yeah sure so be there you go so you said like the show was sort of in a bubble for many years of not getting like you know uh we don't know if we're gonna get picked up they're kind of like this and i know that studio is kind of eff with actors you know they kind of like you know we're gonna say it's not doing that great to keep them on their toes so they don't want to renegotiate when was it you were like we're renegotiating like season four five when the writer

creator was like i'm out i had five years planned out that's that's the that's the five i'm going to give you i'm moving on and when they were like okay great well that's mine we'll just find somebody to come in and keep it going because this is this isn't going anywhere that's when i was like oh shit you're like okay that was the time and were you guys uh boys like you and jirgo let's going together oh as far as like negotiating more power with two numbers yeah i mean since i would say since season two you guys have been and everything it's you too we've been on the same page yeah that's it this is what i think we should ask for this is what i think we should and did it a come of time you're

like you know i i can't work this hard as this much for this many episodes a year and i miss my family i miss all these things i want to have some kind of like a modicum of life or whatever that is and as you think you know what uh i'm not working on fridays or i'm not gonna you know i'm gonna get these you know is there something in there yeah of course i mean it's you know, when you're working, especially when you're working out of state, out of country, which, you know, this is something that you're, you're very familiar with and that you dealt with. You know, you put your life on hold intensely. And when your life continues to go and to grow outside of the show, like when you find a mate and you get married and you start a family and you have children and then there's, you know, your extended family and your friends and all these people that you really never see.

because you're in a different state or in a different in a different city, you know, working 12 to 14 hours a day, Monday through Friday, and then you're exhausted by the weekend, and it's all about recovery. And so you can turn around and do it again on Monday. That schedule is, you know, only tenable for so long. And then you start to have to tell the riders, hey, I need a little bit of relief here. Can you bring in some other characters to shoulder some of this weight? So they did. And, you know, they started bringing in some other characters. Misha came in, season four.

You know, they brought Mark Shepard in. They brought, they brought up a few other kind of guest cast that turned into full-time cast. That gave us a little bit of leeway. You know, at this time, we were still trying to up our, you know, still trying to get money and still trying to negotiate that stuff. But eventually it got to a point, and this was years ago, it got to a point where we were like, it wasn't about the money. They paid us fine. like they were they were compensating us for our work and we were fine with that it was about the quality of life and so that's when we started like really asking for a plane longer vacations

longer weekends requested four or five day weekends that kind of stuff and they did it and they were like you know what we'll make that happen and but at the same time we didn't want to be like you know we're not going to work on Fridays we're not going to work on mondays we're going to you know we only want to work 10 hour days or something like that if jared and i did something like that and put that contractual, it would have made the show suffer. I think he and I both would never want to risk the quality of the show declining for personal reasons. And I think that was, you know, that's one of the many things that weighed in to the decision

that a lot of us had about moving on was that we don't want that to become a rub. We don't want to not feel like we want to be there. I wanted to make sure that I spent time with my family. My family know I loved them. also wanted to spend enough quality time with the show and do what's right by that because it's very important. They're both very important to me and I want to give them equal energy and time and all that stuff. And it's tough. It's been a difficult balance past couple years. How tired have you been to the point where you're like, I can't do this? Have you ever been like,

I just can't maintain this sort of work schedule? I can't. I just can't physically and mentally do this. No. I don't know why. I just, I feel like I have made a commitment to the show. I mean, yes. I'm under contract and I could, you know, be in legal problems if I decided just to throw in the towel and not show up. But I would never, it goes beyond that for me. It goes beyond. I could right now list, you know, a dozen to two dozen names that I work with no matter how tired they are. And they're showing up because they've got mouths to feed. They're showing up when they're, when they're tired or where they're exhausted or because because they have to.

I don't have to But if they're doing it They can't show up if I'm not there And I don't want to be the one responsible For them not getting a A decent paycheck that week I think my point really was Was not like that you didn't want to

But the point where I was just like You were just physically like can I In your mind like I'm so I'm so fucking tired I can't I can't talk to my wife tonight I can't I can't fly back to see my kids this week And I just don't have the strength right now Have you ever been that tired

or are you that that's more of what I'm saying yeah I have been that tired but I do it anyway you push through it do you work out how do you do you consistently every day hey if I'm going to do this my body's got to be in great shape my mind's got to be in great shape I've got to eat really well how do you prepare for something like this you can't really let yourself go no you can't and I'm I'm not as good about that as as Jared is you know he he's he is one of those guys he's the regimented he's like he's like I have to get up and jog five miles a day or I don't function. I'm like, I would rather the extra hour and a half asleep. So that's me. I take a lot of naps now. I love my naps. Rob's got a, Rob's already,

what are you, 20, 30? He's got a kid. He's, uh, you know, you nap, don't you? No. You don't nap? No, that's not. When I'm home, no time for naps. But when I'm on set, nap time. Nap, nap city. In fact, Jared, Jared and I, um,

We have certainly evolved over the years in the fact that when we used to go to lunch, if we had a long day or we had a long week, we were working back to back 14ers. We would go to lunch and it'd be like, you know, come on over the trailer. Let's run some lines or let's or hey, let's go play some ping pong or let's shoot some hoops. Let's watch this, the special that's on right now or whatever. We'd hang out and we just kind of relax and like lunch was more of just like a social hour. I would say 40 to, 40 to 55% of the time over the past like two seasons, when they call luncheon, I look at each other and we go a sleep contest.

And we go and literally, we go straight to our trailers, shut the door, turn the lights out, and immediately just zone out. They know not to bother you. You're out. They just, yeah, we have, we had signs that were made up when we both, when both of our, our children were very small and they'd come to visit. And it just says, baby is sleeping on like a, like a, like a, big post it looks like a like a stop sign and it's always there the baby is always sleeping and

our kids are now not babies anymore but that sign still gets put out in front of our trailers every every lunch hour the babies are sleeping oh my god it's it is man and there's a time you know there are times when it when it is exhausting or when I've gone I've pushed myself too much or um and i'm really tired or or shit really hung over whatever it is and it's just like you figure it out you know you you ask for help from the right people and you do what you need to do to get through it how long are you going to take when they say i asked misha this all first of all do you think you're going to break down completely when they when you're wrapped for good and b can you honestly say like i am going to do nothing for a good year at least

no I think I work harder when I'm home that I do when I'm on set doing what with family stuff or oh yeah I've been in my wife and I've been in the garage all morning like rearranging and like putting stuff for storage and giving stuff to goodwill and like I'm at work like film like you want to just take a year off and just be at the family or can you not do that um no but that's another thing too is I love to work like I love I love being on set

I love the camaraderie I love the collaboratorie I love the collaboration I love I love turning what's on the page into something visual you know I'm I love the whole the whole thing and I love

walking on set and go to the caterers in the morning and getting breakfast and saying good morning to everybody and getting coffee and get sitting down with the hair makeup ladies and you know

listening to them gossip about whatever it is they're gossiping about that's it like it's just the whole thing going on set figuring out how to put this puzzle together that is a script i love that you know i'm going back we start in uh we start in uh we start in a few weeks and i'm directing the first episode and um you know i always say that

as a director you're the you're the you're essentially the the captain of the problem solving squad and your script is your problem and you have to solve it and i just love that kind of collaborative problem solving environment that that is is working on set i mean how do you go from like you know, because I've directed many times before and I think, you know, you're on set and you're like the lead guy, you and Jared, and now you're going to direct every scene and then you're going to direct yourself and then you have another 19 episodes to do after that and you're cross shooting. You're probably doing stuff from episode two. So it's like, I'm like, holy shit. Are you sure you want to go and direct me? Do you ever be like, this is a lot? Why am I doing this to myself? Yeah, I will say it is, you know, the season itself, I've always compared that to like running a marathon. Like you got to pace yourself because it's a lot of work. And it's, you know, you can't, you can't burn out quick because like you said, you just get to a point of exhaustion where you just can't do it any longer. You know, luckily he, he and I and the rest of the crew have been doing it for enough years to where we know how to pace ourselves properly.

but what what most people don't anticipate and I've done it now this would be my sixth time is that directing is essentially like starting a marathon with sprinting the first two miles because there's so much to think about it's such a mentally like exhaustive process of you know going through every single page and every single you know line and figuring out how you're going to shoot that from a visual standpoint and then you've got to go okay this is this is how I want to do that what are the departments who are the people that I need to talk to in order to facilitate that then you got to break that down and then you've got to you know then you've got to convince the actors to do what you want and this is all pre-production and this is all pre-production this is before even like stepping foot on stage right and then inevitably you step on stage and the best laid plans they will go to shit and you will you will you will walk on instead and you will be like like wait a second that wall doesn't move I thought we talked about that in pre-production

And someone's like, no, you talk about that wall. Like, no, it was that. You're right. It was that wall. So that wall doesn't move. No, that one does. Which one? That completely changes, that completely changes everything about the whole structure of the scene.

And now we can't have the person coming through that window. And now it's through that. Then you have, you know, 80 sets of eyes just staring at you go, what next? What's you going to do about it? Yeah, huh? We'll do now, make a face. Yeah, yeah. What's going to be now, clown boy?

and this is when and this is when I've seen directors succeed or fail is how they handle that moment and that's a it's a and every every director's going to feel that moment they may not feel it you know on our show but it's a daunting task it is it is I've been there in that moment we're like hey what do we do now there was one time when I was doing something we had to like all of a sudden we had we were on sticks which means it's just like you're you're on a like a tripod if you will you're like filming but you're not moving the camera handheld i'm telling that for the audience i know you know that but like you know it's but it's started to rain and we're like we'll never get this done so we go we're going handheld and we're going to block shoot which means we're going to

shoot all the scenes in a row in that direction and then shoot them this direction my mind does does not work like that and i'm creative and i'll come up with stuff and i know how to do but it's just it's more linear and the ad looked at me i'll never forget this is day 14 of 18 and It was going so well until that moment on this movie. And she looked at me and she goes, so what do you want to do? For the first time ever in my life, I had nothing to say. She looked at me and she goes, okay, and she took over. She literally, for that moment, took over and goes, all right, we're going to go this way.

Here's what we're going to do because she knows that. And I felt like an idiot, but I was like, I just didn't know what to do. I needed more time than right that second. I'm not Stanley Kubrick, who gets, you know, gets to do 100 takes or something. we got to shoot 110 pages in like 17 days and for this moment I was like I don't know what the best idea is so we had to have some meetings where I'm like I had to defer to the people who really know what they're doing like the DP who's in a lot of movies who's the AD who's worked on 20 movies who's you know and I said you know what I nailed it a lot of times but there's some times where I felt like an idiot yeah I need I need help and I need you guys to help me yeah and you know there's a lot of times when like you said earlier how you know you you as a director you've got to direct everybody else but you also have to direct yourself and we don't have time i mean there's just no time to sit and watch playback all day long sure you can do that but you're not going to get your days and we pack so much filming into a 12-hour day there's no time for you know for that kind of like

oh well let's hit let's hit and ha about you know whether that angle was good or whether that light was good or whether it's no no no i'll do a scene if i'm in the scene i will i will i'll do a scene i will will do the take if it felt good i'll look at my camera operator be like yeah because he's been watching me for 15 years be like we good he's like it was all there i look at my dp and i'm like lighting performance everything he's like yeah that's it ad's like any hiccups nope moving on trust trust you got to trust because the last thing you want to do is one of those fucking actors who were like let me just go see myself yeah oh yeah can i can i can i see how it looked no no you can't Sit down, clown face.

Sit down. You know what? There was, you were telling a story a minute ago with, you know, we're on sticks and like things were, things were happening in the weather and stuff. Yeah. So it reminds me the story was having a supernatural one time. We were shooting down on a beach. It was a very rocky beach.

It was at night. Like a boat comes in and it like, it goes up onto the beach. And the camera's on sticks on the beach. And we're, it's shooting at us. standing like it basically the waves are kind of crashing against our ankles and stuff and we're having this conversation and the tide is starting to come in and we're not getting the shot and the tide keeps coming in and they keep having to pick up this the camera on the tripod and and bring it back and eventually it gets to a point where it's like the end of the scene and we've got

it but the director yells out from the tent he's like he's like give me a push in for the audience that's where the camera slowly moves into the actor and it's a you know it kind of adds a little dramatic flare it's it's a it's a nice accent right well they're they're running out of beach and the water's now like really getting high and uh and there's no time to lay track and so i just say i'm like you know guys like the camera guys are like we don't have your track we can't lay track you know it's we're running out of time water's coming up on the thing and i'm like I got it. Just roll.

And we roll, and I'm not kidding. You moved up. I just do this. I go. You put, so you literally, you bent into the picture. I spreaded my legs out, and then I just, I just slowly moved while looking at the other actor and just slowly went straight towards camera. You created a push-in. Yeah.

And they used it. The camera stayed where it was, and you slowly moved into the camera. I slowly moved into the camera. When Nace had cut, did they applaud you? The crew did. The director was like, thank you. We could have got that, you schmuck. Yeah.

Dude, that is genius. Oh, I wish that was. Do you have that? You had to get that piece of film. Oh, yeah. No, they use it. That's, that's, and now we'll just do it all the time. And the director's like, what are you doing?

Why are you pushing in? I didn't ask for the push in. The camera guys are like, we're on sticks. That's the actors being assholes. that is gorgeous oh my god and the other question was don't think i forgot is like how do you feel when you look at uh jared for the last time or misha for the last time and i know it's not the last time you're asking about the yeah how do you think you're going to feel how do you think you'll be able to just keep it together i don't know man i think for me it's not going to be like you know they're

be like, and that's a series rap on Supernet? And I'm going to be like, I might. But for me, I think it's going to come in little waves leading up to the end. You know, it's going to come in little moments where I'm like, that's going to be the last time I do that. Or that's going to be the last, that's going to be the last time I sit down and read a script.

This is the last time I act with Misha. This is the last time I act with Jared. This is the last time I say goodbye to my makeup artist, whatever that is. Right, right. Whatever those, whatever those little moments, are, and this season is going to be full of them. That's the last holiday party we're going to have. You could also do this, Jensen. I can just see you right now.

Oh, my God, this is the last first shot from a season I'll do. Oh, my God. This is the last first Saturday I'll have off after the first week. Jared's already started. Jared's like, this is the last hiatus we're going to have. But he's not serious.

I'm like, oh, yes. He was like, just think, man, this is our last hiatus. And you're like, yeah, yeah, I'm aware. We've had 15 of them. People, yeah,

we've had 15. I think we're good. Yeah, that's more summer breaks than you experienced while going to school. So we're okay. But I do, I do remember the last season,

or the last episode of this last season. And like, you know, Jared kind of got a little, get a little emotional. He's like, this is the last time we're going to, we're going to break for high hiatus.

And then everybody's like, what's going to be like when it's over? And I'm like, people, we have a year left. All year. It's not like we gave our two weeks notice. We gave our 12 month notice. We have a year. A year. Can we save this for January?

And they're like, God, clown face is such a dick. Dude, this has been a real treat, man. I mean, I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time. You know, another thing that's cool is, you know, we both did Jason Man's album covers with friends, cover with friends. And we both did a song on that. I always love hearing your voice. And Jason just produced, I know Jason Man's a good buddy. That's how we met, I think, through Jason.

No, no, no, no, no. I met you. I met him through you. Right, right. We're kind of playing guitar one day and up and now. Although Jason's one of those guys, anybody I've ever introduced him to, they're always like, I want to be friends with him. I'm like, yeah, I know. He's good people.

And he produced our album, Left on Laurel's album, which is coming out, and he's just extraordinary. He's such a calm, patient. And I had never been in the studio and recording these songs, and it just, he makes you feel so comfortable, right? He's a, he's a, he's a Yoda. He really is. He really is.

So it's been fun touring with him in, in Germany. And I know a lot of the supernatural fans, you know Jason and fan of his. Oh, yeah. But look, man, I'm so, so grateful for this time with you. And, you know, you always consider your friend. And I know how busy you. are but you know once this season's over uh the next season i'll probably hopefully see it once in a blue moon well i i know you will because i'm gonna you know i'm gonna have to start coming back

out to la and looking for a job you got a place to stay if you need one well there well there you go as long as it as long as it has a microphone like that and nothing but hockey jerseys hanging in yeah a lot of hockey jersey i got freddie kruger up there and i got dude thank you for allowing to be inside of you jensen ackles you're you're a mensch it's been a joy and a pleasure yeah i'd say this is probably your best interview you've ever done. It's certainly one of the interviews I've done. Rob didn't get it at first. Yeah, it took him an extra second.

He just gave you it. Hey, give love to DeNeil and the family, and I will. I'll try to get up to Vancouver and see you before it's all over. I love you, buddy. I love you too, bro. That was Jensen Ackles. Guys, hey, thanks for listening to the episode today, as promised. I told you

I'd play a song every episode until the album's done of our new album left on laurel saved by the ground today right now you can go to the uh it it's available on all platforms you can buy the songs listen to it merches on inside of you store uh our handle left on laurel the whole band tweet us we'll tweet you back we love talking to you um here is track four on the album the debut album this is called lost with your eyes wide open somehow your world is spinning and your life's in peril you're breaking down And how

You were blind And now you see in double Saved by the ground You are With your eyes wide open Walls With your eyes wide open Candlelight behind her eyes

Tell you things You're hypnotized Walks away From everyone's spoken, broken Broken inside tonight Football season is here Oh man Believe has the podcast to enhance your football

Experience from the pros. One of the most interesting quarterback rooms to college. Michigan is set at eight and a half wins. To fantasy. If you feel that way, why didn't you trade them? Become a better fan and listen to the football podcasts from Believe. Just search Believe. That's B-L-E-A-V podcast.

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