It was a whirlwind weekend in New York City, and for me – a long-time passionate “Supernatural” fan – the most exciting part of the weekend was getting a chance to ask a few questions to the cast, showrunner, and executive producers of the “Supernatural” prequel series “The Winchesters” which premieres tonight on the CW!
Press rooms are always a combination of highly stressful (will I have time for this one or have to run to the next one…) and highly enjoyable (especially when it’s a cast and a show you really care about, like this one is for me).
A big thank you to the publicity team who organized this one, because they kept everyone on schedule, despite it sometimes inevitably being like herding cats, and made sure we all got a chance to meet with all the talent. For me, this press room was also a “Supernatural” mini-reunion, and I was thrilled to get the chance to see some fellow journalists who are also long-time SPN fans in the room.
Executive producers Jensen and Danneel Ackles came with daughter JJ, who patiently waited for her parents to walk the carpet and make the rounds to each press table. It’s always wonderful to see Jensen, whose hugs are exuberant (and whose green velvet jacket, I can happily report, was just as soft and cuddly as it looked when squished against it). It was extra wonderful to see Danneel, who I haven’t had the pleasure of saying hello to in far too long – her hugs are also wonderful, as was her 70s-inspired outfit. Gorgeous!
I’ve been lucky enough to have some in-depth conversations with showrunner and writer Robbie Thompson over the years, but it’s been a while, so seeing him again was also a thrill. His episodes of “Supernatural” are some of my favorites, so I’m ecstatic to have him helming “The Winchesters. “
Drake Rodger and Meg Donnelly are brand new to me, so I was happy to get a chance to talk to them about taking on the iconic roles of John and Mary Winchester – and by the time they left our table, I was even more excited to see them do just that! Drake has been a “Supernatural” fan for a long time and clearly cares about the show and its canon just as all of us fans do.
Meg is new to the show, but its history and importance are something she’s clearly already absorbed and understood. Here are a few highlights of our conversation, which is included in its entirety in the YouTube video linked here.
My question for them kicked off our table’s chat.
Lynn: The fandom was both excited and nervous about a prequel for Supernatural. One of the things that has been reassuring for me is to hear how you both talk about the show – Drake, you’ve been a fan long before this new show came along, and Meg, you talk about it in a way that suggests you really ‘get it’.
Fifteen Seasons and It Was So Good, How Could It Be Better?
Drake: I resonate with you, because when I saw the prequel come along, I was like oh come on, there’s no way, 15 seasons and it was so good as what it was, how could it be better? And then I read the script and was like, that’s how! They have something here, this is not just to put product out – the series means so much more to them (the creative team). For Jensen, after 15 years, it’s not about product, it’s about story. He had a story that he really wanted to tell for characters that he loved, John and Mary.
Meg said at the time it aired, it was too scary for her (and sometimes this one is too).
Meg: Watching it now, especially the John and Mary scenes for context, it’s such a beautiful show. And learning about it from Jensen and from Jared (Padalecki), it was such an honor learning about the show. We constantly think about the fans and their expectations and keep asking how can we make it better.
Lynn: Well your passion for this really helps!
Meg talked about taking inspiration from shows like Buffy – and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Drake: That’s the vibe!
She’s not used to playing a character that’s so closed off, Meg said, but it sounds like she’s enjoying that challenge too. Drake is finding all the Latin a challenge, just like Jensen and Jared did years ago.
Meg shared with a laugh that Jensen gave her the advice not to ever sink on her heel when standing next to Drake, since that will make you look even shorter – something he had to learn from all those years of standing next to Jared Padalecki!
Jensen also gave Drake the advice that, when it’s not your coverage, make sure you make the other people pay for it – as in, making faces to crack them up! A “Supernatural” tradition for sure.
I was very happy to see showrunner Robbie Thompson in person after a long time, and we all were excited to get to ask him some questions. I asked him about the character of Carlos, after his history of writing some of the most beloved original characters in Supernatural like Charlie, who was important to fans in terms of representation.
Robbie: When I’m creating characters, I don’t really think about that. I know that Charlie is a character who has really endured – someone just thanked me for her and I said thank Felicia (Day)! It’s hard for me to separate coming up with the idea and the collaboration with the actor. JoJo is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, and they are such a national treasure and a delightful energy. So what they’re bringing, I’m excited to have that connect with the audience. But you just never know. For Charlie, I had said, we need a Felicia Day type and Sera Gamble was like well, how about Felicia? And I was like, we can just do that?! But it’s a real credit to JoJo and also to Robert Ulrich, our casting director, and his team. They cast “Supernatural” too. Carlos was probably harder to cast, since it’s a very fun character who had a very dramatic entrance as you’ll soon see. I’m really excited for people to meet these characters, they’re amazing and it’s been such a collaboration with this cast. You can’t recreate Jared and this guy (pointing to Jensen), you just can’t, but what we wanted to do was find the type of fun atmosphere that we had and I think we’ve done a good job.
Someone else asked how he made sure that everything will align with “Supernatural” (adding that otherwise the fans will be coming for you!)
Robbie: And they should! I was the first to ask that question. The great thing about working on “Supernatural” was we always pushed the boundaries and could think outside the box, and that takes two to tango, a great cast which we had and a great audience who’s willing to go there with you…. We do not want to one thing that will undo one moment of Supernatural. So for anyone who thinks this will change things or change the ending, no. How we get there? That might be a surprise, but we will reveal it in episode 13, I promise. Now if you’re someone who’s seen 15 seasons of “Supernatural” (stares at Lynn meaningfully…) you’ll probably have a good solid guess about what’s going on in a couple directions. I’m sure fans have theories already and that’s good. But we have no interest in control alt deleting “Supernatural.” We want a show that can live on its own and be its own thing, and because we have the ability to do these out of the box things, we have a creative solution for it.
Robbie said that it was equal parts terrifying and exciting to tackle this prequel. I didn’t get video of the rest of Robbie’s chat with us, so I’m including here most of the rest of his interview because it was all equally fascinating!
Supernatural Didn’t End, We’re Just Pausing It
Robbie: When we did the 200th episode of “Supernatural,” it wasn’t my idea, but they said we’re doing a musical episode, and I was like, that’s terrifying – I wanna write it! When we were in that scary space, that was the sweet spot. Jensen says it all the time, “Supernatural did not end,” we’re just pausing it. It is my firm hope that he and the taller one put the boots back on someday and get back in that Impala, and we spoke very explicitly about not doing anything that would impede that or undo anything that fans have loved over the seasons.
He said he went back and watched ‘In The Beginning’, the episode where Matt Cohen and Amy Gumenick played John and Mary.
Robbie: the thing that struck me about it on the rewatch was the thing that struck me originally, which was who is this guy? That’s not Jeffrey Dean Morgan! Obviously a different actor, but the performance was so wonderful and so layered and interesting, I was like, something else was going on in this kid that predates Mary dying. The fact that she dies obviously is horrifying and traumatic, and there’s the Viet Nam trauma as well, but it sort of created a lane to be in. When I left Supernatural, Mary was being brought back, and it was the only thing that might have pulled me back in because I love the character and Samantha Smith is a great actress. And that was another character who someone put a knife in her hand at four. That’s a character I wanted to explore more of. I want to show the audience why they made some of the choices they made. She’s already decided to leave hunting in that episode, and that’s like a superhero life, it blew my mind when I saw it. But the decision tree that led to that seemed like a lane for us to explore. We have a great group of writers, David H. Goodman, and we all got excited about how do we find our lane from what existed and both amplify and shed new light on things the audience didn’t know about.
He also said Millie is another character through which they do that exploration, and talked a bit about the casting process for John and Mary, acknowledging that Jeffrey Dean Morgan really put his stamp on the character.
Robbie: He showed up and it’s like oh, shit’s going down, dad’s home! Same with Sam, that iconic image of her is seared into your brain, so that was a challenge.
Robbie also said that Drake has a really fantastic perspective on John and his history and is really excited about playing that darkness. The Matt Cohen you meet is oh, I like that guy, then you meet Jeffrey and you’re like oh, that guy’s kinda scary! Being able to show that journey is fantastic and it’s a similar thing with Meg and Mary.
I’ll Never Be Done With Dean, And He’ll Never Be Done With Me
Our conversation with Jensen and Danneel Ackles started with us asking about his long hair (that he’s now stuck with thanks to his role in Big Sky).
Danneel (smiling) I love it.
Jensen: I may not have a say in this…
Everyone: We’re with her.
I think he lost that battle, like completely.
Someone at our table dared to say ‘just when you thought you were done with Dean….” and Danneel immediately corrected, ‘he’ll never be done with Dean.’ Jensen agreed that he’ll never be done with Dean and “Dean will never be done with me.”
Me: (silently) THANKGOD!
Jensen recalled how in the early days of “Supernatural,” he didn’t think they’d get more than 3 seasons – and he’d be excited about getting 3 seasons!
Jensen: You get more than three, that’s a runaway success.
Not to mention the show was on multiple networks and survived all those changes.
Jensen: I’m still very proud of every episode we did and every season we completed…. I think all of us ingrained into this world were always looking to expand it.
He also shared the story of coming up with this idea during the Covid break and of wanting there to be a Winchester in it, of following the waypoints of the original story but filling in the blanks in a way that wasn’t suspected.
Jensen: Enter Robbie Thompson!
A Romance Instead of a Bromance
Someone asked what fresh perspective Danneel brings to the table and Jensen laughed.
Jensen: The 70s!
Danneel: That’s what got me excited, I do love that period in time and there are things happening now that are very similar so it’s interesting to watch those parallels. But I also kept driving home the love story of this. Because that’s something that’s been said again and again, Supernatural was not loved because it’s a show about monsters, it’s about the brothers.
Jensen: it was the love story of two brothers, to be honest, it really was.
Danneel: We’re following another love story.
Jensen: This is a romance instead of a bromance.
Danneel: And there are other characters, so when you see those other characters you also see the love between Carlos and Latika and Mary and all those other relationships, which reminded us a lot of “Supernatural” because we brought in like Castiel and the love that was created there.
Jensen: It’s a team, not only fighting the good fight but fighting for each other.
My question followed along from that discussion.
Lynn: I so agree, “Supernatural” was a love story, absolutely. It was a love story that was a platonic one, which is so unique and rare, so what’s the difference when you’re conceptualizing this love story, which is a more traditional romantic love story?
Jensen: Well obviously we know where they end up so we know the romance worked, but it is the getting there that we really wanted to mess with. And that’s where Robbie came in and said it should be not necessarily a forbidden love, but it should be a love that is fought against. It should be something that is, I can’t do this because it means that I’m gonna have to do this. I can’t bring you in, I can’t get too close to you, so it’s that friction, that resistance, but ultimately they can’t help wanting to fight for each other or wanting to fight for that love. And I think that resistance and struggle gives us great story and great character drive and motivation, not only individually but also together.
Danneel: And the sacrifices people do for that kind of love, I mean you do in all love, but the kind of sacrifices you’ll make for your children.
Jensen: It’s a different kind of love.
Danneel: If you have children or even a dog, because Jensen would have laid down his life for our dog just the same – everyone who’s a parent knows.
Jensen: That unconditional love, yeah.
Lynn: That’s a pretty good parallel, that was a great answer!
Jensen: (triumphantly) Hah!
(I don’t have an update on the Ackles family dog Icarus, but I can certainly vouch for the love they have for him – and him for them! I had the pleasure of meeting him when he was a pretty new fluffy puppy fifteen years ago and he was already besotted with Jensen, wriggling with joy as soon as he came offstage.)
Having a chance to talk with the Ackles, Thompson, Rodger, and Donnelly gave me some of the reassurance I was looking for as a long-time “Supernatural” fan who loves the canon just as it is and doesn’t want it messed with.
It’s plain to see they all care about not just this series, but the Mothership series that inspired it and is its sequel. And I’m as hopeful as ever, if not more, that – as Robbie said – one day soon Jensen and “the taller one” will put those boots back on and climb back into the Impala. Until then, I’m ready to watch John and Mary drive.
You can watch the videos of all three full interviews in this article – and you can watch “The Winchesters” series premiere Tuesday night October 11, 2022 on the CW!