Jared Padalecki just celebrated his 38th birthday, and his Supernatural co-star, Jensen Ackles, shared a message in honor of the occasion that is bittersweet. As fans know, Supernatural is ending with its fifteenth season. The series was filming Episode 19 out of 21 when the coronavirus pandemic led the drama to halt production, delaying those last episodes from arriving in May.
The last episodes of the final season are not expected to air until the fall, if not pushed back like most of The CW's other series. In the meantime, life goes on, as proved by Jared Padalecki’s birthday. Jensen Ackles took to social media to wish his good friend and longtime co-star a happy birthday with a poignant photo from their recent past on Supernatural. Check it out:
This might be the saddest birthday picture I have ever seen. In the caption, Jensen Ackles explains that the photo is from one of Supernatural’s last days on set, presumably before the coronavirus shutdown. Not their last day of filming, period. Ackles mentions the anxiety and emotion the snapshot captures, which features Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, and Alexander Calvert with especially somber expressions (in my opinion).
The upside is that Jensen Ackles mentions returning to film the rest of Supernatural’s episodes, even if technically only expressing his hope. Jared Padalecki is spending one more birthday than he expected before Supernatural officially wraps. Ackles had indicated the delay has not been a bad thing as it has given the cast time to refresh themselves after some intense pre-finale episodes.
Earlier this year, The CW staple ran out of completed new episodes of Supernatural, and fans are currently waiting for the remaining installments to bow. After those episodes eventually air, Jared Padalecki already has his next TV show lined up.
Jared Padalecki will be taking on the title role in The CW’s Walker, Texas Ranger reboot. Unfortunately, that show will not feature a re-team between Padalecki and Jensen Ackles (yet). There is always hope for the actors to reunite post-Supernatural when you consider how close they appear to be. That picture above is a crusher, though.
If the Supernatural cast was that emotional as they pressed pause on the final season, you can only imagine how tough it is going to be when they say goodbye for good. At least, fans (and Jared Padalecki) have that funny behind-the-scenes video of Jensen Ackles opening a beer to lighten the mood.
It had to be a bittersweet birthday for Jared Padalecki. On the one hand, he has more Supernatural to film, which is more than he was initially supposed to have this time of year. On the other one, Padalecki has to put off mourning the show’s end by another undetermined period.
The cast of Supernatural is close, as you can see from the photo that Jensen Ackles posted for Jared Padalecki’s birthday. Some of them even got tattoos for the final season. For now, Ackles and Padalecki can gaze upon theirs, knowing that they will eventually return to set to finish telling the story that they set out to portray over a decade and a half ago.
The last episodes of Supernatural’s final season will arrive as one of this fall’s premieres. Past seasons of Supernatural are streaming on Netflix along with a lot of new 2020 content.
