Jensen Ackles

Acting career

After modeling on and off since the age of four, Ackles began to concentrate on an acting career in 1996. He appeared in several guest roles on Mr. Rhodes, Sweet Valley High and Cybill before joining the cast of the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives as Eric Brady in 1997.^[4] He won a 1998 Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Male Newcomer and went on to be nominated three times (in 1998, 1999 and 2000) for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Days of our Lives.^[5]

Ackles left Days of our Lives in 2000 and went on to appear in the mini-series Blonde, about the life of Marilyn Monroe. He also auditioned for the role of the young Clark Kent on Smallville, a role offered to actor Tom Welling instead.^[6] Next he appeared in a guest role on the James Cameron television series Dark Angel on Fox in 2001 as serial killer Ben/X5-493, the brother of main character Max/X5-452 (played by Jessica Alba), and returned to the show as a series regular in the second season as Ben's sane clone, Alec/X5-494. He remained with the show until its cancellation in 2002.^[7]

Ackles worked steadily throughout 2003. He joined the cast of The WB's hit show Dawson's Creek during its final season, playing CJ, Jen Lindley's lover. Afterward, Ackles filmed several episodes of the unaired series Still Life for Fox before it was abruptly dropped.^[8] He also had a small role in the 2004 short film The Plight of Clownana. Ackles was the producer's first choice to play Eliza Dushku's love interest on the second season of Tru Calling;^[9] Ackles however, turned down the role, which was then offered to Eric Christian Olsen and the character's name was changed to "Jensen"^[9] because the producers liked Ackles' name.^{[citation needed]} Ackles returned to Vancouver (where Dark Angel was filmed) in 2004 to become a regular on Smallville playing the assistant football coach Jason Teague, who was also the newest romantic interest for Lana Lang (played by Kristin Kreuk).^[10] He also had a lead role in the 2005 film Devour in which Ackles' father, Alan Ackles, also had a role playing the father of Ackles' character, Jake Gray.

In 2005, Ackles joined the cast of the WB show horror/action series Supernatural where he starred as Dean Winchester. Dean and his brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) drive throughout the United States hunting paranormal predators, fighting demons and angels, and showcasing fantasy & sci-fi pop culture. The show ended after fifteen seasons, making it the longest-running North American sci-fi series in history.^[11]

In the summer of 2007, Ackles took on the role of Priestly in the independent comedy Ten Inch Hero. The film began hitting the film festival circuit in early 2007 and Ackles received high praise for his comedic timing in the role.^{[citation needed]} In February 2009, the film was released on DVD exclusively by Blockbuster Home Video. He also appeared on stage from June 5–10, 2007 with Lou Diamond Phillips in A Few Good Men at Casa Mañana Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas as Lt. Daniel Kaffee.^[12] Ackles received strong praise for his work in this role, which was also his professional theatre debut.

In the summer of 2008, Ackles was cast in the remake of the cult film My Bloody Valentine 3D, which opened nationwide on January 16, 2009.^[13]

In summer of 2010, as part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies franchise, Ackles provided the voice for the Red Hood (Jason Todd) in the animated film, Batman: Under The Red Hood, which was released to DVD and Blu-ray on July 27.^[14] In summer of 2021, Ackles voiced the role of Batman (Bruce Wayne) for the two-part adaptation of Batman: The Long Halloween.^[15] He voiced the role again in February 2023 in Legion of Super-Heroes and Justice League: Warworld.^[16]

On October 22, 2010, Disney Interactive Studios announced he would be voicing a character named Gibson in the video game Tron: Evolution which was released on December 7, 2010.^[17]

In August 2020, it was announced he would join the cast of The Boys in its third season as Ben / B.C.L. RED / Soldier Boy.^[18][19] The third season premiered in 2022, with Ackles receiving critical acclaim for his performance.^[20] He would return as Soldier Boy in a guest role for the fourth season of the show, and returned to a main role for the fifth and final season. He later portrayed a version of Soldier Boy in the "Jumanji" episode of the show's spin-off Gen V who is an imaginary friend of Cate Dunlap.^[21] Ackles will reprise the role in the prequel Vought Rising, starring alongside Aya Cash as Stormfront.^[22]

In 2020, he and his wife formed Chaos Machine Productions with a deal at Warner Bros. Television.^[23] In June 2021, it was revealed that they were developing a Supernatural prequel spinoff for The CW, titled The Winchesters, about young John and Mary Winchester, Sam and Dean's parents. Ackles would serve as narrator, reprising his role as Dean.^[24] It was picked up in May 2022.^[25]

In October 2021, Ackles was cast to play U.S. Marshal Wood Helm in the Western feature Rust, written and directed by Joel Souza. He played opposite Alec Baldwin, who starred in the title role.^[26] Production was temporarily suspended after the accidental death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and later Ackles left the cast.

In May 2022, he guest starred on the ABC drama Big Sky's second season finale "Catch a Few Fish", as temporary sheriff Beau Arlen. The role was planted to be series regular for the show's third season, which was ordered the day after the episode aired, premiering in late 2022 with Ackles in a main role.^[27]

Since 2024, he has had a recurring role as Russell Shaw on the CBS action drama Tracker,^[28]. and in 2025 starred as Detective Mark Meachum in the crime drama Countdown.^[29]

Music career

In 2018, Ackles collaborated with longtime friend and musician Steve Carlson to form Radio Company; the duo had previously worked together on Carlson's 2003 album Rollin' On,^[30] his 2007 Christmas EP An Auld School Christmas^[31] and his 2012 album Different Town^[32]. As Radio Company, Ackles and Carlson completed their debut album, Vol. 1. The album's first single, "Sounds of Someday", was released on October 18 2019, and the album was released on November 8 2019.^[33] In April 2021, Radio Company released two new singles, "City Grown Willow" and "Quarter To" ahead of their second album, Vol. 2, which released on May 7, 2021.^[34]

On December 19, 2022, Radio Company played live for the first time in Nashville. Their third album, Keep On Ramblin', was released on February 24, 2023,^[35] and was followed by their first live album later that year, when they announced that their debut Nashville performance was being pressed for release. A 17-track double album, titled Live from Nashville, was released on November 24, 2023.^[36]

Outside of Radio Company, Ackles has collaborated multiple times with singer-songwriter Jason Manns; notably, Ackles contributed covers of "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd and "The Weight" by The Band to Manns's 2016 album Covers with Friends^[37], along with covers of "Up on Cripple Creek" by The Band and "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band to Manns's 2018 album, Recovering with Friends.^[38] Ackles often performs at conventions, both with Radio Company and with other musicians.

As part of the soundtrack for The Boys season 3, Ackles contributed a cover of the Robert Mitchum song "From a Logical Point of View", sung in character as Soldier Boy, whom he portrays on the show.^[39]

Film

Television

Video games

Director

with Radio Company