Jensen Ackles
Jensen Ackles | |
|---|---|
| File:JensenAckles2007Comicon.jpg | |
| Born | Jensen Ross Ackles |
Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) is an American television actor. He is notable for his television roles as Eric Brady in Days of Our Lives, Alec/X5-494 in Dark Angel, Jason Teague in Smallville and most recently Dean Winchester on the CW series Supernatural.
Life and career
Early life
Jensen was born in Dallas, Texas to Alan Roger Ackles, an actor, and Donna Joan Shaffer. Ackles has an older brother, Joshua, and a younger sister, Mackenzie, and is of Irish and British ancestry. He had planned to study sports medicine at Texas Tech University and become a physical therapist before moving to Los Angeles to become an actor.[1][2][3]
Career
After modeling off and on since he was a young child at the age of 4, Ackles began to concentrate on an acting career in 1996. He appeared in several guest roles on Mr. Rhodes, Sweet Valley High, and Cybill before joining the cast of the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives as Eric Brady in 1997. He won a 1998 Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Male Newcomer and went on to be nominated three times (in 1998, 1999, and 2000) for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Days of Our Lives.[4]
Ackles departed Days of Our Lives in 2000 and went on to appear in the mini-series Blonde about the life of Marilyn Monroe. He also auditioned for the role as the young Clark Kent on Smallville, but it was offered to actor Tom Welling instead.[5] After failing to land the part, he appeared in a guest role on the James Cameron television series Dark Angel on Fox in 2001 as Ben/X5-493, the psychopathic, serial killer "brother" of the main character Max/X5-452 (played by Jessica Alba). His character died in the episode, but Ackles returned to the show as a series regular in the second season as Ben's twin, Alec/X5-494. He remained with the show until its cancellation in 2002.
Ackles worked steadily throughout 2003. He joined the cast of the WB's hit show Dawson's Creek during the final season, playing CJ, Jen Lindley's lover. Afterward, Ackles filmed several episodes of the unaired series Still Life for Fox before it was abruptly dropped. He also had a small role in the 2004 short film The Plight of Clownana. Ackles was the producer's first choice to play Eliza Dushku's love interest on the second season of Tru Calling,[6], Ackles turned down the role which was then offered to another actor and the character's name was changed to 'Jensen' because the producers of 'Tru Calling' liked Ackles' name. Ackles returned to Vancouver (where Dark Angel was filmed) in 2004 to become a regular on Smallville playing Assistant Football Coach Jason Teague, who was also the newest romantic interest for Lana Lang, played by Kristin Kreuk. He also had a lead role in the 2005 film Devour in which Ackles real life father, actor Alan Ackles also had a role playing the father of Ackles' character, Jake Gray.
Most recently, Ackles joined the cast of the WB horror/drama/comedy series Supernatural in 2005, where he co-stars as Dean Winchester. Dean teams with his brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) to road trip across the country investigating the paranormal while searching for their missing father John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The second season was picked up by The CW in 2006 for the 2006-2007 television season. The show is now in its third season. [7]
In the summer of 2006, Jensen Ackles took on the role of Priestly in the quirky Independent film comedy Ten Inch Hero. The film began hitting the Film Festival circuit in early 2007 and Ackles received high praise for his comedic timing in the role. The movie is currently waiting to find a distributor for feature film release. He also appeared on stage from June 5-10, 2007 with Lou Diamond Phillips in A Few Good Men at Casa Mañana Theatre in Fort Worth Texas as Lt. Daniel Kaffee. Ackles received extensive praise for his work in this role, which was also his first ever appearance in a professional stage production.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Wishbone | Michael Duss |
| 1996 | 7th Heaven | Halloween #9 kid |
| 1996 | Sweet Valley High | Brad |
| 1996 | Mr. Rhodes | Malcolm |
| 1997 | Cybill | David |
| 1997–2000 | Days of Our Lives | Eric Roman Brady |
| 2001 | Blonde | Eddie G |
| 2001–2002 | Dark Angel | Ben/X5-493 and Alec/X5-494 |
| 2002–2003 | Dawson's Creek | C.J. |
| 2003 | Still Life (unaired) | Max Morgan |
| 2004 | The Plight of Clownana | Jensen |
| 2004–2005 | Smallville | Jason Teague |
| 2005 | Devour | Jake Gray |
| 2005–present | Supernatural | Dean Winchester |
| 2007 | Ten Inch Hero | Priestly |
| TBA | Resident Evil: Afterlife | Leon S. Kennedy |
References
- ^ "Days of Our Lives 'Star Stats'". Soap Opera Magazine. 1998-02-17. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ "Days of Our Lives article: 'Bachelor Pad'". Soap Opera Weekly. 1997-08-26. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ "FYI: Jensen Ackles". Soap Opera Weekly. 1997-10-28. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ "Awards for Jensen Ackles". Internet Movie Database Inc. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ Tom Welling, Jensen Ackles (2006-03-26). 25 Things You Didn't Know About Supernatural (Television). TV Guide Channel.
- ^ "Jensen Ackles (translated from French)". Series Magazine (France). October 2004. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ Levin, Gary (2006-08-17). "The new CW will build on old favorites". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-01-25.