Why Jensen Ackles Didn't Tell Jared Padalecki About 'Supernatural' Prequel: 'Extremely Superstitious'
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Jensen Ackles never meant to keep the Supernatural prequel a secret from his onscreen brother Jared Padalecki.
The actor and producer, 43, said Padalecki, 39, was "number one" on his list of people to tell about The Winchesters, the first title under his Chaos Machine Productions banner. Ackles explained the miscommunication last week on Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, stating that he is "extremely superstitious."
"It's an unwritten rule that you just don't talk about s— until it's a done deal, until the ink has dried," Ackles noted. "And this was my first venture into producing and creating content, and I didn't wanna jinx it at any cost. So, I shut up about it. Only the people that had to know knew."
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He said that he only received the first script for the show last week and it was still in the early stages of development when Deadline announced it back in June 2021. "I definitely had people that I was excited to tell, Jared being number one on that list," he said.
Ackles recalled that he was working on a set that didn't allow phones when the news broke. By the time he reconnected to the world, he received a flood of congratulatory messages. "And then it all just kind of turned south," he said.
Jack Rowand/The CW Supernatural
Following the announcement, Padalecki tweeted his congratulations to Ackles, adding that he wished he had "heard about this some way other than Twitter. I'm excited to watch, but bummed that Sam Winchester had no involvement whatsoever."
"I had a long text from Jared, and he was really bummed, and I just remember my heart just sank. I was just like, 'F—!'" Ackles said, adding: "In hindsight, that could have been a step that was avoided. But he did it, and it happened, and we dealt with it. And he and I, we're great."
Padalecki has since recounted the same story and explained that they're "always brothers." The duo will also reunite for an episode of Walker season 2, which Ackles will direct.
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The pair starred in Supernatural as Sam (Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Ackles), two brothers hunting supernatural entities across the country, reuniting years after losing their mother to one such being. Premiering in 2005, the show ran for 15 seasons on The CW (and formerly The WB) before airing its finale in 2020.
The Winchesters will serve as an origin story about the brothers' parents John and Mary Winchester, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Samantha Smith in the parent series. Jensen will narrate the show and serve as executive producer with wife Danneel Ackles through Chaos Machine.
