The Character Break That Made It Into An Episode Of Supernatural
For 5 landmark seasons, fans of the fantasy drama "Supernatural" got to ride along with the Winchester brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles). For 327 episodes, they loved, laughed, lived, and died with the inseparable duo of monster hunters who traveled across America to rid the world of all manner of terrible creature. From popular monsters like vampires, werewolves, witches, and demons to more obscure adversaries like djinn, skin-walkers, banshees, lamias, and wendigos, Sam and Dean have killed their fair share of foul beings from the beginning to the end of "Supernatural."
Throughout the series, the brothers' bond is tested at a nearly constant rate. With so many double-crosses, deceptions, and worse, it's amazing they managed to function as a team at all. In contrast, Padalecki and Ackles became and remain close friends, even despite a bit of confusion over a potential "Supernatural" spinoff the latter is trying to develop, of which the former was unaware. Initially "gutted" over essentially being kept in the dark about a spinoff of the show both actors love and cherished, Padalecki went on to confirm that his bromance with Ackles survived the mix-up. "I love Jensen deeply. He's my brother — he has been for many years, and he always will be, no matter what," he told the New York Times. "He's spent more time with me on camera than anybody probably ever will, so he knows my strengths and weaknesses more than I do, and vice versa. I respect his opinion."
In light of that last line about knowing his strengths and weaknesses on screen as a result of their time as part of the cast of "Supernatural," it's fun to consider a time when Ackles totally caught Padalecki off-guard with an improvised line, creating a blooper that made it on air. Here's the character break that made it into an episode of "Supernatural."
Jensen Ackles improvised a trademark line, causing Jared Padalecki to nearly lose it
In the third episode of "Supernatural" Season 3, an installment entitled "Bad Day at Black Rock," a phone call alerts the Winchester brothers that someone has broken into one of the father's old storage facilities, where they discover a cursed lucky rabbit's foot that gives bad luck when someone else comes into possession of it. The episode also introduces secondary adversary Bela Talbot (Lauren Cohan), a ruthless thief who steals supernatural objects and sells them to the highest bidder. Bela, it turns out, is after the cursed bunny appendage in order to make some cash, but the brothers come out on top and the object is destroyed — but not before she gets away with Dean's winning scratch-off tickets. At this point, Ackles went off script, shouting one of Dean's signature lines "Son of a b****!" The unexpected exclamation causes Padalecki to grin and he's barely able to keep himself from laughing.
Padalecki discussed the blooper that made it into the show at a fan event and how he was able to keep himself from ruining the shot. During the Salute to "Supernatural" convention in Los Angeles in March 2008, a fan asked the actor about the suppressed laugh at the end of the episode. He explained that it was at the end of a long steadycam shot that had multiple techs holding lighting instruments and boom mics, calling it a "big orchestra of 50 people doing this at the same time." Basically, he said, the shot had to work out perfectly and then his onscreen partner went off book. "It wasn't scripted," he said (via YouTube). "We were just supposed to watch her drive by and look at each other, and I'm kinda like, 'You got what you deserved.' And he goes 'Son of a b****!' And I was like 'If I ruin this, they're gonna string me up."