Supernatural Paley...It's a wrap..
At least for me. No more events for me this year. I dare the Golden Girls reunion or An Evening with Sally Fields top this one!
ETA: Here's a link to some press pics from Film Magic.
This event was soft. I’m estimating there were 20 females for every 1 male. Did the WB put an add on every female geared network or magazine? Were there tickets for the Supernatural panel in boxes of Tampons? There were a lot of women/girls there.
The girls….I don’t deal well with teenagers. Not even when I was a teenager. So I was a bit bothered by all the screeching, giggling and inane chatter that was going on . Especially to the right of me by these two teen girls, who eventually were told to be quiet by someone in front of me.
Luckily serafina20 sat next to me and she put it in perspective for me, telling me of her experience with the fans at some Comic Cons, so I got over it. Yes, that’s right I met serafina20! The very first SV flist-er of mine that I’ve ever met. Wonderfully funny, sweet and insightful, she is.
While waiting for the panel to began, I sat behind the press line (I think this is a new thing where certain ticket holders don’t have to wait in line, but can instead wait near the theater doors which is right at the pressline.) I watched as Jensen strolled in ( I think he came in from the front door just like Tom Welling, Ian Somerhalder and Zach Braff did at their show’s panels) and I realized that he is actually tall. Compared to Tom Welling and Jared, I thought Jensen was a compact little thing, but I was wrong. Then again, when you see him standing next to JP, again you think, "Jared's pocket-sized!". I was able to take one or two pictures from there before security put the kibosh on it. But I was able to sit there and listen to Jared and Jensen do press.
Jared is so animated when he speaks. He was talking about an episode to the press people and he’s all arms, moving and gesticulating.
One of the reporters asked what will happen in future episodes?
Jared: I don’t know. I was hoping you would tell me.
When Jared finished with that reporter, he went over to speak to the reporters who were interviewing Jensen. He walked up behind Jensen as he was talking and grabbed him by the shoulders and playfully shook him. They switched off. They had a little exchange which ended up with Jared saying :
Jared: That’s okay, brains (pointing to himself) before beauty.
Jensen: Okay, I’ll take that. Let me write that down.
Jared interviewer asked him what is a typical day like working with Jensen.
Jared: Pretty much like that. We get on each other about who’s better, who’s stronger. Who’s taller.
With each of these events, they show a clip from another show that either reflects the theme of the show being honoured or a show that is an inspiration for the show. Eric Kripke (creator) chose Route 66.
They showed the clip, then the moderator (great mod. He’s on the Museum’s staff. They tend to be much better than the guest or ‘name’ moderators they’ve recently began using) introduced the panelists: Kim Manners, director, John Shiban, writer, Jared, Jensen, Robert Singer and Eric-no McG, sadly. Dare I say Jared got a bigger response then Jensen?
It was thrown to Eric to introduce the episode (I tried to get down everything word for word, but some are approximations).
Eric: This is a true story. This just happened last night, we were shooting in Stanley Park and I got a call that there was a man 200 yards from the film company hanging around with a gun. We called Jensen and Jared and told them to stay away from the set. The police and SWAT came out, this is all true. Turns out it was just one of our special effects crew. Fun times on Supernatural. We’re seeing “Scarecrow” tonight which has a good mix of everything the show is about. It also introduced the character of Meg, who a lot of people online have a problem with. This is the first gathering of any Supernatural fans anywhere, I think.
They air the episode. The girls next to me nattered on.
Panel begins. The moderator can barely get through the introductions because each time he read Jensen’s credits, the crowd would go wild.
Moderator: When I saw that episode, I wanted to say to Sam and Dean, “Why are you trusting the Cigarette Man?”
What was the genesis for the concept of the show?
Eric: I’ve always loved American folklore and urban legends. My very first pitch was for an urban legend show. I had an idea for an anthology with a bunch of reporters who went around in a van like “Scooby Doo”. But I was with WB after (mumbles, embarrassed) Tarzan and they asked me what I wanted to do. I had an idea for a show about a reporter which was basically “The Night Stalker”. They told me to try again. I scribbled down an idea and pitched it to them about a urban legend show like Route 66 and they liked it.
Mod: It’s an urban legend show, but there’s a real family aspect to it.
Eric: Write what you know. I come from a big close knit family and I have brothers. We talk without real communication of any kind. It’s like how guys talk. I was the little brother full of angst and problems and my big brother was a smart-ass like Dean.
(Jared pats Jensen’s leg)
Eric: We wanted to focus on the care the brother’s have for each other. Sometimes we have subject matter (scripts) that comes together, sometimes we don’t, but the relationship of those two bring it together.
Mod: Eric, were you familiar with the guy’s work?
Eric: My wife is a fan of ‘Gilmore Girls’
(Jared pumps his fist like “Yes!!)
Eric: So I was familiar with Jared. And I work with David Nutter who worked on ‘Dark Angel’ with Jensen, so he suggested him and we flew him in to read for us. As soon as Jensen walked in, we looked at him and said, “We’ve found our Sam!”
Jared: I didn’t get flown in! I had to drive myself.
Eric: Then we met with Jared.
Jared: I’ll let Jensen answer.
Jensen: I’ll let you.
Jared: What exactly was the question again?
Jensen: What is this a spelling bee? ‘Would you use it in a sentence?’
Jared: I’m sorry, I worked until 4 o’clock this morning.
(they explain the question. It’s still the how did you get onto the project question)
Jared: I had a relationship with the people at the WB because of ‘Gilmore Girls’ so I was handed the script. I knew it was called Supernatural, so I was thinking of a show liked Charmed or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which are good shows, I just didn’t want to do a show like that. I read the script and realized it wasn’t like that. My mom is an English teacher, so I’ve read about heroes, myths and legends Joseph Campbell taughting..taught…teachiings…
Robert: We see it (his mom being a teacher) didn’t rub off on you.
Jared: There’s been so may reluctant hero stories out there and people don’t want to hear me give a long explaination…
(Jensen pretends to nod off and begins to snore. Jared shakes him)
Jared: Hey, we’re doing…I’m giving an answer.
Jensen: I’m awake.
Moderator: Did you feel good about the audition?
Jared: Yes, but the script I auditioned from had nothing to do with the show. There were a lot of changes. Even know they’d go, “Here’s the script, memorize it, but we’re going to rewrite it.” They work up to the very last minute to make the script good.
Moderator: Jensen, what was your experience at the audition.
(Jared begins to nod off and snore)
Jensen: It was comfortable. I was with Nutter and he gave me a spiel about the script and Sam and I read it and I thought, (in slightly dreamy voice) “What about Dean? I like Dean. He’s funny.” But I read for Sam, but I still learned Dean’s lines just in case. Then they called me and said, “We saw this guy named Jared Pada..Padasomething and they like him for Sam, so I look him up on the internet.
Jared: He thought I was hot.
Jensen: Smokin’ hot. :impressed: “He’s going to play one of the brothers?”
Eric; They were the only ones we brought to network.
Jared: Yeah, usually when you audition (at the Network level) it’s always up against several people, but when we got to network there was just us and I said, “Where is everyone?”
Jensen: It’s just us. That’s it and we’ve hated each other ever since. (he picks up his cup of water)
Jared: I poisoned your water.
(Jensen pauses, shrugs and takes a drink)
Moderator: Kim, how did you get involved with the project?
Kim: I read for Sam. I fell in love with Jan and Dean or is it Sam and Dean? I was called in to shoot “Dead in the Water” and I really liked it. I got the call if I wanted to another and I turned right back around.
Eric: Kim’s the guy.
Jared: There is no other guy…named Kim.
Bob: You two should do stand-up.
Jensen: I do stand-up to him… on an apple-box.
Jared: I’m too lazy, I’d rather sit. But this guy (Kim) is incredible. We would ask Bob about him and he’d just say, ‘You’ll love Kim Manners.” Jedi-like.
Jensen: Very Jedi.
Jared: We begged and pleaded to get him this job.
Kim: I was hungry.
Jensen: Jared and I responded well to him. It’s a set where guys can be guys. He’s in there with us, not on some phone in L.A saying “close up on camera two.” We were shooting “Bugs” and we (Jared and he) walk in to a room filled with 65,000 bees and they said, “Okay, get in there.”
Jared: “Don’t swat them, that makes them angry.”
Jensen: Everyone has on bee suits, but Kim said if we had to go in without suits on, then so would he and he walked in with shorts and a t-shirt and shot the scene.
John: I loved the script and when I met Eric, I loved him.
Eric: John’s my guy.
John: I spent a lot of time on the X-Files, so I was always getting those type of scripts, but when I read this one, I knew I could spend 3 years suffering for these guys. In franchise shows it’s all about casting and chemistry and they have….
(Jared looks at Jensen lovingly and leans in to kiss him, but Jensen points slyly points to the audience as if to say, “We can’t do this right now” of course everyone goes wild)
Bob: Can I just watch them? We can’t get anything done. This is just what they’re like on the set.
(Then this begins the Great Mic Struggle, where Jared can’t keep his mic on and the attendant has to help him. Throughout the event he keeps dropping it, has to borrow Jensen’s or just hold it instead of pinning it onto his shirt. Later, Kim has the same problem)
Bob: What drew me to the project was the different approach to drama that Eric has. I’m sure this young guy thought, “What do I need this old fart for?”
Mod: Now explain your different approach to drama, do you mean it’s generational? (Bob is an older man whereas Eric looks to be in his late-30s)
Bob: Everything is about characters for me. I’m interested in what drives the plot, but in how it moves the character. (He goes on to give a great explanation on how he approaches characterizations) But we pretty much have the same voice now.
Eric: Let me blow smoke up his ass for a moment. He brings depth to the scripts and the characters. Thanks to him, we have characters who are psychologically rich.
Mod: Asks a question about how the show has both standalone episodes while still having a thread going with the mythology.
Eric: We don’t want to get too much into long plots in regards to the mythology (they’re referring to the mythology of the demon that killed Jess and Mama Winchester) They mythology of the family is really compelling and we’re going to keep coming back to that.
John: There’s a lot of painful hair pulling, but the nature of TV is that you save the big moments for Sweeps. So we’ll have 5 or 6 mythology stories across the season. We want to end the season with something astounding.
Eric: This is my own personal taste, I watch ‘Lost’ and it’s a great show, but I want a satisfying story. With ‘Lost’ there’s this ongoing mystery where you keep getting more questions, and this is just my personal taste, but give a rollicking kick-ass standalone story so that people can be satisfied (while awaiting everything to be revealed).
Moderator: Do you know where the story ends?
Eric: Yes. Unfortunately, you never know when you’re going to be cancelled (he pretty much says that if given the time to wrap up loose ends properly, they will). It can go on for 36 years.
(Jensen stands a bit and mimics walking with a walker. Does an old man voice) Sam!
Eric: I know the final battle and how it all shapes up.
Then they open up the questions to the audience, which normally is the worst part, but there were actually some really good questions.
Q: Does Sacramento holds some importance? Your dad called from there twice.
John: I don’t want to give it away. (Mysteriously) You’ll find out.
Jensen: I want to know.
John: I’ll tell you later.
Eric: We tend to be research oriented, so yes there is something about Sacramento. There’s also urban legend stuff about Lawrence, Kansas, I think the guys know this…
Jensen (unconvincingly) Oh, yeah, yeah.
Q: I’m from Texas.
Jensen and Jared: Whoa!! (raises their fists in the air)
Q: What are you afraid of?
Kim: Nothing. Eric is afraid of late scripts.
Jared: My daddy would let me watch this show called “ShadowMan” when I was a kid. Shadowman lived under the bed of a boy who was teased a lot, but then the boy got over it and it went to live under another kids bed. Okay, maybe that’s not scary (He ducks his head inside his blazer).
Eric: Hook man. All of those old ones. Hook man. The licked hand.
Q: About the pilot, Daddy Winchester doesn’t speak to Sam because he leaves for college. Sam is a senior because he’s going off for interviews, but he says that he hasn’t spoken to Dean in two years. What happened in those two years? (Something like that)
Eric: I should do what John does and say “You’ll find out.” It was a mistake. Sam’s a junior in college, which is why he was getting ready to do interviews. Freshman, sophomore, yeah, so technically it’s been 2 and a ½ year. He was in the middle of his junior year.
Jensen: Really?
Eric: There’s all these discussions about Sam’s lost years and I’m thinking, “Hee hee hee, it’s a mistake!”
Q: Has there ever been a problem with the Network in term of content?
Jensen: We’ve run into a few, right?
Bob: It gets really odd. There’s discussions like, “You can’t show the decapitated head roll.” Okay, how about if it does a half turn? We push the envelope a bit and they let us.
Jensen: The gun rig.
Eric: “Nightmare” caused a problem when Dean gets his head blown off.
(Jensen gives a thumbs up)
Eric: We had the scene where the boy shoots Dean and the back of his head is blown off and splatters the wall and I thought, “Cool, that’ll be our tag.” And the network was like, “No way.”
Jensen: The rig was a backpack with grapes and corn syrup through it. I had a button that I would have to press, then give my reaction. It was an awesome rig. It was really cool, but we had to cut it out.
Kim: We put in some real violent stuff in there, at least 4 extra scenes which the network sees and says, “You have to cut that.” And we have to act really upset, (places his head in hands) “Really? But…” But we knew we had no intention of using it, that way they’ll let us keep other scenes. It’s essentially stacking the deck. (Sarah Chalke explained the same thing at the Scrubs panel a few years back and just like Zach told her then, someone should’ve told Kim, “Hey, the network is here! You’re telling your secrets.”)
Q: Is there anything on the set that has ever creeped you out even though you knew it was fake?
Jared: When we were shooting “Skin” we were in the house and a clock up and fell. There was no hammering or anything. No one shaking the walls. It just fell. We said, “Ignore it! Let’s go back to work.” We didn’t look into it just like what real brave people do.
Jensen: We filmed Asylum in a real abandoned asylum and the crew would say, “Don’t go up to the 4th floor.” So I thought I’d take a shortcut through there and there was a long corridor and I thought, “It’s not that long. I can make it.” I ran through there. That freaked me out.
Q: Now that you’re going to a new network, will they give us more NC-17 action.
Jensen: I’m confused.
Q: Sex.
Jensen and Jared: AHHHH!!!
Jensen: How can I forget? (To Eric) Thank you for that.
Eric: Happy Birthday.
Jared: (laughing) “Happy Birthday”.
Eric: The CW is real big on full-frontal nudity…
(Jared chokes on his water. At first I thought it was an act, then Jensen pats his shoulder and Jared leans over laughing, sits back and coughs a bit).
Q: There’s been speculation on the childhood of Sam and Dean, like how much ‘Miller Time’ their dad was having. Will that be examined.
Eric: We just…I’m addressing the network…sent out that script, you should be receiving it. Yes, we will. They guys deal with a demon in present day that they’ve dealt with in the past, so you’ll see their childhood in flashbacks, interspersed with present day. We wanted to do it at least once, but I think we’ll be doing it again.
Jared: The good thing is that when L’il Sam and L’il Dean are working, that means Big Sam and Big Dean are sleeping, so keep pushing for that.
Q: What is the significance of Dean’s necklace?
Jensen: (To Eric) Are you going to hang me out to dry with this one?
Eric: Yeah.
Jensen: It has significance, but we can’t discuss it.
Eric: It’s from Sacramento.
Moderator: How is it to work with the green screen?
Jensen: You’re asked to react to stuff and you do do….(turns to Jared) I said do do.
Kim: Do do?
Jared: Like Kim and Jensen said we do-do. It took some getting used to. You’re supposed to be looking at someone falling out of a window, but really there’s crew guys smoking, cursing and showing off their tattoos. Speaking for myself, I hope I’ve gotten better.
Jensen: There’s an episode coming up called “Shadows.”
(Crowd begins to chuckle)
Jensen: It aired already? I didn’t see it.
Kim: We used green screen for the fall. They computer generatedly dropped her seven stories when in reality she didn’t move.
Jensen: We were staring at a big red X.
Eric: Wait, does this mean you have to act?
Jensen: That’s cold.
Jared: We’re actually in Canada (tonight).
Jensen: These are our body doubles.
Q: Do you listen to Dean’s cell phone messages? Do people ask you about it? Because the number was (rattles off number)
Jared: When you call it it’s 1-800 Wet Legs.
(Jensen whispers in Jared’s ear)
Jared: Ooh, you changed it?
Eric: People call it and I haven’t had a chance to listen to the messages because there’s like a thousand of them, but there’s some like, “Sam and Dean there’s a ghost in my attic!”
Jensen: That’s awesome!
Q: In an interview you said you were a Christian, do you have problems with the content?
Jensen: I was raised with a Christian upbringing. And…does the stuff we do on the show make Grandma cringe sometime? Yeah. But at the end of the day, I’m fine with it.
Q: What kind of car do you drive.
JA: (and everyone else) a ’67 Chevy Impala.
Jared: We’ve got 5 of ‘em, which is why you can’t buy it on E-Bay.
Q: How did the idea of the music come about?
Eric: It was really important to me. I’m a big 70’s hard rock fan. I’m a huge Led Zepplin fan. Much respect to my network, but I wrote in the script, “Take that anemic alternative pop and shove it up your ass” because I didn’t want that music on the show. And by it being in the script, they had to let me use that type of music. We have a great time picking out the songs. Billy Squiers. It’s Midwestern music. We played Joe Walsh and I went, “Rocky Mountain Way” on the WB?!! (at the end of the night when Eric was signing autographs, someone asked him if he never got a song cleared and he said Metallica wouldn't let him use "Enter Sandman").
Bob: I was with one of our editors and he’s really up on music and he said to me ‘You know, Bad Company is really good.”
Q: I’m an aspiring actor.
Bob: I’m sorry.
Q: Do you have any advice about breaking into the business?
Jared: My experience wasn’t the typical one. I won a contest in high school to be a presenter at the Teen Choice Awards giving out an award to Freddie Prinze Jr or something and an agent saw me backstage and gave me his card.
Jensen: And it’s been downhill ever since then.
Jared: I’ve been riding on Freddie’s coattails. Mom’s a teacher, Dad’s an accountant and I wanted to go to Hollywood and become an actor. I have friends who are much more committed and more talented than I am and they’re still trying to get their big break.
Jensen: There’s really no formula for how we’ve gotten to where we are. I was doing theater in Texas and a talent agent came up to me, gave me his pitch and I told him to bugger off. But he was persistent and talked to my parents who were more convinced and I saved up money to go L.A.
Q: What kind of alcohol do you drink?
Jared: Whatca got?
Q: Hard or Light?
(Jensen and Jared look at each other smiling)
Jared: My mom will kill me right now.
Jensen: Yeah, can we cut tape?
Jared: On the show, what we drink have fake labels on it and it depends on the town. If we’re in Texas, Sam and Dean will be drinking Lone Star Lager or if they’re in Minnesota, it’d be Timberwolf Ale. We’re Texas boys..
Jensen: We probably drink what you think Texas boys drink.
Jared: Just put it in a cup.
Q: Can I work with you guys? You seem like you have alot of fun.
Jensen: We actually had people, last week(?) spend time on the set to shoot behind the scenes for the DVD.
Q: What is your favorite episode or scene?
Kim: “Shadows”. I’m incredibly proud of the Sam and Dean scene.
(Jensen wipes away fake tears)
Kim: Jensen had a hard time with that scene because Dean has walls up and we get to see them come down for a minute. It was really hard for him When they have a scene with Jeffrey (applaud, applaud applaud), their tennis game improves 1000% They have the ability to make the words and emotions their own.
Jared: And having a great director helped a lot.
Moderator: Jensen, did you have a hard time because you didn’t think Dean would say those things?
Jensen: Yeah. I’m protective of him showing emotions. You become protective of your characters. I wasn’t sure how many layers to pull away and so in my confusion I put up my own wall. But with Kim’s help, I got over it.
John: I went into Eric’s palatial office.
Eric: Yes, I have fountains.
John: After “Skin” aired, I showed him an email from my friend who got it somewhere online and it just read: “OMG, Dean is taking off his shirt! OMG, he’s taking off his skin!”
Jensen: One of my favorites isn’t a full scene, but a shot. It was “Dead in the Water” where Dean saves the boy. It’s a slow motion shot and I’m shooting out of the water. I had this ten-year old boy in my arms and I couldn’t move because I had divers holding my legs because they had to drag me down. I had the life of a 10-year old in my hands and I’m holding him in my arms, but we got through it. It was an awesome shot.
Jared: Mine was “Wendigo”. It had been…March, April to July. We hadn’t worked together since the pilot..How can we continue the momentum? All of a sudden we had 8 to 9 pages of dialogue to memorize. Jensen and I sat in my trailer, I brought in an acting teacher I use and he poked and proded me. I don’t know what he did to Jensen.
Jensen: I don’t want to talk about it.
Jared: It was really noisy. But that’s between ya’ll and the wall.
Bob: My favorite scene was a quiet scene at the end of “Faith”. I feel it’s topical for today: what is real faith? And when Dean says to Julie Benz “I”ll pray for you” and she says, “Well, that’s a miracle right there.” I thought it was incredibly sweet and really well-acted. Our finest, our one moment to be political. I hope it affected people like it affected me.
Eric: “Home” Where Dean’s on the phone with his dad and he keeps trying to put up his walls, but they keep coming down. See, all of these guys gave classy answers, but I’m going to say when the dude puts his hand in the garbage disposal and you see it come out of the disposal. I’m gonna say “Dude with the hand in the garbage disposal.”
Thus ended the panel discussion. They thanked us all out for coming out and they began the meet and greet. That was the most congested meet and greet I’ve encountered since QAF. It was like a traffic jam. No one could move. I made it to the left side of the stage where Jared finally made his way and I was able to take pictures. As he was signing autographs and taking pictures, Jensen came over and tapped him on the shoulder.
Jensen: Okay, I gotta run to that birthday party. You’re going to meet us there, right?
Jared :Yeah, yeah, just give me, like ten minutes.
Jensen: Alright, see ya.
Jensen leaves and Jared continues signing. This young girl gives him a picture that she drew.
Jared: You did that?
Her mother: Yes.
(Jared turns to his handler or whoever and shows her the picture) Look at that!
Everyone’s sweetheart with him. He was “Sure, sweetheart,” “Here I come, sweetheart.”
Jared’s a big ol’ sweetheart himself.
-end-
ETA: Here's a link to some press pics from Film Magic.
This event was soft. I’m estimating there were 20 females for every 1 male. Did the WB put an add on every female geared network or magazine? Were there tickets for the Supernatural panel in boxes of Tampons? There were a lot of women/girls there.
The girls….I don’t deal well with teenagers. Not even when I was a teenager. So I was a bit bothered by all the screeching, giggling and inane chatter that was going on . Especially to the right of me by these two teen girls, who eventually were told to be quiet by someone in front of me.
Luckily serafina20 sat next to me and she put it in perspective for me, telling me of her experience with the fans at some Comic Cons, so I got over it. Yes, that’s right I met serafina20! The very first SV flist-er of mine that I’ve ever met. Wonderfully funny, sweet and insightful, she is.
While waiting for the panel to began, I sat behind the press line (I think this is a new thing where certain ticket holders don’t have to wait in line, but can instead wait near the theater doors which is right at the pressline.) I watched as Jensen strolled in ( I think he came in from the front door just like Tom Welling, Ian Somerhalder and Zach Braff did at their show’s panels) and I realized that he is actually tall. Compared to Tom Welling and Jared, I thought Jensen was a compact little thing, but I was wrong. Then again, when you see him standing next to JP, again you think, "Jared's pocket-sized!". I was able to take one or two pictures from there before security put the kibosh on it. But I was able to sit there and listen to Jared and Jensen do press.
Jared is so animated when he speaks. He was talking about an episode to the press people and he’s all arms, moving and gesticulating.
One of the reporters asked what will happen in future episodes?
Jared: I don’t know. I was hoping you would tell me.
When Jared finished with that reporter, he went over to speak to the reporters who were interviewing Jensen. He walked up behind Jensen as he was talking and grabbed him by the shoulders and playfully shook him. They switched off. They had a little exchange which ended up with Jared saying :
Jared: That’s okay, brains (pointing to himself) before beauty.
Jensen: Okay, I’ll take that. Let me write that down.
Jared interviewer asked him what is a typical day like working with Jensen.
Jared: Pretty much like that. We get on each other about who’s better, who’s stronger. Who’s taller.
With each of these events, they show a clip from another show that either reflects the theme of the show being honoured or a show that is an inspiration for the show. Eric Kripke (creator) chose Route 66.
They showed the clip, then the moderator (great mod. He’s on the Museum’s staff. They tend to be much better than the guest or ‘name’ moderators they’ve recently began using) introduced the panelists: Kim Manners, director, John Shiban, writer, Jared, Jensen, Robert Singer and Eric-no McG, sadly. Dare I say Jared got a bigger response then Jensen?
It was thrown to Eric to introduce the episode (I tried to get down everything word for word, but some are approximations).
Eric: This is a true story. This just happened last night, we were shooting in Stanley Park and I got a call that there was a man 200 yards from the film company hanging around with a gun. We called Jensen and Jared and told them to stay away from the set. The police and SWAT came out, this is all true. Turns out it was just one of our special effects crew. Fun times on Supernatural. We’re seeing “Scarecrow” tonight which has a good mix of everything the show is about. It also introduced the character of Meg, who a lot of people online have a problem with. This is the first gathering of any Supernatural fans anywhere, I think.
They air the episode. The girls next to me nattered on.
Panel begins. The moderator can barely get through the introductions because each time he read Jensen’s credits, the crowd would go wild.
Moderator: When I saw that episode, I wanted to say to Sam and Dean, “Why are you trusting the Cigarette Man?”
What was the genesis for the concept of the show?
Eric: I’ve always loved American folklore and urban legends. My very first pitch was for an urban legend show. I had an idea for an anthology with a bunch of reporters who went around in a van like “Scooby Doo”. But I was with WB after (mumbles, embarrassed) Tarzan and they asked me what I wanted to do. I had an idea for a show about a reporter which was basically “The Night Stalker”. They told me to try again. I scribbled down an idea and pitched it to them about a urban legend show like Route 66 and they liked it.
Mod: It’s an urban legend show, but there’s a real family aspect to it.
Eric: Write what you know. I come from a big close knit family and I have brothers. We talk without real communication of any kind. It’s like how guys talk. I was the little brother full of angst and problems and my big brother was a smart-ass like Dean.
(Jared pats Jensen’s leg)
Eric: We wanted to focus on the care the brother’s have for each other. Sometimes we have subject matter (scripts) that comes together, sometimes we don’t, but the relationship of those two bring it together.
Mod: Eric, were you familiar with the guy’s work?
Eric: My wife is a fan of ‘Gilmore Girls’
(Jared pumps his fist like “Yes!!)
Eric: So I was familiar with Jared. And I work with David Nutter who worked on ‘Dark Angel’ with Jensen, so he suggested him and we flew him in to read for us. As soon as Jensen walked in, we looked at him and said, “We’ve found our Sam!”
Jared: I didn’t get flown in! I had to drive myself.
Eric: Then we met with Jared.
Jared: I’ll let Jensen answer.
Jensen: I’ll let you.
Jared: What exactly was the question again?
Jensen: What is this a spelling bee? ‘Would you use it in a sentence?’
Jared: I’m sorry, I worked until 4 o’clock this morning.
(they explain the question. It’s still the how did you get onto the project question)
Jared: I had a relationship with the people at the WB because of ‘Gilmore Girls’ so I was handed the script. I knew it was called Supernatural, so I was thinking of a show liked Charmed or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which are good shows, I just didn’t want to do a show like that. I read the script and realized it wasn’t like that. My mom is an English teacher, so I’ve read about heroes, myths and legends Joseph Campbell taughting..taught…teachiings…
Robert: We see it (his mom being a teacher) didn’t rub off on you.
Jared: There’s been so may reluctant hero stories out there and people don’t want to hear me give a long explaination…
(Jensen pretends to nod off and begins to snore. Jared shakes him)
Jared: Hey, we’re doing…I’m giving an answer.
Jensen: I’m awake.
Moderator: Did you feel good about the audition?
Jared: Yes, but the script I auditioned from had nothing to do with the show. There were a lot of changes. Even know they’d go, “Here’s the script, memorize it, but we’re going to rewrite it.” They work up to the very last minute to make the script good.
Moderator: Jensen, what was your experience at the audition.
(Jared begins to nod off and snore)
Jensen: It was comfortable. I was with Nutter and he gave me a spiel about the script and Sam and I read it and I thought, (in slightly dreamy voice) “What about Dean? I like Dean. He’s funny.” But I read for Sam, but I still learned Dean’s lines just in case. Then they called me and said, “We saw this guy named Jared Pada..Padasomething and they like him for Sam, so I look him up on the internet.
Jared: He thought I was hot.
Jensen: Smokin’ hot. :impressed: “He’s going to play one of the brothers?”
Eric; They were the only ones we brought to network.
Jared: Yeah, usually when you audition (at the Network level) it’s always up against several people, but when we got to network there was just us and I said, “Where is everyone?”
Jensen: It’s just us. That’s it and we’ve hated each other ever since. (he picks up his cup of water)
Jared: I poisoned your water.
(Jensen pauses, shrugs and takes a drink)
Moderator: Kim, how did you get involved with the project?
Kim: I read for Sam. I fell in love with Jan and Dean or is it Sam and Dean? I was called in to shoot “Dead in the Water” and I really liked it. I got the call if I wanted to another and I turned right back around.
Eric: Kim’s the guy.
Jared: There is no other guy…named Kim.
Bob: You two should do stand-up.
Jensen: I do stand-up to him… on an apple-box.
Jared: I’m too lazy, I’d rather sit. But this guy (Kim) is incredible. We would ask Bob about him and he’d just say, ‘You’ll love Kim Manners.” Jedi-like.
Jensen: Very Jedi.
Jared: We begged and pleaded to get him this job.
Kim: I was hungry.
Jensen: Jared and I responded well to him. It’s a set where guys can be guys. He’s in there with us, not on some phone in L.A saying “close up on camera two.” We were shooting “Bugs” and we (Jared and he) walk in to a room filled with 65,000 bees and they said, “Okay, get in there.”
Jared: “Don’t swat them, that makes them angry.”
Jensen: Everyone has on bee suits, but Kim said if we had to go in without suits on, then so would he and he walked in with shorts and a t-shirt and shot the scene.
John: I loved the script and when I met Eric, I loved him.
Eric: John’s my guy.
John: I spent a lot of time on the X-Files, so I was always getting those type of scripts, but when I read this one, I knew I could spend 3 years suffering for these guys. In franchise shows it’s all about casting and chemistry and they have….
(Jared looks at Jensen lovingly and leans in to kiss him, but Jensen points slyly points to the audience as if to say, “We can’t do this right now” of course everyone goes wild)
Bob: Can I just watch them? We can’t get anything done. This is just what they’re like on the set.
(Then this begins the Great Mic Struggle, where Jared can’t keep his mic on and the attendant has to help him. Throughout the event he keeps dropping it, has to borrow Jensen’s or just hold it instead of pinning it onto his shirt. Later, Kim has the same problem)
Bob: What drew me to the project was the different approach to drama that Eric has. I’m sure this young guy thought, “What do I need this old fart for?”
Mod: Now explain your different approach to drama, do you mean it’s generational? (Bob is an older man whereas Eric looks to be in his late-30s)
Bob: Everything is about characters for me. I’m interested in what drives the plot, but in how it moves the character. (He goes on to give a great explanation on how he approaches characterizations) But we pretty much have the same voice now.
Eric: Let me blow smoke up his ass for a moment. He brings depth to the scripts and the characters. Thanks to him, we have characters who are psychologically rich.
Mod: Asks a question about how the show has both standalone episodes while still having a thread going with the mythology.
Eric: We don’t want to get too much into long plots in regards to the mythology (they’re referring to the mythology of the demon that killed Jess and Mama Winchester) They mythology of the family is really compelling and we’re going to keep coming back to that.
John: There’s a lot of painful hair pulling, but the nature of TV is that you save the big moments for Sweeps. So we’ll have 5 or 6 mythology stories across the season. We want to end the season with something astounding.
Eric: This is my own personal taste, I watch ‘Lost’ and it’s a great show, but I want a satisfying story. With ‘Lost’ there’s this ongoing mystery where you keep getting more questions, and this is just my personal taste, but give a rollicking kick-ass standalone story so that people can be satisfied (while awaiting everything to be revealed).
Moderator: Do you know where the story ends?
Eric: Yes. Unfortunately, you never know when you’re going to be cancelled (he pretty much says that if given the time to wrap up loose ends properly, they will). It can go on for 36 years.
(Jensen stands a bit and mimics walking with a walker. Does an old man voice) Sam!
Eric: I know the final battle and how it all shapes up.
Then they open up the questions to the audience, which normally is the worst part, but there were actually some really good questions.
Q: Does Sacramento holds some importance? Your dad called from there twice.
John: I don’t want to give it away. (Mysteriously) You’ll find out.
Jensen: I want to know.
John: I’ll tell you later.
Eric: We tend to be research oriented, so yes there is something about Sacramento. There’s also urban legend stuff about Lawrence, Kansas, I think the guys know this…
Jensen (unconvincingly) Oh, yeah, yeah.
Q: I’m from Texas.
Jensen and Jared: Whoa!! (raises their fists in the air)
Q: What are you afraid of?
Kim: Nothing. Eric is afraid of late scripts.
Jared: My daddy would let me watch this show called “ShadowMan” when I was a kid. Shadowman lived under the bed of a boy who was teased a lot, but then the boy got over it and it went to live under another kids bed. Okay, maybe that’s not scary (He ducks his head inside his blazer).
Eric: Hook man. All of those old ones. Hook man. The licked hand.
Q: About the pilot, Daddy Winchester doesn’t speak to Sam because he leaves for college. Sam is a senior because he’s going off for interviews, but he says that he hasn’t spoken to Dean in two years. What happened in those two years? (Something like that)
Eric: I should do what John does and say “You’ll find out.” It was a mistake. Sam’s a junior in college, which is why he was getting ready to do interviews. Freshman, sophomore, yeah, so technically it’s been 2 and a ½ year. He was in the middle of his junior year.
Jensen: Really?
Eric: There’s all these discussions about Sam’s lost years and I’m thinking, “Hee hee hee, it’s a mistake!”
Q: Has there ever been a problem with the Network in term of content?
Jensen: We’ve run into a few, right?
Bob: It gets really odd. There’s discussions like, “You can’t show the decapitated head roll.” Okay, how about if it does a half turn? We push the envelope a bit and they let us.
Jensen: The gun rig.
Eric: “Nightmare” caused a problem when Dean gets his head blown off.
(Jensen gives a thumbs up)
Eric: We had the scene where the boy shoots Dean and the back of his head is blown off and splatters the wall and I thought, “Cool, that’ll be our tag.” And the network was like, “No way.”
Jensen: The rig was a backpack with grapes and corn syrup through it. I had a button that I would have to press, then give my reaction. It was an awesome rig. It was really cool, but we had to cut it out.
Kim: We put in some real violent stuff in there, at least 4 extra scenes which the network sees and says, “You have to cut that.” And we have to act really upset, (places his head in hands) “Really? But…” But we knew we had no intention of using it, that way they’ll let us keep other scenes. It’s essentially stacking the deck. (Sarah Chalke explained the same thing at the Scrubs panel a few years back and just like Zach told her then, someone should’ve told Kim, “Hey, the network is here! You’re telling your secrets.”)
Q: Is there anything on the set that has ever creeped you out even though you knew it was fake?
Jared: When we were shooting “Skin” we were in the house and a clock up and fell. There was no hammering or anything. No one shaking the walls. It just fell. We said, “Ignore it! Let’s go back to work.” We didn’t look into it just like what real brave people do.
Jensen: We filmed Asylum in a real abandoned asylum and the crew would say, “Don’t go up to the 4th floor.” So I thought I’d take a shortcut through there and there was a long corridor and I thought, “It’s not that long. I can make it.” I ran through there. That freaked me out.
Q: Now that you’re going to a new network, will they give us more NC-17 action.
Jensen: I’m confused.
Q: Sex.
Jensen and Jared: AHHHH!!!
Jensen: How can I forget? (To Eric) Thank you for that.
Eric: Happy Birthday.
Jared: (laughing) “Happy Birthday”.
Eric: The CW is real big on full-frontal nudity…
(Jared chokes on his water. At first I thought it was an act, then Jensen pats his shoulder and Jared leans over laughing, sits back and coughs a bit).
Q: There’s been speculation on the childhood of Sam and Dean, like how much ‘Miller Time’ their dad was having. Will that be examined.
Eric: We just…I’m addressing the network…sent out that script, you should be receiving it. Yes, we will. They guys deal with a demon in present day that they’ve dealt with in the past, so you’ll see their childhood in flashbacks, interspersed with present day. We wanted to do it at least once, but I think we’ll be doing it again.
Jared: The good thing is that when L’il Sam and L’il Dean are working, that means Big Sam and Big Dean are sleeping, so keep pushing for that.
Q: What is the significance of Dean’s necklace?
Jensen: (To Eric) Are you going to hang me out to dry with this one?
Eric: Yeah.
Jensen: It has significance, but we can’t discuss it.
Eric: It’s from Sacramento.
Moderator: How is it to work with the green screen?
Jensen: You’re asked to react to stuff and you do do….(turns to Jared) I said do do.
Kim: Do do?
Jared: Like Kim and Jensen said we do-do. It took some getting used to. You’re supposed to be looking at someone falling out of a window, but really there’s crew guys smoking, cursing and showing off their tattoos. Speaking for myself, I hope I’ve gotten better.
Jensen: There’s an episode coming up called “Shadows.”
(Crowd begins to chuckle)
Jensen: It aired already? I didn’t see it.
Kim: We used green screen for the fall. They computer generatedly dropped her seven stories when in reality she didn’t move.
Jensen: We were staring at a big red X.
Eric: Wait, does this mean you have to act?
Jensen: That’s cold.
Jared: We’re actually in Canada (tonight).
Jensen: These are our body doubles.
Q: Do you listen to Dean’s cell phone messages? Do people ask you about it? Because the number was (rattles off number)
Jared: When you call it it’s 1-800 Wet Legs.
(Jensen whispers in Jared’s ear)
Jared: Ooh, you changed it?
Eric: People call it and I haven’t had a chance to listen to the messages because there’s like a thousand of them, but there’s some like, “Sam and Dean there’s a ghost in my attic!”
Jensen: That’s awesome!
Q: In an interview you said you were a Christian, do you have problems with the content?
Jensen: I was raised with a Christian upbringing. And…does the stuff we do on the show make Grandma cringe sometime? Yeah. But at the end of the day, I’m fine with it.
Q: What kind of car do you drive.
JA: (and everyone else) a ’67 Chevy Impala.
Jared: We’ve got 5 of ‘em, which is why you can’t buy it on E-Bay.
Q: How did the idea of the music come about?
Eric: It was really important to me. I’m a big 70’s hard rock fan. I’m a huge Led Zepplin fan. Much respect to my network, but I wrote in the script, “Take that anemic alternative pop and shove it up your ass” because I didn’t want that music on the show. And by it being in the script, they had to let me use that type of music. We have a great time picking out the songs. Billy Squiers. It’s Midwestern music. We played Joe Walsh and I went, “Rocky Mountain Way” on the WB?!! (at the end of the night when Eric was signing autographs, someone asked him if he never got a song cleared and he said Metallica wouldn't let him use "Enter Sandman").
Bob: I was with one of our editors and he’s really up on music and he said to me ‘You know, Bad Company is really good.”
Q: I’m an aspiring actor.
Bob: I’m sorry.
Q: Do you have any advice about breaking into the business?
Jared: My experience wasn’t the typical one. I won a contest in high school to be a presenter at the Teen Choice Awards giving out an award to Freddie Prinze Jr or something and an agent saw me backstage and gave me his card.
Jensen: And it’s been downhill ever since then.
Jared: I’ve been riding on Freddie’s coattails. Mom’s a teacher, Dad’s an accountant and I wanted to go to Hollywood and become an actor. I have friends who are much more committed and more talented than I am and they’re still trying to get their big break.
Jensen: There’s really no formula for how we’ve gotten to where we are. I was doing theater in Texas and a talent agent came up to me, gave me his pitch and I told him to bugger off. But he was persistent and talked to my parents who were more convinced and I saved up money to go L.A.
Q: What kind of alcohol do you drink?
Jared: Whatca got?
Q: Hard or Light?
(Jensen and Jared look at each other smiling)
Jared: My mom will kill me right now.
Jensen: Yeah, can we cut tape?
Jared: On the show, what we drink have fake labels on it and it depends on the town. If we’re in Texas, Sam and Dean will be drinking Lone Star Lager or if they’re in Minnesota, it’d be Timberwolf Ale. We’re Texas boys..
Jensen: We probably drink what you think Texas boys drink.
Jared: Just put it in a cup.
Q: Can I work with you guys? You seem like you have alot of fun.
Jensen: We actually had people, last week(?) spend time on the set to shoot behind the scenes for the DVD.
Q: What is your favorite episode or scene?
Kim: “Shadows”. I’m incredibly proud of the Sam and Dean scene.
(Jensen wipes away fake tears)
Kim: Jensen had a hard time with that scene because Dean has walls up and we get to see them come down for a minute. It was really hard for him When they have a scene with Jeffrey (applaud, applaud applaud), their tennis game improves 1000% They have the ability to make the words and emotions their own.
Jared: And having a great director helped a lot.
Moderator: Jensen, did you have a hard time because you didn’t think Dean would say those things?
Jensen: Yeah. I’m protective of him showing emotions. You become protective of your characters. I wasn’t sure how many layers to pull away and so in my confusion I put up my own wall. But with Kim’s help, I got over it.
John: I went into Eric’s palatial office.
Eric: Yes, I have fountains.
John: After “Skin” aired, I showed him an email from my friend who got it somewhere online and it just read: “OMG, Dean is taking off his shirt! OMG, he’s taking off his skin!”
Jensen: One of my favorites isn’t a full scene, but a shot. It was “Dead in the Water” where Dean saves the boy. It’s a slow motion shot and I’m shooting out of the water. I had this ten-year old boy in my arms and I couldn’t move because I had divers holding my legs because they had to drag me down. I had the life of a 10-year old in my hands and I’m holding him in my arms, but we got through it. It was an awesome shot.
Jared: Mine was “Wendigo”. It had been…March, April to July. We hadn’t worked together since the pilot..How can we continue the momentum? All of a sudden we had 8 to 9 pages of dialogue to memorize. Jensen and I sat in my trailer, I brought in an acting teacher I use and he poked and proded me. I don’t know what he did to Jensen.
Jensen: I don’t want to talk about it.
Jared: It was really noisy. But that’s between ya’ll and the wall.
Bob: My favorite scene was a quiet scene at the end of “Faith”. I feel it’s topical for today: what is real faith? And when Dean says to Julie Benz “I”ll pray for you” and she says, “Well, that’s a miracle right there.” I thought it was incredibly sweet and really well-acted. Our finest, our one moment to be political. I hope it affected people like it affected me.
Eric: “Home” Where Dean’s on the phone with his dad and he keeps trying to put up his walls, but they keep coming down. See, all of these guys gave classy answers, but I’m going to say when the dude puts his hand in the garbage disposal and you see it come out of the disposal. I’m gonna say “Dude with the hand in the garbage disposal.”
Thus ended the panel discussion. They thanked us all out for coming out and they began the meet and greet. That was the most congested meet and greet I’ve encountered since QAF. It was like a traffic jam. No one could move. I made it to the left side of the stage where Jared finally made his way and I was able to take pictures. As he was signing autographs and taking pictures, Jensen came over and tapped him on the shoulder.
Jensen: Okay, I gotta run to that birthday party. You’re going to meet us there, right?
Jared :Yeah, yeah, just give me, like ten minutes.
Jensen: Alright, see ya.
Jensen leaves and Jared continues signing. This young girl gives him a picture that she drew.
Jared: You did that?
Her mother: Yes.
(Jared turns to his handler or whoever and shows her the picture) Look at that!
Everyone’s sweetheart with him. He was “Sure, sweetheart,” “Here I come, sweetheart.”
Jared’s a big ol’ sweetheart himself.
-end-