Posted:
'Supernatural' Season 10: Jensen
Ackles dishes on directing again and
playing Demon Dean
http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/supernatural_season_10_jensen_ackles_interview_directing_playing_demon_dean-2014-07
Jensen Ackles is going behind the
camera once again to direct a Season
10 episode of "Supernatural," and
according to him, the episode turned
out better than he hoped it could.
"I just wrapped episode 1 which I
directed, but it's not the season
premiere. It will air third," Ackles tells
Zap2it . "But it was the first one that
we shot, since they did me a very
nice favor in moving the episode I'm
directing to be filmed first so that I
could prep without actually having to
act in another episode. Otherwise I
would have had to be working on
episode 2 as an actor, trying to prep
for episode 3 as a director and that
would be very, very difficult."
Ackles is very thankful to the cast
and crew for switching up the
schedule just to accommodate him.
"They bumped mine up to the front of
the list to allow me to come back
from the hiatus, do the prep, do the
shoot, and we're starting our season
premiere today," Ackles says. "They
kindly wrote Jared [Padalecki] and I
out of the first day so we could come
and spend the day with you [at the
2014 Summer TV Press Tour]."
After nine years, Ackles says the
best way to prep for a new season --
and to direct the first episode back --
is to go back and re-watch some
early episodes.
"I went back all the way to the pilot
and started picking off some
episodes from Season 1, Season 2,
some of the big arc episodes, the
ones that really moved the mythology
and the story along, and I wanted to
get fired up again," Ackles says. "It
inspires me to go back and see how
far we've come and what we did back
then. I remember calling Jared after I
watched the pilot again, and he
hadn't even come up to Vancouver
yet since he was still on his hiatus,
and I'm like, 'Hey man, I watched the
pilot last night, and it still holds up!
Good job man, I'm just calling to pat
you on the back.' He was like, 'Aw,
thanks!' And then I was like, 'Now get
your a** up here and let's shoot.'"
Ackles credits his success as a
director to mentors like
"Supernatural" directors Bob Singer
and Kim Manners. "They have been
an amazing mentors to me," Ackles
says. "It's not in like a certain style
or way, it's really just in the small
little subtleties. Kim used to always
preach that the scene is in the
nuances. You may not see it always
right there on the page but it's the
stuff that's between the lines that
really make a scene come to life. I try
to find those moments as an actor
and a director."
He continues, "Bob has the same
sort of advice when it comes to that
stuff, and he also gives me really
great technical advice. 'Drop back,
use long lenses, use your focus, use
your transitions to your advantage.'
That was film school 101 for me and
I couldn't have asked for better
teachers."
Like his new role offscreen, Ackles is
also about to tackle a new onscreen:
Playing a demon .
"I've only had one episode to do it so
far, and it was the one I was
directing so my mind was a little
scattered," Ackles admits. "Luckily I
was over-prepared as a director so I
was able to concentrate on the
performance of Demon Dean. It was
fun for this episode, but the next two
episodes I believe are going to be
even more entertaining. Like devil-
may-care, I would say that it's
ramped up to a very high, truly devil-
may-care, so we'll see how that
plays out. Hopefully it comes across
right."
Something else that's new in Season
10? Having both Misha Collins
(Castiel) and Mark Sheppard
(Crowley) as series regulars.
"It's simply the beginning of the
end," Ackles deadpans, before
laughing. "No, [Mark's] on as a
contract player now , we've got Misha
fully contracted now , and I couldn't
be more excited. Personally, I think
it's something we could have done a
couple years ago because I think
they're integral to the story and to the
boys moving forward, and it definitely
is going to make for some interesting
storylines and arcs this year, having
them both available to us full-time.
We're not going to have to share
Mark with another series or having to
share Misha with something else, so
the fact that they're both on full-time
is welcome to us."
And Ackles couldn't let the interview
end without thanking all the
"Supernatural" fans for helping them
get to Season 10. "Thanks for
keeping us in the game for 10 years,
to all our fans and everybody,"
Ackles says. "It is truly a job that we
love and cherish. It's a show we love
to work on and it's a story that we
still love to tell. So deep thanks from
the bottom of our hearts."
"Supernatural" Season 10 premieres
Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on
The CW.
Ackles dishes on directing again and
playing Demon Dean
http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/supernatural_season_10_jensen_ackles_interview_directing_playing_demon_dean-2014-07
Jensen Ackles is going behind the
camera once again to direct a Season
10 episode of "Supernatural," and
according to him, the episode turned
out better than he hoped it could.
"I just wrapped episode 1 which I
directed, but it's not the season
premiere. It will air third," Ackles tells
Zap2it . "But it was the first one that
we shot, since they did me a very
nice favor in moving the episode I'm
directing to be filmed first so that I
could prep without actually having to
act in another episode. Otherwise I
would have had to be working on
episode 2 as an actor, trying to prep
for episode 3 as a director and that
would be very, very difficult."
Ackles is very thankful to the cast
and crew for switching up the
schedule just to accommodate him.
"They bumped mine up to the front of
the list to allow me to come back
from the hiatus, do the prep, do the
shoot, and we're starting our season
premiere today," Ackles says. "They
kindly wrote Jared [Padalecki] and I
out of the first day so we could come
and spend the day with you [at the
2014 Summer TV Press Tour]."
After nine years, Ackles says the
best way to prep for a new season --
and to direct the first episode back --
is to go back and re-watch some
early episodes.
"I went back all the way to the pilot
and started picking off some
episodes from Season 1, Season 2,
some of the big arc episodes, the
ones that really moved the mythology
and the story along, and I wanted to
get fired up again," Ackles says. "It
inspires me to go back and see how
far we've come and what we did back
then. I remember calling Jared after I
watched the pilot again, and he
hadn't even come up to Vancouver
yet since he was still on his hiatus,
and I'm like, 'Hey man, I watched the
pilot last night, and it still holds up!
Good job man, I'm just calling to pat
you on the back.' He was like, 'Aw,
thanks!' And then I was like, 'Now get
your a** up here and let's shoot.'"
Ackles credits his success as a
director to mentors like
"Supernatural" directors Bob Singer
and Kim Manners. "They have been
an amazing mentors to me," Ackles
says. "It's not in like a certain style
or way, it's really just in the small
little subtleties. Kim used to always
preach that the scene is in the
nuances. You may not see it always
right there on the page but it's the
stuff that's between the lines that
really make a scene come to life. I try
to find those moments as an actor
and a director."
He continues, "Bob has the same
sort of advice when it comes to that
stuff, and he also gives me really
great technical advice. 'Drop back,
use long lenses, use your focus, use
your transitions to your advantage.'
That was film school 101 for me and
I couldn't have asked for better
teachers."
Like his new role offscreen, Ackles is
also about to tackle a new onscreen:
Playing a demon .
"I've only had one episode to do it so
far, and it was the one I was
directing so my mind was a little
scattered," Ackles admits. "Luckily I
was over-prepared as a director so I
was able to concentrate on the
performance of Demon Dean. It was
fun for this episode, but the next two
episodes I believe are going to be
even more entertaining. Like devil-
may-care, I would say that it's
ramped up to a very high, truly devil-
may-care, so we'll see how that
plays out. Hopefully it comes across
right."
Something else that's new in Season
10? Having both Misha Collins
(Castiel) and Mark Sheppard
(Crowley) as series regulars.
"It's simply the beginning of the
end," Ackles deadpans, before
laughing. "No, [Mark's] on as a
contract player now , we've got Misha
fully contracted now , and I couldn't
be more excited. Personally, I think
it's something we could have done a
couple years ago because I think
they're integral to the story and to the
boys moving forward, and it definitely
is going to make for some interesting
storylines and arcs this year, having
them both available to us full-time.
We're not going to have to share
Mark with another series or having to
share Misha with something else, so
the fact that they're both on full-time
is welcome to us."
And Ackles couldn't let the interview
end without thanking all the
"Supernatural" fans for helping them
get to Season 10. "Thanks for
keeping us in the game for 10 years,
to all our fans and everybody,"
Ackles says. "It is truly a job that we
love and cherish. It's a show we love
to work on and it's a story that we
still love to tell. So deep thanks from
the bottom of our hearts."
"Supernatural" Season 10 premieres
Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on
The CW.
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