Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles’ close friendship is almost supernatural.
The actors met for the first time while they were both auditioning for Supernatural in 2005. To their surprise, nobody else showed up to try out for the show.
“These network auditions are terrifying,” Padalecki admitted on The Talk in 2018. “So we met, and we … were sitting in the room like, ‘Where is everybody?’ And so we’re kind of waiting for other people to show up.”
While Padalecki and Ackles were waiting, they got to chatting with each other and found that they had a lot in common, including their Texas roots and their mutual love of the Dallas Cowboys.
Ackles said, “They brought us in, they had us read together in front of the executives and then they asked us to step outside — and then they said, ‘We’re just gonna switch some things up, we want you to do something different … just kidding, you guys have the parts.’”
Ackles and Padalecki went on to play brothers Dean and Sam Winchester, respectively, in all 15 seasons of the WB/CW series, which ended in 2020. Their self-proclaimed “brotherly bond” developed both on and off screen, with the pair remaining close after Supernatural’s conclusion.
Now, Ackles and Padalecki are set to reunite (along with Supernatural costar Misha Collins) in the fifth and final season of Prime Video’s The Boys.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at Ackles and Padalecki’s friendship timeline:
2005
Ackles and Padalecki starred together on Supernatural for 15 years.
“You’re talking about two young guys who all of a sudden got thrown together, moved away from their lives, [were] put up in Vancouver, Canada, and just told: ‘You’re both going to be working your asses off for the next 15 years,’” Ackles told Men’s Health in 2025 while reflecting on their friendship. “That created a bond early on, and it’s evolved as we’ve grown up and matured in our real lives. What started out as a couple of buddies in their 20s getting into a little too much trouble, having a little too much fun on set, has now evolved into two fathers with six kids between them. We’ve grown into men. We’ve got wives, children and mortgages. We’ve got a lot of responsibility outside of just showing up to work on time. And we did all that together.”
2007
Padalecki told TV Guide that he and Ackles work well together because they’re “really good buddies.”
“That’s been probably the best thing about Supernatural. In the last three years of my life, I’ve spent more time with Jensen Ackles than with any other human being and vice versa. Luckily, we get along really well and we are very similar guys,” he continued. “We’re both from Texas, we both love our families, the same kind of music and the Dallas Cowboys. It’s been a huge blessing to work with somebody who is easygoing on set and who I’m friends with.”
2013
In a joint interview with The Telegraph, Ackles said that despite constantly spending time with Padalecki at work, they still wanted to spend time together outside of their Supernatural filming schedule.
“Nine months a year, we’re stuck with each other literally 24 hours a day, seven days a week because we’re working on the show. Even doing stuff for ourselves in between isn’t possible. We’re constantly together,” he said. “And even when we’re not actually working together during the nine months, or the other three months out of the year for that matter, we always find ourselves choosing to hang out and be together.”
Padalecki added, “The best part about Jensen and my relationship is it’s gonna be that way when we’re on the show and not. I mean, unfortunately for him, he’s stuck with me for life now and that’s important. But look, brothers and sisters, for that matter, sometimes fight. Or worse … they can’t get along at all. Between Jensen and me, there have never been any issues and I think that’s rather special.”
2021
In June 2021, fans feared that there was a rift between Padalecki and Ackles when the former told fans he was “gutted” that he wasn’t told about the Supernatural prequel series, The Winchesters, being in development. (Ackles and his wife, Danneel, executive produced the series, which aired on The CW for one season from October 2022 to March 2023.)
“Dude. Happy for you. Wish I heard about this some way other than Twitter,” Padalecki wrote to Ackles via the social media site, sharing a report about the show from Deadline. “I’m excited to watch, but bummed that Sam Winchester had no involvement whatsoever.”
However, Padalecki later clarified that he and Ackles were on good terms.
“@JensenAckles and I had a great talk, as we do often, and things are good,” he tweeted. “The show is early in the process with miles to go. We’ve travelled a lot of roads together, and sometimes those damn roads have bumps. Bumps don’t stop us. Once brothers, always brothers.”
Ackles retweeted the post and added, “Love you @jarpad … Miss these talks. I forgot how much face time we always used to get. And I miss that too. I know you’re busy … as am I, but you’re still my brother. I miss you, pal.”
2025
Padalecki and Collins are set to join Ackles in the final season of The Boys.
“It was weird,” Ackles told People of having his former Supernatural costars guest star on his show. “It was like inviting my friends over to somebody else’s house for dinner. I was like, ‘Listen, guys, don’t make me look bad. I got to stay here.’ They were amazing. I can’t wait to talk more about it because it was quite an experience.”
Ackles also opened up to Men’s Health about his “brotherly bond” with Padalecki.
“We still talk all the time; we still see each other all the time,” he said. “He’s on my short list of the people I can call if I ever need anything, and I’m on his as well. I don’t know many people who could have facilitated that kind of relationship for that many years. I’m very thankful it was him.”
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