Fans FREAK OUT! Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki Reunite, This Time With KANSAS!
Jensen Ackles, the heartthrob who rose to fame playing Dean Winchester in the iconic series “Supernatural,” is back in the saddle, this time as a director for “Walker,” a reboot of the classic Western series. And the experience has been a blast from the past, reuniting him with his on-screen brother, Jared Padalecki, who stars as Cordell Walker in the show.
It was still a friendly set,” Ackles shared. “Jared had laid the groundwork of like, ‘This is my brother. I’m here because of what he and I built together.'”
The two actors have shared a special bond since their days on “Supernatural,” a bond that has continued to grow stronger over the years.
He gave a great speech to the whole crew, saying, ‘We wouldn’t be here without the work that this guy did with me.'” Ackles said.
A “Supernatural” Reunion
The episode Ackles directed, however, was filled with more than just brotherly love. It also included a performance by the legendary band Kansas, whose song “Carry on Wayward Son” became the unofficial theme song of “Supernatural.
They were like, ‘We’re writing that script right now, but we just found out Kansas is actually going to be in Austin playing one night and it happens to be three days before you start working.'” Ackles recalled. “So I was in prep and basically they broke the main unit early on the previous episode so that they could do a full company move over to the Moody Theater in downtown Austin and we could set up and shoot, essentially, a rock concert.
They were literally at the airport and some of them were getting on a plane to come to Vancouver when they got called and told, ‘Sorry, COVID, we’re shutting down.'”
Finally, the dream came true.
“The fact that we got to do that in any capacity felt like we got to scratch an itch that needed to be scratched,” Ackles said.
More Than Just a Rock Concert
The episode featured a number of “Supernatural” Easter eggs, nods to the beloved series that had a huge impact on Ackles and Padalecki’s careers.
Katherine Alyse, who wrote the episode, knows ‘Supernatural’ very well and essentially wrote a lot of Easter eggs,” Ackles revealed.
“I was either like, ‘Oh, I can absolutely do that’ or, ‘I can level that up.'”
“We definitely tried to pepper in the Easter eggs when we could.”
While directing “Walker,” Ackles embraced the opportunity to work with Padalecki again, noting how comfortable it was to collaborate with someone who knows him so well.
Funny enough, I feel like ‘Walker’ is probably more like Jared than Sam was, not necessarily in actual character development, but just in mannerisms and reactionary things, the nuances of what Jared’s doing,” Ackles said.
“There’s nobody else I can do that with,” he added. “He and I have that, and we’ll always have that.
That’s not something that fades away.”
Fans of both “Supernatural” and “Walker” are thrilled to see Ackles and Padalecki back together, and the inclusion of Kansas is a delightful treat for longtime fans. It’s clear that the “Supernatural” family is alive and well, and the legacy of the show continues to resonate with fans.
