@OfficialTCA Although @JensenAckles and @jarpad won't let their emotions get away from them just yet, many in the room held back sniffles during the Supernatural final season panel. The long-running series premieres Oct. 10. TCA19 @TheCW
TVinsider: the stars of The CW hit Arrow to talk about the end of the series and more. Special guest appearances by Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins.
As “Supernatural” prepares to sign off this year, the men behind the show are trying not to let “the weight of what this season is creep into” their daily work on-set, series star Jensen Ackles said at the farewell panel for the CW demon-hunting drama at the Television Critics Assn. press tour Sunday.
Instead, they want to focus on the work, doing what they have done for 14 seasons, rather than try to “reinvent the wheel,” added Ackles.
“I want it to do justice to what we’ve built for the past 14 and a half years, and right now I think the game plan we have is going to do just that. You’re not going to please everybody — you just can’t — but for the majority of the fans that have been with us on this journey, it’s going to feel right and it’s going to feel good. I know that’s how I feel and I’m still excited to tell that story,” he said.
In the show’s earliest days, “Supernatural’s” future was not so certain. Series star Jared Padalecki admitted that he originally thought the show would simply end when they closed the trunk and said, “We have to work to do” in the pilot. The show had not been picked up to series yet, and the pilot process is “such a bizarre thing,” he said.
The show did get picked up, but in its earlier years it was very much a bubble show, filming (and often airing) a finale without knowing if it would see more life. In the later half of the show’s life, that began to shift, with the CW granting the series early renewals.
“One of the blessings, I feel, has been that we’ve known that we’re carrying on so we don’t have to create a false ending every season,” Padalecki said.
Over the seasons, a couple of spinoff ideas were attempted at the network, as well, but they did not go. Earlier in the CW’s TCA tour Sunday, network president Mark Pedowitz admitted he was not looking at other ways to continue the world without Ackles and Padalecki right now.
“There is something very, very humbling about the fact that this show keeps going. We do see a lot of spinoffs on our networks and other networks and in movies, and it’s humbling to think still want us to be a part of it,” Padalecki said.
Added Ackles: “When you have a show that is so anchored, not in a world but around two characters, it makes it difficult to tell the story without those two characters.”
Going into the final season, showrunner Andrew Dabb said the show will pick up “right where we left off, which is our guys surrounded by a bunch of zombies.” In Chuck (Rob Benedict) returning to Earth all of the beings the Winchester Bros. fought and previously vanquished, there were already pops of previous seasons (such as the Woman in White) seeing new life in the Season 14 finale. Dabb said that will continue in the final season, seeing returns to some past characters the audience would not expect. However, one character that the team does not plan to see back again as of this moment is John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who they said had a “pretty perfect” goodbye with his on-screen sons in the penultimate season.
“I’ve got Lucille, and it’s just battling practice,” Ackles told Variety earlier in the day. “We get to a bit of a shelter that’s not real safe, but it’s safe for a moment until we can figure out what to do.”
The boys and Castiel (Misha Collins) are stuck in this temporary shelter, and although “it’s a triage situation first,” Padalecki told Variety to first stay alive, “there are undercurrents of anger, of tension, resentment [that] we’ll get to when we get to.”
Added Collins: “At the outset of the season [Castiel] is working with the boys but also not feeling emotionally integrated, if that makes sense. We have a fight to fight here, but I think there’s a detachment there, too. And that’s hard, and that plays out later in the season.”
The reason for this, he continued, is that “This is an instance in which Jack’s death is so hard on him, but he’s also dealing with Dean being mad at him about Mary’s death, and I think that Cas doesn’t really feel responsible for that: I think he feels he did his best — he was trying — so it’s a rare instance of him not taking the full burden of something.”
Those pieces of the story come in the second episode, although all three men (Ackles, Padalecki and Collins) admitted they hadn’t thought about how much animosity might have been caused by the fact that Chuck aka God answered Castiel’s prayer in the Season 14 finale, after he had failed to answer the brothers’ prayers for so many years.
“I don’t think they’re there yet, to complain about that,” Padalecki said. “I think Sam and Dean, certainly Sam, is more like, ‘Have we been hamsters on a wheel the whole time? Rats in a maze? What have we done?’ I think we then start dealing with questions of, ‘What is free will? Is it all predetermined? Why try hard if it’s all going to turn out the way Chuck decided it’s going to turn out?'”
Added Ackles: “Basically, is everything we’ve done our whole lives now erased — eradicated — because these things are back? All of that work is essentially gone.” This will lead the brothers — and the show — to “tackle” why one should keep fighting if nothing they do matters, to which, Ackles said the ultimate answer is, “This is what they do. Any excuse to give up is not an excuse good enough for them. This is who they are.”
Although Dean and Sam would be willing to spend “years and years and years” fighting all of these things again, as Ackles put it, maybe the bigger question is how to handle Chuck. After all, if they can get rid of the big bad that brought back all of these foes, wouldn’t that ensure the little bads stop coming?
“The season hasn’t been written yet,” Padlecki admitted, “but I feel like we’re after Chuck. We’re trying to get answers. We’re trying to earn our free will, so to speak. So I feel like what’s been really important to Sam and Dean for many, many years was, ‘Hey, we’re making decisions to make the world a better place — to help the people who can’t help themselves.’ And now we’ve been told, ‘You’re just a story I like to watch,’ and now we’re trying to fight for the privilege and responsibility of actually having free will.”
Collins was one actor who admitted that he didn’t feel his character needed to survive the series. “It’s funny, but from the very beginning I’ve always imagined that Cas would die right before the end, because I feel like the show somehow needs to end with Sam and Dean alone,” he told Variety. “But I don’t see a lot of people living at the end of ‘Supernatural’ because I think it needs a kind of closure that only definitive death can bring. That’s very morose, but true. I don’t think we want a ‘Game of Thrones’ ending on ‘Supernatural.'”
One thing Collins did say he wanted before the series ended, though, was to see Castiel truly express his loyalty to the Winchesters. “I would love to see him just be able to say, ‘You’re my people. You’re who I care about that.’ I’d love to see him make a sacrifice,” he shared.
The reason they wanted to go out now, Padalecki shared because they didn’t want to be “the last guy at the party.
“This show is going so strong. It’s going so well right now,” he explained. “We’re such a well-oiled machine, we thought it would be almost poetic and indicative of what ‘Supernatural’ is about to say goodbye too soon.”
However, while “Supernatural” as a long-running drama will definitely end in 2020 after the 20-episode 15th season, Ackles said he felt the culture the show has created and the experience of the show is “a long journey that I don’t think is ever going to be over. I just think we’re going to go away for awhile.”
Does this mean the “Supernatural” cast and crew would be open to a limited series revival in a few years or some kind of movie?
“I’m never ever ready to close doors or burn bridges, I think that’s foolish. Am I saying there’s conversations? No. Am I saying I’d be open to conversations in the future? What’s the harm in that?” Ackles said.
Access (video) Published on 6 Aug 2019
Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles have so much love for their fans! While dishing to Access about bidding farewell to "Supernatural" after 15 seasons, the actors gushed about their supportive and loyal fans. Jared and Jensen also adorably recount their favorite memory from shooting the beloved show, and they tease what will go down in the last season.
Jared: I'm proud of what's gone and we're going out with a bang. Don't call me on April 3rd, I will be like (crying), but for now I can hold it together.
Jensen: Or this time next year – 'why aren't we working yet, what happened to us?'
Jared: I'll be mowing lawns to pay the mortgage.
Jensen: We got a nice final season gift from WB, a beautiful serving tray, usually it's like a bag. Or are they like getting us used to being in the workforce?
Favorite memories?
Jared: season 4, falling in love with my wife,
Jensen: No, not regrettable, just to clarify, haha Jared: most expensive memories.. haha,
Jensen: I remember that moment, wish I had, did we have smartphones back then, they didn't have decent cameras back then – that's how long we've been on the show! There was a perfectly good chair beside her but he sat down on the floor in front of her, she was reading a book, so he was in her eyeline.
Jared: Well, my pet peeve is when people interrupt me reading.
Jensen: When my twins were born, I was on set 2,000 miles away. I was all packed ready to go when the director said wrap, and he was got your passport?
Jensen: SO I was.. Why would you ask that, it's always in the same pocket, and I went to check and thought he had hid it, and I realised I did not have it. We fixed it but talk about adding stress, so maybe not my favorite memory, but.
Jensen: When I got pitched the ending, it took me two weeks to come to terms with it.
Jared: We have a hole in hell, and hopefully in the ending, any season of 14, if you ask at ep 2, the ending is not what turned out. But what I want for S&D is for them to have peace, on a beach, dead, in space, they have earned peace.
Jensen: Some sort of resolution, it wasn't all for naught, we fought because we believed in it. Fighting the good fight, I think that's what people connect with, when the odds are stacked against you, the show embodies that resilience.
Jared: We have this "we did good, ok, now back to work". The are willing to carry on, put themselves at risk, sacrifice to help others.
Jensen: We may not have awards, but walking out on that stage (SDCC) and nearly 7,000 people applaud us, that was as big an award as we could ever have wished for in our lives, that's why I was emotional. It was a celebration of what we had all built.
Jared: We wouldn't exist without them, it felt like a communal good job.
Last message to fans:
Jared: Thank you.
Jensen: Nothing ever stays dead on SPN.
ET interview by Matt Cohen (v) ET video
Where are your heads right now? Jensen: Our lives will never be the same, my mental state right now is pretty much the smae as the start, pace yourself, it's a marathon. I'm trying to block the emotional rabbit hole it might take me down, continue the job that's got me here, let that find me after the holidays.
Jared: I can't say goodbye to Sam Winchester, as for the show ending, I don't know yet, SDCC was really difficult. Back on the clock, game on. Ask me in April I guess.
Did the first episode, that you directed, did it feel like – that was the last time. Jensen: I had a bit of that the first day, the familiar smells, my trailer, seeing everybody, that underlying feeling, this is the last time this is going to happen, it's a weighty feeling, to know it's the final first day, had some weight to it.
Matt: Directing: Jared – we've got something for you, you are in deep dodo.
Matt: Do you have anything that you kept? Jared: my chair back every year, this is a special one. Little knick knacks from Bobby's house we burned down.
Jensen: There are little things we have an emotional attachment to, whether it's Dean's vinyl in his room, whatever.
Jared: I like stage 2, I need a flatbed truck.
Matt: I've never acted with Misha, do you remember me, when I was first John?
Jared: my first impression was – that guy shaves his arms, he must be a douchebag. He doesn't have to shave his arms to show he's ripped. It was a real joy to do the scene, you know how when you trust your co-actor, it came full circle.
Matt: tell your fans how they will cope. (I just binge watched the first season, and I have to applaud you guys).
Jensen: We made the decision with heavy hearts, it was very hard, and it will be hard, but we never wanted to stick around if the car started to run out of gas. Not to say it is, or that we're tired of it, but we feel solid where we are, we have passion and love for the show to go out with a bank, not fizzle out.
Jared: Leave the party at its peak. The show could go for years but we want to leave the fans, and us, wanting more. Hopefully I'm not saying farewell, but see you later, this show will always be part of me.
Tribune On the wrapping up of Supernatural, which will panel later today with the cast and producers present, Pedowitz said the decision inevitably lay with stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki as well as the executive producers.
"All I can tell you is that Jared, Jensen, Peter Roth from Warner Brothers Studio and myself, had a very, very long, sad, heartbreaking discussion and we all came to understand what the guys wanted to do. They wanted to go out still relevant. They wanted to go be with their families. They wanted to see what else was out in the world and you know what? As we always said, and I said this many times, when they are ready to stop, we will stop. For them — and for Stephen Amell on Arrow — these shows are going out the way the way they were supposed to go….but if you can convince them to come back, I'm open!"
Also, later in the panel and asking about a potential Supernatural spin-off now that it is ending its run after season 15, Pedowitz didn't have any new news but don't hold your breath since he did say, "I think the show's essence and blood is Jared and Jensen."



The CW's Summer 2019 TCA Party sponsored by Branded Entertainment Network at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 04, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California.


JustJared: Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki Buddy Up to Promote 'Supernatural' at Summer TCAs 2019
Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki pose together on the red carpet as they arrive at The CW’s Summer 2019 TCA Party on Sunday night (August 4) at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The Supernatural stars were joined at the event by their co-stars Misha Collins and Alexander Calvert.
Earlier in the day, the guys attended the panel discussion to promote the final season of their hit show.
“We’re looking at this as a true ending. People can’t keep coming back over and over again,” co-showrunner Andrew Dabb shared with EW. “This time it’s for real.”

JustJared: 'Supernatural' Stars Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki Hit Up Their Last CW Summer TCA Party
Jensen Ackles smushes Jared Padalecki‘s face for the perfect picture while arriving for their final CW’s Summer TCA Party held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday evening (August 4) in Beverly Hills, Calif.