Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean Winchester in AXN’s Supernatural, talks about the ‘shocking’ new season where his character is going to get drunk and have fun
Sam and Dean Winchester (played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) have spent their lives on the road, battling every kind of supernatural threat. Over the years — and after dozens of bloody adventures — they have faced everything from the yellow-eyed demon that killed their mother to vampires, ghosts, shapeshifters, angels and fallen gods. With the thrilling journey of the Winchester brothers heading into its 10th year on Supernatural, we catch up with Jensen Ackles to get the lowdown on the shocking new season…
How different is Demon Dean this seasonIJ
Everybody kept saying to me, ‘Oh, this is going to be a darker Dean to portray.’ But in fact, it’s the opposite. It’s a lighter Dean. It’s a Dean without care. It’s a Dean without worry. It’s a Dean without the weight of the world on his shoulders, trying to fight a good fight and do the right thing. This Dean doesn’t care about anything at all, so he’s going to have a good time. He’s going to drink as much as he wants and he’s going to party as much as he wants. He can get into fights and hook up with babes — it’s the life the old Dean wished he could live but he couldn’t because he was the good guy.
Are there a lot of comedy scenes because of this lighter DeanIJ
It’s not comedy. This is a personal choice I made with the character. He’s really flippant about everything. Even when he hears that his brother might be in serious trouble, he isn’t bothered. To me, that’s much scarier than if he was the old Dean trying to get revenge.
How has your portrayal of the character changed this seasonIJ
The tone of his voice is different and he’s a bit more smirky than before. He has more swagger but there wasn’t anything specific that I added; it was more of a mental state that I wanted to get into. Supernatural executive producer Jeremy Carver and I talked about it and he said, ‘Maybe do your hair a little differentIJ’ So I didn’t get it cut quite so short. At least that gives me something to shed when I get back to playing regular Dean.
How much of a challenge was it to portray a new version of a character you’ve played for 10 seasonsIJ
It’s interesting. A lot of times on our show, demons come in and they possess a meat suit, as we lovingly call them, but this is actually Dean’s soul that is twisted. It was definitely interesting trying to make him a different character while still being Dean, he’s just a completely messed up, twisted and demonic version. It’s been a bit of a challenge, especially as I was also directing the episode where we introduced this version of the character for the first time.
Where will we find Sam at the start of season 10IJ
Sam is taking some drastic measures to locate Dean, which is proving tricky for him. Dean doesn’t want to be found. He’s having a good time. He has no desire to go back to that worrisome life.
Will there be an epic face-off when Sam eventually finds DeanIJ
Once Sam does track him down, he will have an even more difficult time convincing his brother that this is not the way that he needs to be going.
There’s a lot of action involved in a show like Supernatural. What are the physical challenges you faceIJ
It’s always a physical challenge to just try not to get hurt. Speaking of fights, I’ve been busy. No stunt doubles are needed. Usually all my anger is taken out on the set. luckily, we have great stunt guys around if there’s anything truly dangerous. They are required to take over from us in certain situations so that we don’t injure ourselves. For the most part, we try to do as much as they will let us do, which is a significant amount. We go home with bumps and bruises and sore muscles, but it’s all part of the job.
Do you enjoy working with the stunt team on fight scenesIJ
I enjoy that part of the job immensely. One of our guys is brand new to the job. He came to Vancouver from England six months ago and this was his first gig. I kid you not, I propelled him off his feet and into a shelving unit. He landed on his head, so I picked him up and started beating the tar out of him. He took it like a champ. It’s incredible.
Is the relationship between Dean and Crowley authentic or is Crowley using Dean for his own personal gainIJ
The interesting thing with Demon Dean and Crowley is that at some point, Crowley’s going to think, ‘This was a bad, bad idea.’ It’s not as pretty as Crowley would hope because he’s not dealing with a regular demon. There’s a lot more to this version of Dean than Crowley thinks.
How have your beliefs in supernatural activity changed since you started work on the showIJ
I’ve always said that I’m more of a realist when it comes to things that go bump in the night. Personally, I always assume that it’s a window creaking rather than a ghost. But now, after being on the show for 10 years, it better not be a ghost because if it is, I will kill it. I think I have a false sense of security after playing Dean Winchester for nine years.