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Supernatural LA Con: Jensen and Jared

by Cynthia on April 5th, 2008

For the past week, I’ve been trying to write my report on the last day of the recent Supernatural Convention in Los Angeles and I’ve had no luck.  It’s not that nothing happened on the last day, no, quite the opposite.  The trouble is, there was so much going on I don’t know where to begin!

Sunday was the day Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles made their combined con appearance.  A breakfast meeting, photo ops, autograph sessions, single Q & A’s and then one with the both of them.  That’s more J2 than any one fan can handle! 

There was an electric buzz around the con starting as early as eight in the morning as fans who couldn’t afford the VIP breakfast tickets lined up for their photo ops.  There were glimpses of Jared as he was taken from here to there.  A quick blur that was Sandy McCoy rushing toward the green room.  No Jensen spottings. . . but it’s still early.

Once the breakfast club was unleashed, the lines grew to twice the length and as if the fans weren’t giddy enough, the con staff kept yelling, “everyone who is doing Jensen line up against the left wall.  If you’re doing both Jensen and Jared, line up against the right.”  Come on, how can you not giggle about that?

Minutes later you could see them, the zombie-like fangirls rounding the corner on the way back from having their photo ops.  Yes, that’s the power of the boys, they leave even the most boisterous fan utterly speechless.  Some went from one line straight into another and more stories ran through the crowd.  A hug, a squeeze, a. . . hey. . is that really an appropriate place to put your hand?  Laughter, jokes, and plenty of nerves which the boys both calmed with their slow Southern charm. 

And finally it was time for them to take the stage, to a packed house of mostly women. 

Let’s have a warm welcome for Jared Padalecki.

He’s smiling and relaxed as he takes the stage and faces off against a million camera flashes and the thunderous cheers.  People have already lined up at the mics to ask questions,so he dives right in.  Jared revels in this stuff, I think.  It’s what sustains him when it’s 3:30 am in Vancouver, minus 10 and raining.  He turns serious to discuss how hard it was to play the scenes where Dean dies in “Mystery Spot.”  A moment later he’s teasing a fan about being from a rival Texas University.  You can hear the passion in his voice as he talks about getting the synchronized speaking down just right (again from “Mystery Spot”) and the admiration he has for his co-star as he talks about Jensen’s performance in “All Hell Breaks Loose.” 

Ribbing Jensen comes easily off his tongue as a fan asks about how he’d play a body swap episode and soon Jensen has a chance to fight back as he cuts Jared off with a mock-disgusted “enough already.”  The boys swap places (not bodies) and the current shifts a little. Jensen’s a tad more reserved than Jared, but it’s the kind of subtly that makes you want to lean forward in your chair and listen more closely.  He doesn’t have to work at being funny or charming, he pulls people in without any effort at all.  He talks about music and how being surrounded by the likes of Steve Carlson keeps him humble.  He talks about being afraid of clowns and gutters and dolls with no eyes and really playing the piano in Dark Angel.  He’s answering plenty of questions but I’m not sure anyone is listening to the actual words, just the sound of his voice.  The craziest thing he’s ever done?  This, of course. 

  Then Jared returns to the stage and there’s this odd little moment where the two of them lean in close to each other and talk, laugh, all out of mic range.  Then, it’s as if they remember where they are — realize there’s a room full of fans hanging on their every word — Jensen leans back and says they were talking in code and you know that this is something they do every day on the set.  Like real brothers, finishing each other’s sentences.  It feels kind of ‘intimate’ and the tone shifts again, but just for a second. 

Soon Jared is rubbing his chest and doing a mock striptease, Jensen does his imitation of “Sam” (hands in pockets, shoulders to ears, emo face) and Jared pouts over amount of attention his TV brother is getting.  Jensen continues to answer questions mostly straight and serious, while Jared’s all over the map.  His “favorite demon killing weapon” answer leaves even Jensen confused.  His favorite scene in “Born Under a Bad Sign?”  The exorcism in Bobby’s house because he got to be, “tied up and couldn’t move, got water splashed on me, played evil, got the black eyes. . . “  The fans approve. And when Jensen is asked, what’s the hardest thing about playing Dean Winchester he deadpans, “his affection for his brother.”  Jared laughs and that’s always entertaining.

The truth is, says Jensen, he and Jared have gotten so close over the years that they can use each other now to get to those tough emotional spots in the story.  He no longer has to substitute a loved one in his mind to work up the tears over Sam’s death.  He only has to think of Jared and it’s there. 

Time is called and the boys leave the stage.  They head down to sign autographs for an hour plus and never once does their enthusiasm for the task wane.  They sign and chat, they compare gifts, shouting across the small room to each other.  They converse with fans as best they can with so many in line, but most of all they smile and make eye contact and that makes every person feel special. 

You could say these two have been well trained in how to work a crowd but honestly, I think it’s more a product of their parents than their managers.  When these two Texas boys smile at a fan and say, ‘thanks for coming,’ they really mean it.  And you can bet that the drawings and scrapbook pages they were handed will go up in their trailers as reminders of why they do what they do when it’s the 15th hour of a shooting day that began at four in the morning.

Watch Supernatural on The CW, every Thursday at 9:00.

Photos courtesy of Corey Morton

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