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, and
Jason Teague in
Smallville. He currently plays
Dean Winchester on the
CW series
Supernatural.
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,
British and
German ancestry.
He had planned to study
sports medicine at
Texas Tech University and become a
physical therapist but instead moved to
Los Angeles to start his acting career.
Career
After modeling on and off since 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.
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 of the young
Clark Kent on
Smallville, but it was offered to actor
Tom Welling instead.
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
serial killer Ben/X5-493, the "brother" of 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 clone, 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 its 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,
, 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' 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 series
Supernatural in 2005, where he stars as
Dean Winchester. Dean and his brother Sam (
Jared Padalecki) drive throughout the United States hunting paranormal predators, sometimes with their father, (
Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The fourth season began broadcast on September 18, 2008.
. The creator of the show,
Eric Kripke, has said the show will last for a maximum of five seasons.
In the summer of 2006, Ackles took on the role of Priestly in the independent 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 strong praise for his work in this role, which was also his professional theatre debut.
Filmography
