Jared Padalecki says that he loves former Supernatural co-star and “brother” Jensen Ackles “deeply” and that the tone of his Twitter response to the announcement of the long-running CW show’s prequel series was misunderstood.
The Walker actor spoke to The New York Times about his social media exchange in June with his former co-star and others attached to The Winchesters — The CW’s latest Supernatural spinoff attempt — telling the paper that his response was an attempt to clarify he had no involvement in the series.
“It was just one of those things that because it was online, and people were assuming I was part of it, I really wanted to just say: ‘Hey, I’m not keeping a secret from you guys. I just don’t know about this,’” he said.
Reflecting on his public online reaction to the news, Padalecki said that he should have known better and that the reaction is part of why he tries to stay way from social media.
“I should be old enough to know better than to put something out there and expect that people will understand,” he told the Times. “It’s hard to tweet a specific tone. If you write it online, it’s like, ‘Oh, he doesn’t know! They’re going to kill each other! The world is ending!’ And I’m like, “No, no, no.” (Laughs.) I try to avoid social media as much as possible because of that.”
The actor also reiterated that he had no knowledge of the project ahead of its announcement, but confirmed a later tweet that he and Ackles had talked it out and that it wasn’t “a secret” his former co-star had tried to keep from him. “I hadn’t heard of it, and then he and I chatted [the next morning]. He just kind of explained: “Man, it’s not picked up yet. It’s not even written yet,’ Padalecki said.”
He added, “He knows and I know how much Supernatural means to both of us, and it wasn’t a secret he was trying to keep, necessarily. It was just something that he didn’t feel really even existed yet. But he has been like: ‘Hey, I’ll let you know what’s going on.’”
On June 24, Ackles shared a link to a story announcing The Winchesters had been given a script commitment, with Ackles and wife, former Supernatural actress and producing partner Daneel Ackles slated to develop the series. The potential series, which comes from Supernatural producers Warner Bros. TV — where the Ackles’ Chaos Machine banner is housed with an overall deal — follows John and Mary, the parents of the Supernatural demon-hunting duo Sam and Dean, played by Padalecki and Ackles, respectively.
In addition to Ackles’ tweet, Supernatural creator and former showrunner Erick Kripke also weighed in on the news over Twitter in a now-deleted tweet. “When @JensenAckles first told me this story, I loved it. He & @DanneelHarris & @rthompson1138 are the perfect people to make it. (The other perfect person is too busy Texas Rangering.) Thanks for carrying the torch, guys, go kick it in the ass. Proud of you,” Kripke wrote.
Over Twitter, Padalecki responded to Ackles — who is slated to produce and narrate the spinoff and will appear in season 3 of Kripke’s The Boys — sharing the news of the spinoff, revealing that while he was happy for his friend and former co-star, he had no knowledge of the show’s development.
“Dude. Happy for you. Wish I heard about this some way other than Twitter,” Padalecki tweeted on June 24. “I’m excited to watch, but bummed that Sam Winchester had no involvement whatsoever.” After fans pressed Padalecki further about his potential knowledge of or involvement in the series, he responded that it was “the first I’ve heard about it” before writing, “I’m gutted.”
In a since-deleted tweet, Padalecki also shared his feelings about being left out of the loop with Supernatural co-executive producer and prequel spinoff writer Robbie Thompson. “Et tu brute? Wow. What a truly awful thing you’ve done,” it read. “#Bravo you coward.”
During the Times interview, Padelecki reaffirmed his relationship with Ackles, who he has been close with for more than a decade while working on The CW show, telling the outlet that he respects Ackles’ opinion. “I love Jensen deeply. He’s my brother — he has been for many years, and he always will be, no matter what,” Padalecki said. “He’s spent more time with me on camera than anybody probably ever will, so he knows my strengths and weaknesses more than I do, and vice versa.”
The Winchesters marks the third attempt at a spinoff from The CW’s hit supernatural drama, following two other attempts by the network in 2014 with Bloodlines and then again with Wayward Sisters from 2017 to 2018. CW President Mark Pedowitz said he and the network were likely done with attempting to launch a spinoff, but said in early 2019, that “if I could find a way that it stays the whole time on and it still holds up and the studio can still figure out how to do it, we’re all in.”
Supernatural aired its series finale, and completed its 15-year run, last fall.
Source: hollywoodreporter.com