It’s been 20 years since the premiere ofSupernatural, and the cast of the long-running series has revealed that they were once surprised anyone watched the show at all.Supernaturalaired its pilot episodein 2005, and 15 seasons of a beloved, critically acclaimed show quickly followed.
Supernaturalwent on to earn big viewing numbers, strong reviews with a 93% onRotten Tomatoes, and even some award nominations from major awards bodies,including three Emmy nominations over the course of the series. Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Misha Collins sat down withTVInsiderto discuss the show’s legacy two decades after the premiere.
When asked about the show’s legacy and the huge fandom it has spawned, all three actors admitted they were surprised by the outpouring of goodwill and love from the fanbase.
When did you first notice that the fandom was something different?
Jensen Ackles: I did a convention in the U.K. after Season 1, and it was the first one representing Supernatural that I was a part of. There were people from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Smallville, and a variety of genre-esque shows, and we’d only been on for one season. But they’d done a really big marketing push in the U.K. for our first season, so when I showed up, the response from the fans there was shocking. I came back and was like…
Padalecki: “Dude, we’re famous!” [Laughs]
Ackles: Yeah, like, “We might get another season out of this!” [Laughs]
Misha Collins: I was totally surprised there were fans at all. Actually, my first convention was a Creation convention in New Jersey 16 years ago. I remember coming out onstage and being totally astonished. When we’re filming, we’re performing for the crew, who have seen us do a hundred thousand scenes, and they’re bored stiff by our antics. We’re really only getting the response of the glass on the camera. At these shows, we get to see a real audience response from fans who really love the show. There’s something about the feedback we get from coming to these that’s actually quite gratifying.
Padalecki joked that he did understand if they came off a little fame-starved, saying, “As I’m hearing us speak, it turns out we all have an insatiable hunger for flattery and praise, which probably started when we were young, from being ignored. [Laughs]”.
What The Cast’s Comments Suggest About Supernatural
Supernatural Was Never A Guaranteed Success
WhenSupernaturalpremiered, the showrunner Eric Kripke had only worked on the short-lived seriesTarzan,Jensen Ackles was best knownas Eric Brady onDays of Our Livesand Jason Teague inSmallville, Jared Padalecki had been in Gilmore Girls, and Misha Collins had bopped around TV shows for years.
Basically,no one was a star at this point, and there was no guarantee thatSupernaturalwould be a hit. Combine that with the fact thatSupernaturalhad to compete withGilmore Girls,Smallville, and7th Heaven, which all aired on The WB, and it’s no wonder the actors were surprised by the fandom.
The series was clearly a big hit in the United Kingdom at first, but according to Collins, by the time seasons four and five came around, fans on both sides of the Atlantic were cramming convention centers to get a chance to meet their heroes. Everyone hopes for success, butmost actors probably don’t expect that reception.
Our Take On The Cast Of Supernatural’s Comments
The TV Landscape Has Changed A Lot Since The Show Premiered
Now,it’s hard to imagine there was ever a time when a show likeSupernaturalwouldn’t be popular, so it almost sounds like Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins are being falsely modest. However, 2005 was a long time ago, and the television and movie landscapes were different.
There was no MCU. Superhero shows had to be cloaked in a teen drama, like inSmallville. Supernatural fantasy series likeBuffy the Vampire Slayerfelt like rare one-offs. A show likeSupernaturalwas not primed to be a success, and it’s not a surprise that the actors didn’t foresee a fan reaction like the one they got.
Supernatural
Cast
Supernatural is a television series that follows brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, who were raised by their father to hunt and combat supernatural entities after losing their mother to a demonic force. Traversing the American landscape in their ‘67 Chevy Impala, they face numerous paranormal threats.
