Spot the differences in these two during my sit down interview with them as they prepare to leave the Supernatural set and Canada to spend the holidays with their families (and apparently each other), taking questions head on and doing some lightning round interviews for good measure!
They didn’t know each other before the series, but thanks to Supernatural Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles not only became colleagues but also close and (what their own words describe as simply) best friends.
These two Texas natives now vacation together with their new wives, got married almost literally together, as planned and apart from all that they seem closer than the Winchesters. (Actual brothers on the show if you’re not keeping up.)
When I sat down and talked with these two tv-brothers and real life best friends, I asked them to make some hard choices so we can finally decide who we like best!
Interviewer: Alright. First question. Tough guy or Softy?
Jared: Which one of us?
Interviewer: Both.
Jared: Well, because of our characters in Supernatural, Dean is the macho man, Sam is more of a softy usually, people often expect me to be the gentle one of the two of us.
Jensen: That’s not just suspected, it’s also true.
Jared: Yeah I admit, I can be a pretty big softy.
Jensen: Did you or did you not cry at Toy Story 3?
Jared: Yes, but at least I’m man enough to admit it. You still believe in that old fashioned ‘men don’t cry’ principle.
Jensen: Those old values are worth upholding.
Jared: You know something else he does? He gets over things real easily. It’s so insane that it’s almost pathetic. I once watched in amazement how he was scolded by a producer like, he literally ripped him a new ass and then Jensen just simply smiled at him and said: ‘Are you done? Let’s go get a beer now. You obviously need to cool off.’ I am much more of a thinker and really have to take things in and deal with what is said to me.
Jensen: But on the other hand you can be like that too. You are modest and relaxed and also avoid fights. You’re very sarcastic and can make almost anything funny and into a joke. It can be a serious life or death situation and Jared will still have everyone in the room in stitches. And you’re one of those guys who wants to be left alone to do his own thing at times. So I guess you’re not that much of a softy.
Jared: Thank you?
Jensen: Any time.
Interviewer: In real life: Friendship or Brothers??
Jensen: That’s almost impossible to explain. Nine months a year we’re stuck with each other literally twenty four hours a day seven days a week because we’re working on the show. Even doing stuff for ourselves in between isn’t possible. We’re constantly together. And even when we’re not actually working together during that nine months, or the other three months out of the year for that matter, we always find ourselves choosing to hang out and be together.
Jared: We even lived with each other!
Jensen: We did.
Jared: We were in each other’s weddings!
Jensen: We were.
Jared: And when we leave Canada for break we’re combining our family’s to do Christmas together in Texas this year!
Jensen: We will. But what I’m saying is, if you compare our relationship with Dean and Sam’s relationship on the show, there is a huge difference. Jared never drives me up the wall.
Jared: I wouldn’t say never.
Jensen: Not like, you’re actually driving me up the wall. We can talk to each other about and doing anything with each other and I guess that’s pretty unique for two guys our age especially when we never really get into it.
Jared: Yeah. And whenever we’ve fought it’s been for each other! Like, I’ll do or say something and he will to and the other one might not like it but in the end we’re doing it to help or protect them or something and it’s never against him.
Jensen: I think we do have that loyalty and I can honestly say you know, I’d trust my life with this guy and I guess in relevance to Dean for Sam, I would jump in front of a bullet for him any day and never think twice.
Jared: And the best part about Jensen and my relationship is it’s gonna be that way when we’re on the show and not. I mean, unfortunately for him he’s stuck with me for life now and that’s important. But look, brothers and sisters for that matter sometimes fight. Or worse; they can’t get along at all. Between Jensen and me there have never been any issues and I think that’s rather special.
Jensen: We’re best friends, period. He’s my best friend for life. I don’t think it’s that remarkable, but it’s definitely special.
Interviewer: Optimist or pessimist?
Jensen: I’m very much an optimist and usually try to see the good in other people. I’m open-minded, but not necessarily an extravert. I’m known as someone who works hard, is realistic and doesn’t like complications. I prefer to keep away from the red carpet world of Hollywood and avoid the paparazzi. I’d much rather focus on whats real to me and my career.
Jared: Yeah, I recognize myself in that. I have nothing to add! I’m as optimistic as both Winchester brothers put together!
Jensen: Dude, isn’t that a bit too much?
Jared: Dude, no.
Interviewer: Vain or nonchalant?
Jared: You go first!
Jensen: Oh right, thanks, again. I used to be a model. Because of that I’m trained to care about the way I look. Or better put; to be aware of what I look like to other people. I love good suits once in a while and, yes, my hair needs to be cool before I leave the house. That’s it. I’m not the kind of person that goes to a beauty salon or anything. And I don’t get like, five hundred dollar haircuts. I just like to be me and me is a Texas boy. I like being clean cut and I’m not really into tattoos or piercings or crap like that. I guess some people think of that as being a preppy boy or whatever but.
Jared: Jensen thinks he’s a cowboy.
Jensen: I’m not going out and buying a ranch or anything.
Jared: You still think you’re a cowboy at heart though.
Jensen: I guess.
Jared: For me like, when it comes to clothes I’m not that vain, really. I wear what I like and usually that’s whatever I find in the morning when I look around my bedroom. Like today: I’m wearing a beany because of an incredibly bad hairday that I don’t feel like fixing and I’m not wearing anything special, am I?
Jensen: Just flannel like you and Sam always are.
Jared: Yeah. Cause your clothes are always so stylish.
Jensen: They are.
Jared: But I do make a big deal about my body. My biggest fear is to become really fat.
Jensen: Cause there’s so many fat 7’5 people in the world. He whines so much and just by virtue of his height alone he never has to worry about any of that like the rest of us do. And he proves it too. He eats like it’s the last supper every meal.
Jared: It could always be the last supper, you never know!
Jensen: We actually specially stock our house for when Jared visits. And when we lived together I didn’t even bother doing the grocery shopping because what I eat in five or six meals Jared eats in a snack.
Jared: I didn’t know that’s why you never went grocery shopping! I just thought you thought I was better at it!
Jensen: At grocery shopping?
Jared: Yeah!
Jensen: Anyways, I remember he once had a scene where he had to dig in the graveyard without a shirt on. Man, I laughed so hard. He was whining about the scene for weeks and he’d been working out a lot. To be fair, it was with good results. But the moment we were taping the scene we were only on like the first or second take and he wanted to start digging. But he was goofing around and he ripped his pants. And the best part was that the camera was right behind him filming us messing around! I think I laid on the ground laughing for at least a half an hour. And even after that, we had to call cut because neither of us could pull it together enough to be serious and film the scene. And he just made it worse when he dully said: “Damn, did I train that hard just to rip out of my pants?!”
Jared: You couldn’t look me in the eyes and take me seriously for weeks after that.
Jensen: Oh, I still can’t! I never have.
Jared: I’m really thinking hard about an embarrassing story to tell about you right now, but I can’t think of any that wouldn’t get me in so much trouble that you’d never speak to me again.
Jensen: Those stories don’t exist.
Jared: You know what’s gross though? I’ve always wanted to say this to you. You often eat with your mouth stuffed and try to talk at the same time and it’s disgusting. Also, that your pants hang halfway off your ass most of the time isn’t flattering considering I’ve never heard your hip-hop album before and it definitely doesn’t fall under ‘vanity’…
Interviewer: Level-headed or superstitious?
Jensen: I wouldn’t call myself superstitious, but I do suspect there’s more between heaven and earth. Even hell. I’m open for spiritual experiences, although I haven’t needed any salt yet to ward off evil spirits from my home.
Jared: I firmly believe that things happen for a reason. That may sound melodramatic, but I don’t believe coincidence exists. And I also believe we’re not the only living creatures in this universe. And we both totally sleep with salt guns under our beds. He lies.
Interviewer: Nerds or ladykillers?
Jensen: Nerd! The word alone is funny.
Jared: Also nerd! Although, people used to say I looked like Matt Damon, nowadays, sometimes people say I look like Brad Pitt.
Jensen: Right. Keep telling yourself that. I’ve never heard anyone refer to you as either of those much more talented actors.
Jared: But it is a bit of a tough choice. Who says about himself that he’s a nerd? Or a ladykiller? If that’s the case, you should take your pee to the doctor immediately.
Jensen: Of course we notice the hardcore group of female fans who follow us. It’s extremely flattering, but not something that we concern ourselves with. Just as we don’t wonder which one of us is the most popular. In the first place, the success of Supernatural lies in the story. We know that all of these women and fans are in love with Dean and Sam and not Jensen and Jared. That doesn’t take away the fact that Jared’s uglier than me and can’t act as well, of course. He can’t help it.
Jared: When he starts to make these kind of comments, I usually pull out the candy and start crying.
Jensen: Do you have any?
Jared: No! I just bought a big bag and Misha stole it!
Jensen: Jerk.
Jared: Tell me about it. Hold on, I’ll text him.
Jensen: To answer this question seriously: of course we realize Supernatural gets shown all over the world. And it would be weird if there wasn’t one woman between all of those viewers who didn’t like one of us. But we don’t have time to concern ourselves with that. We work sixteen hour days for months on end. You’re not going to look at how your image is doing in the remaining few hours.
Jared: You’re not?
Jensen: No.
Jared: Well I am. Working sixteen hour days does sound a bit nerdy, by the way.
Interviewer: After Supernatural: TV or Movie career?
Jared: They both have their advantages and disadvantages, but it would be a luxury to be able to combine them. Working on a tv-series is like a steady job: you’re working on one spot and you’re guaranteed you have work and a paycheck. In addition to that, I experience it as an extra luxury to be allowed to play in a series with my best friend. We agreed together that Supernatural comes first over any films or anything we get offered, just like Jensen and I sat down and agreed back in season two that we would get paid equally every single episode no matter who had more screen time. But it should be possible to film a movie next to that. Like how Jensen was in My Bloody Valentine and I was in Friday the 13th. But again, until Supernatural ends, we always make those decisions together and in accordance to what we think is best for the show and our rolls on it as well as our families and time spent outside of the show.
Jensen: Those movies just happened to fit exactly in our working schedule, and it was incredibly fun to do! Look, we don’t begrudge each other these kinds of projects. Even though we call each other often to tell how relaxed and luxurious we actually have it on the set of Supernatural. And yeah, sometimes we also tell each other that we’ll hopefully be able to work together again soon.
Jared: In other words: soon you might also be able to book us as a duo!
Jensen: Yeah. When the show ends we’ll just keep doing stuff together.
Jared: We’ll be like, this generations Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
Jensen: It’ll be great. We can go on tour as the Smothers Brothers.
Interviewer: Lightning round questions. You guys ready?
Jared: Bring it on!
Jensen Booya!
Interviewer: Nickname?
Jensen: Yousy
Jared: Sasquatch
Jensen: Beavis
Jared: Butthead. Wait, are we doing this for each other or ourselves?
Jensen Keep going!
Jared Okay! Umm ‘hey, freakishly tall guy, can you move?’
Jensen ‘Hey, I didn’t know you were like a normal-dude, height. On tv you totally look like a tiny man, guy .. can you move?’
Jared: The better Dean.
Jensen: Okay. I think we should be finished with this now.
Interviewer: Favorite City?
Jensen: Los Angeles.
Jared: Really?
Jensen: Well, for work.
Jared: Dallas.
Jensen: You’re a d*ck.
Interviewer: Hair color?
Jensen: I think I’m naturally like a dark blondeish.
Jared: Okay Ken. Brown.
Interviewer: The other persons best qualities?
Jared: Great ass!
Jensen: Gorgeous laugh and smile!
Jared: Umm Jensen’s a great friend, a great guy, a good listener and he’s ungodly faithful.
Jensen: Okay. I guess I have to say good traits about you then, huh? Umm he’s funny, caring and content with who he is.
Interviewer: The other persons worst qualities?
Jensen: Oh God, here we go.
Jared: He is such a control freak! And a neat freak. And you have no idea how quickly those can become the two most annoying traits on the planet.
Jensen: When he farts, you can smell it on other planets! And he farts a lot.
Interviewer: Your own best qualities?
Jensen: Oh, I’m gorgeous!
Jared: I’m so pretty!
Interviewer: Your own worst qualities?
Jensen: I don’t think I tend to take a crtiscism very well.
Jared: Really? I’m surprised you think that. I think I can be really impatient. And I like to worry.
Jensen: Yeah. He’d never survive as a Winchester. You get a paper cut and he thinks you’re dying.
Interviewer: Favorite food?
Jensen: Penne with bolognese.
Jared: That’s disgusting. Cheeseburger with mustard sauce and lots of lettuce and tomato.
Jensen: That’ disgusting.
Jared: No it’s not. It’s good. You’re disgusting.
Jensen: Who puts lots of mustard on a cheeseburger?
Jared: Jared does.
Interviewer: Favorite book?
Jensen: Lullaby.
Jared: The Great Gatsby.
Jensen: You’re such a girl.
Interviewer: Favorite movie?
Jensen: 3:10 to Yuma. Or Gran Torino
Jared: He’s really in love with Clint Eastwood. He thinks they’re going to fall in love and get married someday.
Jensen: He’s the best!
Jared: Good Will Hunting.
Interviewer: Favorite music?
Jensen: Garth Brooks. Best concert of my life. My dad, brother and I went. Never forget it. I own every single one of that guys albums. Umm I love the king of pop, r.i.p. Marc Broussard, Marty Robbins, Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Jared: And country.
Jensen: Yes, country.
Jared: I like country, but Jensen loves country.
Jensen: Yeah.
Jared: There nothing like being woken up in your trailer at four o’clock in the morning to Taylor Swift blasting from the trailer next to yours.
Jensen: Whatever.
Jared: What? You love Taylor Swift!
Jensen: I know I do.
Jared: You seriously just admitted that in public. And here I was calling you a manly-man earlier.
Jensen: She’s a good little songwriter!
Jared: Umm I’ve really been getting back into Pearl Jam lately. I’ve been on an everything Pearl Jam kick.
Jensen: Yeah. Cause there’s nothing like waking up to ‘Jeremy’ blasting from the trailer next to yours at four o’clock in the morning for the like, thousandth time.
Jared: Hey! Jeremy is a good, complicated, emotional song! It helps me get in Sams head.
Jensen: And it helps Dean get closer with a gun.
Jared: But no, I like country. And I actually think I like classic rock more than he does. I’m more of the Dean in the music world and Jensen listens to .. Taylor Swift.
Jensen: Let it go, man.
Jared: Even Sam would never admit it if he listened to Taylor Swift.
Jensen: Sam has no soul!
Jared: Dude, trust me, it doesn’t matter.
Interviewer: Last question – What’s your main ambition for yourselves and each other?
Jensen: I just want to be as good of an actor and as good to my fans as I can possibly be, keep my private and family life private, put up with this one over here and umm actually, I would like to play in a western someday. I’ve always thought that would be kind of cool.
Jared: Yeah. I want to explore everything I possibly can in the area of television and film. And when that pays off, I want to be very thankful and appreciative of that and never let any of it get up in my head.
Jensen: You won’t. I’ll keep you grounded. You get c*cky with me and I’ll take you out.
Jared: I know. So I’ll always have that to fall back and rely on. And you know what I’ve always wanted to do! Be in like, a video game! I don’t think I’ll ever be famous enough to get to play like, myself in one and have them actually make an animated little person of me, but I want to at least do like a voice or something.
Jensen: You can play me in the video game.
Jared: Cause you’ll get famous enough and I won’t?
Jensen: Of course. I already am.
Jared: My ambitions for him is that I want him to become a better person and stop picking on the taller man.
Jensen: The taller man?
Jared: It’s just not smart when you look at the food chain of life, man.
Jensen: You sound like an extenze commercial. Like you’re the ‘larger’ man.
Jared: Well if you want to put it that way ..