Jensen Ackles

You may not know it by looking at him, but actor Jensen Ackles has been around show business for some time. Starting off as a child model at the young age of four, by the time he was 18, Jensen had jumped into an acting career. And even though Jensen Ackles is probably best known as Dean Winchester, brother to Sam on Supernatural, he has accomplished much more when it comes to his Hollywood career. This year might be his biggest yet.

JENSEN ACKLES PLAYS SOLDIER BOY ON THE BOYS

So what does one do after the massively successful 15-year run on a history-making TV series? Well, you step on over and join another hugely successful series. He can thank Kripke for this one too. Jensen Ackles joined Kripke’s series The Boys for Season 3. He played Soldier Boy, the original superhero. His announcement, via his Instagram account, gave us one of our first looks at the character. Check it out below.

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In this franchise, Soldier Boy was one of the first supes, a complete analog for Captain America in the Marvel Universe. Much like Cap, Soldier Boy got the serum (Compound V in this case) and laid waste to German soldiers in World War II. Unlike Steve Rogers though, and because this is The Boys, this character didn’t have anything close to the same moral compass.

And when we finally saw Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy, it more than paid off. He was about as awful a dude as you can get in this world, which is really saying something considering we’ve already gotten a few seasons of Homelander and some others. But he was on a mission to right things he saw as wrongs and ended up in some epic clashes. The way things stand, it looks like he’ll be back for another season on the series.

SUPERNATURAL IS RETURNING WITH THE WINCHESTERS

The Boys isn’t the only exciting project Jensen Ackles has in the works. That’s because he’s set to return to the series that put his career on the map. Supernatural is getting a prequel series and Ackles, along with his wife Daneel Ackles are two of the main drivers of this new show. Ackles won’t be reprising his Dean Winchester role on screen but will act as a narrator for the show. The Winchesters will go back in time and tell the story of Sam and Dean’s parents, John and Mary. They’ll be played by Drake Rodger and Meg Donnelly.

The Winchesters has been in development for a bit now, though just recently was officially picked up as a series by The CW and will make its way to the network presumably for their fall lineup. That latter part has not yet been confirmed. This story will take place before the birth of Sam and Dean, detailing just how John and Mary set the stage for the stories from Supernatural. It’s worth noting that the other star Jared Padelecki isn’t taking part in this show.

It’s setting up to be a big year for Jensen Ackles with multiple projects on the way. Let’s take a look back at what got him here.

JENSEN ACKLES HAD SOME OF HIS FIRST ROLES ON WISHBONE AND DAYS OF OUR LIVES

Jensen Ackles began his career on the TV series Wishbone, then moved on to Sweet Valley High and Cybill. He got a longer run on the TV series Mr. Rhodes, which set him up for a three-year stint on the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives.

As Eric Brady on the sudser, Jensen Ackles won the 1998 Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Male Newcomer. During his time on the show, he was also nominated three times for a Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series.

Success on the soap was the reason Jensen Ackles moved on. Looking for bigger and better, he found a part in Blonde, the story of Marilyn Monroe. He then joined the James Cameron TV series Dark Angel, which starred Jessica Alba, first as the serial killer Ben, who was killed in that episode and then reappeared as a series regular as Ben’s clone Alec.

He then joined the hit series Dawson’s Creek for a two-season run as well as another hit series, Smallville, for another two-season jaunt. It is here where we must briefly rewind.

HE WAS ON SMALLVILLE AS A VILLAIN AFTER AUDITIONING FOR CLARK KENT

Jensen Ackles was counting on his growing reputation to lead him to bigger and better things. After his stint on Days of Our Lives, he pulled down his role in Blonde, but that wasn’t the only thing Ackles was shooting for. He auditioned for the role of Clark Kent on the new series Smallville. While he handled himself well during his audition, the role was eventually given to Tom Welling. Now we can fast forward to 2004.

This is when Jensen Ackles joined the Smallville cast as assistant football coach Jason Teague. His presence was immediately felt as his character became the new love interest for Kristin Kreuk’s Lana Lang. The two characters met when Lang was in Paris and Teague followed her to Smallville.

But as the season went on and their relationship was brought forth, Teague lost his job as the coach. It was also then revealed that Teague wasn’t really who everyone thought he was. Turns out he was working with his mother all along to locate the three stones of knowledge. Didn’t turn out to be a nice guy after all.

JENSEN ACKLES’ MAJOR HIT WAS SUPERNATURAL

The longest-running science fiction series in Northern American history is Supernatural. That is what Jensen Ackles signed up for, of course not knowing the popularity that would follow.

The series was the mastermind of Eric Kripke (Revolution, Timeless, and of course, The Boys) and starred Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki as the Winchester Brothers. While the series itself has enjoyed a popular 15-year run, it actually took Kripke 10 years to bring it to the small screen.

At first, Kripke pitched his idea as a movie but it wasn’t gaining any traction, so then he began to develop the idea as a TV series. His pitch went through several incarnations before Kripke settled on the Winchester Brothers. The rest, shall we say, is history.

Supernatural follows the brothers across the country as they hunt down ghosts, demons, monsters, and any other supernatural beings that cross their paths. With 15 seasons of material, the series has followed the brothers through many ups and downs, including Heaven and Hell, God and the Devil, along with many other entities. As many Supernatural fans would say, if you haven’t had a chance to watch an episode or two, you gotta see it to believe it.

JENSEN ACKLES VOICED VIDEO GAMES LIKE TRON AND OTHERS

Supernatural took up most of Jensen Ackles’s time but he was able to step out from the hit show’s large shadow now and then. He made a couple of features such as Ten Inch Hero and the My Bloody Valentine reboot.

He also lent his voice to a few video games that included Tron: Evolution and Tron: Evolution Battle Grids as well as The 3rd Birthday. He also lent his voice to another Supernatural series, Supernatural: The Animation. For the most part, though, Jensen Ackles’s life has revolved around Supernatural.

JENSEN ACKLES STARTED A BEER COMPANY

It took a little time, three years in fact, but Jensen Ackles became engaged and then finally married his long-time girlfriend, model and actress Danneel Harris. Their first child was a daughter and then the couple had twins, a boy and a girl. But that’s not all Ackles has going for him.

Family Business Beer Company is co-owned by Ackles, which he shares ownership with his wife and in-laws. The brewery, located in Dripping Springs, Texas, got its name from the Supernatural tagline “family business.”