Farewell to ‘Supernatural’ Day 15: 13 Best Behind-the-Scenes Moments (PHOTOS)
Hey there, SPN fans! Join us in our 15-day countdown to the series finale of Supernatural, featuring a look back with the cast (and guest stars!) at 15 seasons of demon-hunting and apocalypse-preventing, as well as exclusive content, sneak peeks, and more.
One thing many people don’t know that is that having a positive behind-the-scenes atmosphere can help keep a show going for years. Camaraderie and general kindness go a long way on a TV show’s set — and the presence of a good-hearted prankster or two doesn’t hurt, either. It seems all the right ingredients were in place on the record-setting longest-running genre series, Supernatural. That’s thanks in large part to the amazing cast, comprised of Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, and many others.
As we prepare to — sniffle — say goodbye to Supernatural, we take a peek behind-the-scenes with these on-set photos. Check them out, below.
Supernatural, Series Finale, Thursday, November 19, 9/8c, The CW
For Good Measure
Jensen Ackles (center), hangs out in his iconic leather jacket while the crew takes measurements during shooting for Season 2 episode “Playthings,” which aired in 2007.
Stranger Danger
Ackles (left) and Padalecki check out prop copies of Weekly World News for Season 2’s “Tall Tales,” which introduced the Trickster, later known as the archangel Gabriel (Richard Speight Jr.).
“Word for Word”
As series creator Eric Krikpe mentions in Part 2 of our SPN Oral History, actor Gary Cole (center, with Padalecki and Ackles) played a TV exec on a horror movie set the boys investigated during the 2007 episode “Hollywood Babylon.” Kripke says: “Every note [in the script] was a real note from The CW, word for word. They never noticed!”
Heavy Lifting
Ackles made his directorial debut in Season 6’s “Weekend at Bobby’s,” a fun episode centered on the boys’ father figure, Bobby (Jim Beaver). “Jim was game for anything I threw at him,” says Ackles. “Even a wood chipper.”
Live & Let Pie
Misha Collins (center, with Padalecki and Ackles) calls this pie in the face, which occurred during shooting for a Season 9 episode Collins directed (“Mother’s Little Helper”), the boys’ most memorable prank. “Jared threw his hips into it,” Collins notes.
Lying Down on the Job?
Ackles also directed Season 10’s third episode, “Soul Survivor.” In this shot from the set, he’s working through some stunt work with Collins (on the ground) and Mark A. Sheppard (right), who played King of Hell and sometimes Winchester ally, Crowley.
Heavy Metal
“We can do things other shows can’t,” Ackles says. Case in point: Season 10 episode “Fan Fiction,” about an all-girl high school’s production of Supernatural: The Musical. Alyssa Lynch (left) and Natalie Sharp flank their counterparts.
Cheers!
Season 10’s “Soul Survivor” also introduced a new major player onto the Supernatural scene: Crowley’s witchy mum Rowena, played by Ruth Connell (above in Season 10, Episode 17, “Inside Man”).
“I remember my first days and scenes,” Connell says. “The very first day playing her was a dream in itself, with Jensen directing me to sip from a glass of whisky with ‘dead bodies’ stapled to the ceiling above me.”
Team Spirit
Who’s psyched for an alternate universe? Christian Keyes, Samantha Smith, and Mark Pellegrino, on Season 13’s “Apocalypse World” set sure look like they are! Smith’s favorite part of the alt-universe adventure? “I loved Unfinished Business, [April 26, 2018],” she recalls in Part 3 of our Oral History, “where I explored Mary as a de facto general.”
It’s Good to Be Bad
Ackles (left, with costar Speight directing) had one complaint about Dean being possessed by Michael in Season 14: It was too short! “I would have loved it to have lasted longer,” he says.
Tearful Reunion
The series’ celebratory 300th episode, “Lebanon,” in Season 14, had more than one cause for cheer: Winchester patriarch John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) returned to share a brief moment with his surviving family members, Dean, Sam and wife Mary (from left, with Morgan). “The 300th was a great place to pop in after 10 years,” Morgan recalled to us at the time.
Multi-Talented
Speight did a lot more on set than stir up trouble as the Trickster/Gabriel. The actor also spent plenty of time behind the camera, serving as the director for 11 episodes of the series, including Season 15’s “Despair,” above.
The End is Nigh
As the series arrives at the final episode, “Carry On,” Padalecki notes (in Part 3 of our Oral History), “The very last scene I ever did on Supernatural felt very much like the first scene.”
