Jensen Ackles Talks Going From Dean Winchester To Soldier Boy
By Kristin Myers on June 3, 2022 at 3:30 PM EDT
Actor Jensen Ackles has played a lot of different roles in his life, but he’ll probably forever be known as Dean Winchester after playing him for 15 seasons on The CW’s hit series “Supernatural.”
However, Ackles has taken on a brand new role: that of Soldier Boy in season 3 of the Amazon Prime series, “The Boys.” He recently sat down with USA Today to talk about the transition between his two roles.
Jensen Ackles Calls Dean Winchester ‘The Unlikely Hero In Flannel’
Ackles describes his character of Dean Winchester as “the unlikely hero in flannel that you would walk by a million times on the street and never know.”
“He was fighting the good fight in the shadows, whereas Soldier Boy, he pretends to fight the good fight in the spotlight,” he continued. “Much like Homelander, this is a guy who believes his own hype and battles with his insecurities and internal demons, and doesn't do it very well. We're dealing with a lot of toxic masculinity, and Soldier Boy definitely gets to embody that.”
Ackles says that the topic of toxic masculinity is an important issue to address, especially in today’s political climate. Ackles said, “We teach girls all the time (that) it's OK to be tough and it's OK to stand up for yourself, and you can do everything a boy can do. But it is not the same on the flip side.”
“The discouragement just because of what has been handed down generation after generation is something that we should peel the layers back and understand maybe on a deeper level where's that coming from, and why are we still holding on to that as a society,” he added.
Jensen Ackles Returns To ‘Supernatural’ Prequel Series
Although Ackles may be done with Dean Winchester, he’s not out of the “Supernatural” realm just yet. The “Supernatural” prequel series will focus on the love story between Dean and Sam’s parents: John and Mary Winchester. The series, which is scheduled to debut this fall, is appropriately titled, “The Winchesters.”
In addition to being the narrator of the prequel spin-off, he and his while Danneel will also be executive producing the new show.
When asked why he would return to his “Supernatural” roots, Ackles replied, “It's a world that's always interested me. There have obviously been several attempts at a spinoff for the show because I do think that there is a strong desire to continue to expand this universe.”
“Any time you've got a fan base and even a cast of characters like this that have really put so much time and effort into building this world, you want to see other parts of it – at least I do,” he added.
“Look, I wasn't ready for ‘Supernatural’ to die. I just needed a break,” he continued. “I wasn't ready for it to necessarily be done done. I just needed to go stick my toes in the sand for a minute.”
In addition to the prequel series, the Texas native also joined the ABC crime thriller “Big Sky” for its third season as new Montana Sheriff Beau Arlen.
