Jensen Ackles

The Beauty, the Burlesque, the Schtick, and the Erotic-Muse Reality Distortion Field

Jensen Ackles started on Supernatural at the age of 26. Today he turns 45. He stopped doing Supernatural in 2020. (I wrote about Supernatural ending its 15-year run for Ebert.) Picture the change in your own life from 26 to 43. Or picture how actors’ careers change in that age span. How sometimes the Hot New Thing at 26 has to re-invent himself in order to even HAVE a career at 43? Ackles was on the same show the whole entire time. This gives him a very unique perspective on show business.

Playing one character for 15 years makes him like an old-school movie star, something I have written about extensively in my re-caps of Supernatural (when I did re-caps of Supernatural). It puts him in the company of a John Wayne, a Gary Cooper, fightin’ words for some people, many of whom – I would bet – have never watched Supernatural. John Wayne, Gary Cooper, used their natural essences, or shadings/exaggerations thereof … and did so with great authority. In doing this, they created authentic recognizable personae – and audiences loved these personae so much these actors were leading men for 20, 30, 40 years.

Think of the shape of contemporary actors’ careers. Most of them “change it up” for every role. If you “transform” with every part, you’re a good actor. (I’m exaggerating to make a point.) Once upon a time, though, actors were famous because of their personalities, and if a personality resonated with an audience – like John Wayne’s did – then the actor kept doing it. This is just not valued now – or, at least, it’s not deemed as serious. Audiences still value this kind of personae acting though. (It is not a coincidence that the actors who DO work in this “personality/essence” way are some of the most successful box-office giants in the business.) Think about the infinite variety in your OWN personality. You can be irritable, relaxed, sexy, serious, a goofball. We all have this variety. These actors, though, do it on command. They do it consciously and thoughtfully. They craft it, hone it, chip away at it, zooming in, illuminating, drawing out. It’s very delicate work, really.

My point is is: so few actors now work in this particular persona-essence-style way, and almost none do so for 15 years straight. But Jensen Ackles DID.

This is not to say he didn’t create a character with Dean Winchester, because, my God, he did – but this is part of my point, and it’s difficult to grok for those who don’t understand this particular element/style of acting. John Wayne wasn’t exactly like his onscreen persona, but he used himself and accessed himself with confidence, and his sense of his own onscreen persona melded itself into whatever role he played. People who think John Wayne was always the same, no matter the character, haven’t seen enough of his work (or are so biased against him because of his politics they are unable/unwilling to perceive his talent. Or, more likely, they don’t watch his films at all. Their loss.) Whatever John Wayne did flowed naturally. As Katharine Hepburn wrote in her book: “You never catch him acting.”

Ackles is the same way. With Dean Winchester, Ackles uses every part of himself, anger, humor, tenderness, thought, sexuality, frustration – you name it – he’s a kaleidoscope – all filtered through this specific character – and not once does it seem like he’s pushing. Everything is at his fingertips, it’s all natural, it flows. This is what I mean when I connect him to the John Wayne-Gary Cooper brigade, with a little Cary Grant thrown in, a little Brigitte Bardot there for seasoning. Or Theda Bara. Ackles has a Vamp in him, which he was able to use - to often comedic but sometimes destabilizing fascinating effect - in the role. He vamped organically. He’d turn it into a joke, but that was only because he couldn’t help himself. He gravitated towards the Vamp. (This is connected to the Burlesque aspect of Dean Winchester: how he “plays” himself.)

And just to make sure we don’t get too comfortable, the Vamp has some FEELINGS about other people NOTICING the Vamp-ness. He’s not sure he likes it. But maybe he likes it. He’s confused! Dean is not entirely in control of what he’s putting out there. He tries to maintain control. He fails. Repeatedly.

Ackles never got sick of exploring this contradiction. He was able to show it as funny, but also as a trap, he was able to show how Dean used it, but then regretted using it. It’s amazing.

All of it, whatever it is, is old-school movie-star stuff, the kind of acting I love the most. He’s not afraid to be big, broad, “obvious”, his gestures are big and definite - they could carry without sound. He’s not afraid of schtick (the first piece I wrote about him was about his schtick.)

I think Ackles is one of the best actors working today, and his reputation exists almost solely within the Supernatural fandom (although The Boys has changed that some - happy news!). But really: Boys or no Boys: for 15 years, he was mega-mega-watt famous in the relatively small Supernatural fandom, giving a performance of extended prolonged depth and complexity, showing every possible color and nuance, stellar character work and emotional work … and … he was never nominated for an Emmy for his work on Supernatural, nothing like that. It wasn’t a so-called “prestige” show. And yet … he stayed. He wasn’t in it for awards-recognition. He was in it for the experience of playing Dean, of working with the crew he loved, with the cast he loved, the whole familiarity of it gave him enormous freedom. He was asked at some Supernatural convention what he might do when Supernatural ended and he said whatEVER he did, whatEVER role he got, he hoped it would have even a fraction of the depths of Dean Winchester. He has great respect for the authenticity of the character he created. It’s an iconic part and an iconic performance.

Kim Manners directed many Supernatural episodes and was partially responsible for creating the almost-insane murderously-beautiful dark shadowy look of those early seasons, not to mention figuring out how to shoot Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki to highlight their beauty: nobody shot faces like Manners. It was a stylistic fingerprint.

There’s a very revealing story of the filming of “Shadow”, an episode in the first season. (Kim Manners and Ackles spoke about it during a panel conversation at the Paley Center, right around the ending of the first season, if memory serves. ) The scene took place in a hotel room, where Dean has an unexpected explosion of vulnerability, abandonment issues suddenly exposing themselves – a scene where the Tough Guy persona dissolves, leaving him naked. Jensen, just half a season in, only 26 years old, working on a show he had no idea would last the next 15 years, resisted the scene. He felt it was a betrayal of the character. Would Dean just come out and say stuff like this? Wouldn’t Dean crush it down, not express it? Couldn’t he somehow suggest Dean’s feelings without words? He was brave enough, as a young actor, to voice his hesitation. Kim Manners knew the moment was necessary (and it was), and so he pulled Jensen aside to talk it over. Jensen expressed his reservations. He didn’t throw a fit, he just felt strongly that Dean “wouldn’t do this”. Already, already, he felt protective of the character. Dean was HIS. (And indeed it was.) Manners perceived Jensen was overlooking the bigger picture, or - more likely - afraid to reveal what the scene required. He would have to reveal himself in a way he’d never been asked to do before as an actor. It was a big deal, and Manners respected that. Because Manners was an excellent director, he convinced Jensen to give it a shot, to just play the scene as written, and see what it felt like. He wasn’t like, “We’re wasting time. Just do the scene as written. We didn’t hire you to give your two cents.” Nope. These were better more talented people than that. Not every young actor – in the first season of a show nobody even knew would be picked up for a second – would feel such ownership over a role, would have given so much thought to it and feel strongly enough to speak out. And so Jensen tried the scene as written. No. He didn’t “try”. He PLAYED the scene as written. And he killed it.

(Back-ting alert.) The defeated shoulders. The crumpled posture. The moment is breathtaking in the context of the episode and the show. We’d never seen it before. Our concept of Dean didn’t really include this. And so suddenly you understood …. ohhhhh okay. No wonder Dean covers this up.

The scene is crucial. But Jensen had to come to it on his own.

I have always respected this story, and respected both Jensen and Kim for their integrity. It speaks volumes.

What is so extraordinary about Ackles is the amount of exploration he was able to do with Dean Winchester, the depths of emotion/psychology he explored, the humor (he’s hilarious), the contradictions and subtexts, the varying influences … it was endless. He never reached the limit of the exploration. The SHOW ended, but you knew he could have just kept going.

At some point along the way, and it was early on, Ackles knew he had hit paydirt with Supernatural. Supernatural wouldn’t be your garden-variety fighting-monster-episodic. Supernatural would be a deep dive into family dynamics, trauma, survival … all leavened with humor and powered by the chemistry with co-star Jared Padalecki (equally wonderful). Where else could an actor get all of this in ONE role?

Ackles is a well-kept secret, and he’s no dummy. He didn’t pull a David Caruso and jump ship the second Supernatural was a success, hoping for the mainstream brass ring. Ackles knew he had everything he wanted in Dean Winchester. I respect him so much for that.

I've been writing about him (and the show) since 2013. It has been enormously fun, putting into words all of my ideas about Erotic Muses, Burlesque, Trauma Belljars, Beauty and Pain and how they are often cinematically synonymous. I capitalize these terms to drive home that I am talking in archetypes, not everyday kitchen-sink reality. Supernatural deals in archetypes. Cinema was MADE for archetypes - although not every actor can embody them like Ackles can. Immersed in acting/personae-creation from back to the earliest days of cinema, I am familiar with the "devices" and how in many ways the devices helped CREATE cinema, not through the directors, but through the actors - I have called these classic-Hollywood actors "thoroughbreds of personality".

They created the artform with how they moved through space, how they used their faces and bodies, opening up to the camera, showing thought/feelings/soul, collaborating with cinematographers and lighting designers to show the possibilities of the new artform. Erotic Muses, Burlesque, Beauty/Pain create a reality distortion field, the magical space in which thoroughbreds of personality and great personae actors operate. I mourn their presence in much of cinema today. There’s not much demand for this kind of acting anymore. And not everyone can do it. Contemporary actors often try - and fail - to “fill up” the space required. The ones who can pull it off are rare. Think:

It was Pitt’s idea to take off his shirt. He understands. He allows the camera to revel in him, understands what he MEANS as a body moving through space, owning it, not embarrassed, not self-conscious… it’s a miracle it works, but it does. Rare as it is now, this kind of acting was alive and well in Jensen Ackles’ work for 15 years on Supernatural.

The first essay I wrote on Ackles was gigantic, and it came in my early days of watching the show. I marveled at his gift for comedy. The man is a clown. If all you saw were the posters or the advertisements for Supernatural, you would never know it was often laugh-out-loud funny.

So, in honor of his birthday, here it is, the essay that Started It All:

Breaking Down the Schtick: Jensen Ackles, Physical Comedy, Objectification, Consent, and Other Supernatural Topics Inspired By Three Seconds of Footage

I also included him in one of my columns for Film Comment, the one where I wrote about death scenes (because he is brilliant at them, and he has a lot of chances to do so, since Dean Winchester “dies” every other episode).

If you are new to me, here are the re-caps I have done of earlier seasons, where I go into excruciating detail about Erotic Muses, Burlesque, Belljars, Beauty, and all the other terms in my Supernatural lexicon.

Season 1
Season 2
Season 3

He’s been so fun to write about, these past 10 years. I still never get sick of watching him, of watching him explore. Eric Kripke, who created Supernatural, observed that in any given moment, if there’s a choice to be made acting-wise, Ackles makes the most vulnerable choice. That’s who he is as an actor. That’s talent, yes, but it’s also skill. You need both.