It’s day 2 of the Supernatural Jus in Bello convention in Rome and the lead actors of the show – Jensen Ackles (Dean) and Jared Padalecki (Sam) – took to the stage, together and individually. If you missed our report from day 1, click here.
With the two lead actors, as well as Jim Beaver (Bobby) and Misha Collins (Castiel), speaking today, we got a lot of opinions on Supernatural, from arcs that happened in earlier seasons to season 7. Bear with me, because we have a lot of information to get through.
Bobby and His Death
Jim Beaver, of course, had this reaction when he was told about Bobby’s death this season: “I didn’t like it. But everybody dies…I was just hoping it would be around season 15. I wasn’t nuts about the storyline, but I knew it was good drama. I knew it would be a very affecting story.” But did he want anything to happen for Bobby before he died? “I think one last romp in the hot tub [with Sheriff Mills] would have been good. I really do think Bobby needs more of a love life. Every room Bobby went in to [in “Death’s Door”] was sadder than the one before. I think there should have been one with a hot tub.”
He thanked the fans for the wonderful reaction to “Death’s Door” and assured us that the prank he put together online to disguise Bobby’s return to the show wasn’t meant to trick the fans, per se: “I thought that if the news gets out that Bobby is coming back, it would make the episode less effective. I was doing [the prank] for you.”
Jared and Jensen were asked about Dean’s reaction to Bobby’s death and the cold shoulder he gave him at the end of “Of Grave Importance”. Jensen summed it up rather well when he said “I think what it boils down to is that Dean has a very black and white sense of what is right and wrong. I think that, for him, in order to process a situation like that, he needs to put it into a right or wrong situation. That’s how he’s been raised and how he lives his life. I think that’s why he gets so reckless, because he knows he’s not supposed to be alive.” Also, the boys know that ghosts can become vengeful. “If [a ghost] turns into a vengeful spirit, which is a concern of the guys, they don’t want it to happen to their beloved Bobby.” Jared followed that up with “If Bobby had come back to life I think the boys would have been happy about it.”
And fans couldn’t help but ask about the kiss between Bobby and Crowley (Mark Sheppard): “When you’re an actor you’re occasionally asked to do horrible things. Sometimes you have to rob a bank. Sometimes you have to slap a pretty girl. And then sometimes you have to kiss Mark Sheppard. I hated it even more afterwards, because he won’t shut up about it. I think he may have developed an attachment [for me]. The writers tell me he keeps calling and asking them when they’ll be another kissing scene with Bobby. And the tongue was his idea. For me, the [kiss] I can’t wait for is Sheriff Jodi Mills. First off, there’s no beard stubble. Second, she’s a beautiful woman.”
The Return of Castiel
Misha Collins was kidding with the audience when he was asked what he thought of Cas’ return and, in particular, the scene where Dean gives Castiel his trench coat after the angel remembers his past. He jokingly said that the scene was “romantic, wasn’t it? I think it was the gayest moment of the entire show. It’s a little creepy too. I kind of shudder to think what he did with that trench coat.”
But what do they think of how the story progressed, with Castiel having taken Sam’s Hellucinations? Does Sam feel guilty about that? “Yeah, but Sam kind of went to the hospital because of Cas,” Jared admitted. “I think Sam does feel guilty because he doesn’t want anyone to take pain because of him, but the only reason Sam’s in there because Castiel did it to him.”
As for Dean’s decision to leave Castiel in the hospital after he started Hellucinating, Jensen said “Originally, when I read that, I was like ‘what’? I probably had the same reaction you’re having. But then it eventually kind of unfolds and reveals that it was a smart choice. But I have that luxury of knowing what lies ahead.”
Recent Seasons and Supernatural’s New Showrunner
When a fan asked Jensen his thoughts on season 7 as a whole, and the return of Jeremy Carver, he explained that “There was definitely a continuity in the first five seasons and the last two seasons kind of deviated from that. I spent five years doing that one kind of story arc, the big story arc that Kripke created. I do have a love for that story and the way that the characters were written and all that stuff. But I do give Sera [Gamble] credit for the last two years in continuing the success of the show and the quality of the show and putting her own signature on it and making it a bit different.”
“I would like to get back to the way that it was originally, in a sense. I know we’ve come so far that to wipe the slate clean would be impossible. I think there are ways of reintroducing that format into the show. We might get to see that. We have a new showrunner: Jeremy Carver. He was one of our best writers. We’re very happy to have him because he’s very talented. It will be interesting to see which way he takes the show. Part of me wants to go 11 seasons, just so I can tell Tom Welling [from Smallville] to ‘suck it’. But the other part of me is like ’11 seasons, dude? Can you last that long?’.”
A Musical Episode?
Unfortunately for the hopeful fans, Jensen said that it’s unlikely Supernatural will have a musical episode. While Jensen can “carry a tune,” as he described, Dean cannot. In fact, before the first time Dean ever sung in the show, Eric Kripke told Jensen to sing off key as Dean, so it’s unlikely we’ll ever see a musical episode because the Winchester boys just don’t sing (well). Maybe they could have a musical episode if everyone else around them was singing, which would result in the boys going “What the hell is going on?!”
The Impala
Supernatural fans have lamented the fact that the famous Impala has been missing since early season 7. Will it return? Jensen confirmed that “Yes, I miss the car. Lord knows Dean misses the car too. The good news is that I, with the help of some others, convinced the show to put money into the Impala. The way you hear that car sound on TV is not the way it sounds in real life. In real life it sounds kind of embarrassing. I’ve been embarrassed for it by 6 seasons.” So he convinced them to invest money into an iconic character. “I don’t think they would have done that if the car didn’t have a way back.”
Supernatural Discussion and Spoilers
Jim Beaver mentioned that he wasn’t sure how the rumors got started that Supernatural had been picked up for an eighth season. “The show hasn’t been officially picked up since I checked the news yesterday. But they just hired new production staff, so…. you don’t sign contracts with people only to fire them a week later. I think the show will come back for season 8. I have a pretty good feeling it will be around for longer than that.” He also addressed a question about whether Bobby will remain a ghost: “Bobby’s a ghost…for the moment. It’s Supernatural [who knows what will happen].” Of course, this isn’t official confirmation, so take those statements as you will.
Fans who watched this week’s episode “The Girl With the Dungeon and Dragons Tattoo”, may have recognized guest star Felicia Day (read our recap). Jared says, “We’re really hoping to bring [Felicia Day] back.”
The End of the God Debate?
Fans have been divided since the season 5 finale of Supernatural, which indicated that Chuck may or may not have been God. Rob Benedict has been calling his character “God” during the entire convention. In fact, after the finale was filmed, Rob said Erick Kripke called him and asked “So how does it feel to be God? Don’t get too excited [because you’re probably not coming back].”
Pranks
Supernatural fans always ask about the pranks the boys play on set. Jared described a recent prank he played on Misha: “There’s an episode where Misha is wearing pants that don’t have a belt (sweatpants). We were doing a scene with Sam talking to Castiel. You only see our heads. During his coverage, I would sit there, use my legs, and I would pull his pants down.”
Misha got his revenge, because he explained that “as a gift to the crew I made everyone underwear, which apparently was a little inappropriate. I printed up several hundred pairs of underwear and gave them to everyone. The underwear have Jared and Jensen’s faces on it. It says ‘we’ve got your back’. I thought it was really clever. Everyone on the Supernatural crew have a pair of underwear with Jared and Jensen’s faces on their ass.”
Character Studies
For me, some of the most interesting questions is when the actors are asked about their character’s motivations. I always have an interpretation of the characters, but it’s interesting to see whether it matches up with the actors’ explanations. Jensen was asked whether Dean actually loved Lisa and he admitted that “I think he loved the idea of her. I don’t know if that’s cliche. I think that he found somebody who could represent the idea of what he wanted, and that was to live a normal life. She had a son that he related to that may or may not have been his. They represented the life that he always thought he wanted. Whether he truly loved her, I don’t know. They didn’t dive that deep into the storyline to get that out. I think he loved her enough that he couldn’t be with her.”
He also admitted that Dean’s guilt, feelings of responsibility and melancholy will always be a part of him: “I think there’s an enormous amount of guilt that Dean carries around for many things. I think that’s just a part of who he is and what keeps him running. It’s his cross to bear. The guilt of losing his father, the guilt of losing Bobby, the guilt of not being able to protect his brother all the time. When all those things add up, life is pretty grim for Dean. But yet he’s still able to smile and turn on the radio and eat cheeseburgers. He’s got that vulnerability about him and that strength about him. That’s what makes him such a great character to play. I think that Dean needs that burden [of being a big brother and hero] in his life to validate him. I think he gravitates towards the painful version of himself and takes on the heavy responsibility because it makes him who he is.”
Jared indirectly addressed what the fans call the Sam girlfriend curse – the fact that a female character is marked for death the moment he sleeps with her – when a fan asked why Sam hasn’t had a girlfriend in so long. “I think Sam always struggled with having a girl in his life. His mother died because of him. Then Jess died because of him. Then he slept with a werewolf who he had to shoot. Then he was with a demon who started the apocalypse. It’s like one bitten, twice shy. And since they’re being hunted by Leviathans now, they don’t want to get close to anyone.”
In terms of the show as a whole, Jared said that “I think that what makes Supernatural long-lasting…in a very weird way, we have ghosts and goblins, etc, and it helps tell stories about real human emotions and what’s important. You see these very important ideas that are very realistic. When you see them in a theater of monsters and goblins and ghouls, you can [throw those away] and what’s left is lessons about caring for your fellow man and working hard and taking care of others.”
On a humorous note, Richard Speight, Jr. (The Trickster/Gabriel), was asked what he would do if he had the powers of The Trickster. He jokingly replied that “I’d like for Jared and Jensen to be short. Like, really small. I’d love for them to walk around and no one notices them. They’ll have to make little tiny boots for Jared. And he’ll have little tiny hair problems. Little tiny beanie caps.”
Use the arrows above to browse through photos from the Supernatural convention. Stay tuned, we’ll have more coverage on Sunday.
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Photo Credit: @ingenuemeg
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