The Winchester Family Business

It seems right under my nose a marvellous young actor evolved… and I didn’t know… I first noticed Jared Padalecki in Supernatural. I had not seen any of his previous work. I had not been familiar with Gilmore Girls, Young MacGyver or House of Wax. I found out about those, of course, and watched them with great interest and curiosity. What struck me most was the diamond in the rough Jared was back then. The great emotional depth that would soon become one of his acting trademarks was already palpable. And, most important for me – I noticed significant intelligence in his eyes. Oh, yes, this was an actor I wanted to watch over and over again. 

 

Jared Padalecki – Talent to be Reckoned With

 

It seems right under my nose a marvellous young actor evolved… and I didn’t know… I first noticed Jared Padalecki in Supernatural. I had not seen any of his previous work. I had not been familiar with Gilmore Girls, Young MacGyver or House of Wax. I found out about those, of course, and watched them with great interest and curiosity. What struck me most was the diamond in the rough Jared was back then. The great emotional depth that would soon become one of his acting trademarks was already palpable. And, most important for me – I noticed significant intelligence in his eyes. Oh, yes, this was an actor I wanted to watch over and over again. 

 
Now, Supernatural is a TV show. Lucky me (lucky us…?). This means I didn’t have to wait months (hiatus excluded) to watch one of my favourite actors on screen. No, there was a weekly indulgence. And what a treat it has been to this day! 

 

(Young MacGyver, 2003)
 

From the pilot to the final episode of season six, Jared Padalecki grew. His acting abilities developed, and he had many opportunities to hone his skill. Not only playing opposite his hugely talented co-star Jensen Ackles (already one of the most gifted actors of his generation), but also learning from established, house-hold names such as Dennis Quaid, Hugh Laurie, Marcia Gay Harden, veteran Edward Asner or one of  the last living film legends, Sir Peter O’Toole. 

 

(Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Cottage, 2008, with Sir Peter  O’Toole)
 

As an actor you need to learn to listen. If you don’t, you will never have a career. As a pin-up face, perhaps, but not as a respectable thespian. You can learn all the techniques an actor requires fairly easily, how to build a character, how to approach a role, what is necessary to prepare it, but the most important ‘technique’ is – listen to the actor who is with you in that scene (and, of course, listen to your director). When I lived the theatre life, long, long ago, it was considered vital, and it still is. 

 

(House of Wax, 2005)

 

When I watch Jared in whatever scene – he listens. He’s always there. He reacts to what his partners are doing. His emotional condition changes in a manner a real person’s would, according to the inner state his character is in at that very moment. To make a character’s inner life available to an audience is a gift you are either born with or not. It’s not an accomplishment. It’s grace. And, I believe, it takes a brave soul to expose oneself with a vulnerable emotional state of whatever colour. Because – you always need to tap your own emotional reservoir, bring up what you find there and endow your character with it. So, in many ways, an actor is often himself, somewhat naked, thankfully shielded by the mask of the role he plays. 

From the very beginning, Jared Padalecki has embarked with great talent and passion on this perilous quest. Bound by camera angles, page limits, special effect preparations, expense accounts and tight schedules, he manages to breathe life into a character in a most amazing manner. 

The epitome of magnificent acting skill Jared owned in an episode like The End. For the first time we encounter Lucifer in Sam’s body. There is nothing left of the endearing younger Winchester. I need to quote myself here, kind readers, from the first article I wrote for this site, Angels, Demons & Brothers on Top, since I can’t put it better than I did there: ‘The sadness he displays as Lucifer is as distant from the grief Sam might show as it gets. (…) It takes a lot of guts and skill and charisma to tread the fine line of being unbelievably appealing and utterly appalling in the same moment.’ (Should you be interested to read the whole article, simply click on the link provided by our formidable site runners.)

 

To my mind, Jared found a gold mine of acting lessons when he was cast for the part in Supernatural. This remarkable show with its thought-provoking themes and tough dilemmas, environment of exploration and sophisticated writing, allowed Jared Padalecki to flourish and to become an actor who won’t have trouble portraying any role, from comedy to drama, provided that he will be given the chance to do that. The movie business is a tough field to play. Endless games of chess, high risks, marketing, and rivalry. 

Taking into account what Jared has told us in interviews and at conventions about how he approaches the role of Sam Winchester and what it means to him and having had the chance to speak to him personally on one occasion, I believe Jared has found a character who reflects his own intellect, fascination of life in all its facets and his understanding of devotion to people close to his heart. It’s easy to see how both, Sam and Jared are skilled in letting their minds lead them through challenges life is capable to offer. And, I dare say (without wanting to impute anything to Jared), both know what it means to experience life-altering, emotional agony. How I read Jared’s take on the roles he played so far, everything he might have lived through enhanced his acting abilities. He has become a very, very remarkable young actor. And he owns all the talent necessary to become a truly brilliant, great actor.
 

There has been a lot of talk about how handsome Jared Padalecki is. Of course he is, but good looks will get an actor only so far. There are myriads of handsome guys in this business. Even the smallest part in a TV show tends to be filled with a beautiful face, wash board abs and great hair. There are, however, not many actors around that survive the third-face-to-the-left parts. 

 

If you look at the greatest actors of our time, you find more than mere physical attractiveness – take for instance Colin Firth, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Paul Bettany or Gary Oldman… They are all attractive. Which woman hasn’t swooned over Firth’s Mr Darcy or Oldman’s Dracula? Those were only roles, and had these actors merely been pretty faces, the public would have forgotten about them very soon. No, they own something that exceeds the obvious. One thing: remarkable talent. But there is another important ingredient necessary for a stable and on-going career – I call it class.

When I look at Jared’s performances, not only in Supernatural, but also in the other films he’s made, I find class in abundance. 

 Furthermore, his looks are international. Thanks to his European heritage and somewhat Slavic features, he could be cast in roles that require that kind of presence. I would have no trouble imagining Jared in a strictly European part, like a medieval knight or explorer. In the past, parts like that have been occasionally terribly miscast, Richard Gere as Lancelot being one of the most prominent examples. Jared, on the other hand, would have easily fitted into the period costume and mannerism. I am very sure, if Jared were transported into Shakespearean times, the bard would gladly cast him in his dramas (I’d love to hear him speak the Queen’s English, I have to admit.)

Marcus Nispel, the director who worked with Jared in Friday 13^th, once said that Jared wasn’t right for the part of Conan (a role he auditioned for and, I assume, the reason why he put on all those muscles) because Nispel was looking for an actor who would be right to play the prince and the barbarian. Jared, he mused, would be able to play the prince, but he didn’t see him as the barbarian. 

 

(Friday 13^th, 2009)
 

There is indeed a noble quality to his appearance, mixed with an incredibly appealing sweetness and amiability, and I am sincerely hoping that Jared will have the opportunity to display that on the big screen once Supernatural is off air. The combination of handsome looks and a mind as swift as an arrow is incredibly appealing to me. I’m a fan of interesting people who think. I am pleased to say that I am a fan of Jared Padalecki, who is a thinking man and a human being of exceptional kindness. An honourable man, I’d say.

 

Happy birthday, Jared. 

You will grow even more as an actor and man, I am sure of that. While wishing you a beautiful, healthy life, both in your profession and in private with your lovely wife; personally I hope to be able to watch you on TV and the big screen twenty years from now, and (should you wish so) beyond. I would love to see you play a Knight Templar, Doctor Frankenstein, Gatsby, Wyatt Earp, Dracula, or Tom Joad, you name it. I would love to watch you perform in romantic comedies, adventure films and heavy weight dramas or whatever else the thespian part of your soul wishes for. And, given the chance, I am certain you would do a fabulous job. 

Thank you. Thank you so much for the fun I have had watching your performances to date. It has been a unique treat and great, great joy. 

(The picture copyrights lie with their respected owners, of course.)

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