Jensen Ackles has done the network grind, thrived inside a global fandom, and played a brooding superhero in a world gone heinously off the rails. But now, decades later, the Texas native is chasing something deeper. Leading the way on Prime Video’s 13-episode FBI thriller Countdown, the 47-year-old is keeping busy following the wrap of The Boys’ final season by stepping into one of the most ambitious and creatively fulfilling stretches of his career.

Between press for his gritty new series and a bit of downtime with his family before he heads back to Toronto this summer to begin production on Vought Rising (The Boys prequel from Eric Kripke set at the dawn of the supes’ corporate empire in the 1940s), Ackles looks relaxed and unhurried while sporting a pale button-down as we meet over Zoom on a sweltering June afternoon. Cozily tucked into a book-lined study that looks more like a serene hideaway than a war room, the award-winning actor might be headlining multiple streaming tentpoles, but his affable and thoughtful nature makes him the type of guy you’d want to grab a beer with. It’s also why, despite being one of the busiest men in Hollywood along with the likes of Tom Cruise or Pedro Pascal, his bittersweet update on a potential 16th season of Supernatural is more than understandable. “Well, it sounds like Amazon’s going to have to come up with an idea on that one, because they’re controlling my schedule right now,” Ackles says humbly, adding that he wouldn’t know how to add a Winchester reunion into his schedule just yet. “But look, we’ve talked about our love for the show. We continue to talk about it. We continue to do conventions and fan appearances and stuff, and talk about it. I feel like it’s one of those things where, if it happens, then let’s go.” After completing 15 solid seasons on the acclaimed and Rotten Tomatoes certified fresh series as the ghost-hunting, pie-eating Dean Winchester, Ackles admits, “it’s not something that’s in the wings waiting right now.” But it is out there for someone to take up at some point. “Maybe sometime in the future,” he muses, scratching his chin. “It would be fun to put those boots back on and get back in that car. But… right now, Amazon’s keeping me pretty busy. It’s a good problem to have.” Even if three Prime Video shows are keeping Ackles incredibly busy, there’s no trace of burnout or post-fandom fatigue. Instead, underneath that glowing charisma is a man who still loves acting, wants to be surprised by it, and knows exactly how rare it is to be doing your best work three decades in.
The Early Lessons That Defined a Career

Photography by Steven Simko for Collider

That initial excitement can be traced back to Ackles’ first days on the set of the NBC soap opera, Days of Our Lives, where he learned how to adapt in a hit-the-ground-running environment. With this tableau helping set the tone for his next moves, Ackles quickly developed his skills and instincts as an actor, finding his groove with co-stars and processes as scenes were shot in rapid succession. As he reflects on those formative years as Eric Brady, across 448 episodes between 1997 and 2000, Ackles’ expression eases off into the distance, as if revisiting those early days on set. Guiding his craft and work ethic, he admits that era was the “entire foundation” of what he built for himself as an actor. “I was 19 when I started that show. It was fresh out of high school. I’d done drama class in high school, but I’d never gone and really studied, and so this was my study,” he says, his brow slightly furrowed. For Ackles, the experience was all about “being on set, memorizing dozens of pages a day, understanding how important it is to hit a mark and find your light, and make sense of the set and the characters and the relationships and the dialogue.” As a young adult starring in one of the highest-rated soaps of all-time that also earned him the 1995 Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Newcomer, however, “it was a heavy crash course, kind of sink or swim situation.”

It was a heavy crash course, kind of sink or swim.

But Ackles quickly realized that surviving the vigorous pace of daytime TV required more than just talent — it demanded a familiarity with the craft on a deeper level. As luck would have it, he gravitated towards a few actors on set who were willing to take him under their wing. “Those are such large casts, and everybody’s kind of doing their own thing. A lot of them have been on for 10 or 20 years, and they’re not interested in helping out the new kid on set. Everybody’s fine and great, but I got really fortunate in the fact that there were a few of the veterans there that helped me out and could tell I was a newbie and looking to learn.” Ackles took “a lot of what they said to heart,” and eventually built on that to the types of performances you see today — from the emotionally charged Dean Winchester to the relentless Mark Meachum in Countdown. “I was able to formulate a work ethic and a knowledge of television-making and filmmaking, and then kind of went off and expanded from there.”
Ackles Might Not Have Been Superman, but He’s Still Super

Photography by Steven Simko for Collider

After learning foundational lessons during his time on Days of Our Lives, Ackles soon went on to explore a diverse range of roles that tested his depth as a performer, including the short-lived dystopian sci-fi series Dark Angel and, of course, the quintessential 2000s teen drama Dawson’s Creek — each offering unique challenges and growth. But it was his turn on Smallville that would prove to be a major turning point for the then-26-year-old. While he was originally in the running to play the iconic Clark Kent, Ackles’ path would lead him to the character of Jason Teague, a role he admits was perfectly timed, at least in hindsight. “I would shock you if I told you how many jobs I didn’t get compared to the ones I did get,” he laughs, recalling the competitive pool of actors competing for the same roles, which included Gilmore Girls star Milo Ventimiglia. “I never felt discouraged by the ones that I didn’t get. Again, this kind of goes back to lessons that I learned from the veterans,” Ackles reflects. “There was a multitude of people who told me that every audition, every meeting, every time you get into a room is a learning experience. So, even though you might not get the role, you learn from it. You try to make an impression on those people.” His hard work and versatility would prove early on that the casting directors saw something in him beyond a potential Superman, and after a few years in the industry, Ackles’ reputation had ascended to hot new heights. “They brought me in after [Smallville] Season 3 and said, ‘We’ve been trying to think of a way to incorporate you into the show, and we’re just thankful you’re still available.’”

Every audition, every meeting, every time you get into a room is a learning experience.

Joining Smallville in Season 4 meant more than just adding another character to the series’ ensemble. It marked the beginning of a significant arc that would span all 22 episodes, cementing the former assistant football coach at Smallville High as a key player in Clark Kent’s world. Having more range than the industry was giving him credit for at the time, Ackles admits a lot of the jobs he ended up with were built from relationships he made on his own or through audition rooms. “By then, they ended up going, ‘Hey, it’s not this role, but we really like you for something else.’ So, I just kept driving. I just kept the focus and tried to keep the work ethic. Every job was an opportunity.” Those early gigs helped lay the groundwork for what would inevitably be one of his longest-running and most iconic roles.
‘Supernatural’ Was Always More Than Just Its Horror

Image via Warner Bros.

I’ll admit, getting to speak with Dean Winchester himself has been one of the more humbling moments in my career. When I tell Ackles how Supernatural was appointment viewing in my household, with everyone religiously tuning into the series together, the actor laughs boisterously, with a coy, “Uh-oh.” But when I express my appreciation for what the show meant to us as a family, especially during tough times, a subtle shift comes over him — a softening of his expression, and a moment where the significance of that connection settles in. When my older sister fell ill in 2009, staying in the hospital for one month before a life-saving surgery gave her a second chance, Ackles’ show, across its four seasons, became an unexpected source of strength for all of us. Sure, it’s a horror series at its core, but Supernatural always had a way of weaving in moments of raw humanity between grief, family, and the struggle to keep going against overwhelming odds. It never once shied away from pain. Instead, it found power in its circumstances through its leads, Sam and Dean Winchester. Telling Ackles how much the show resonated with me, especially during such a difficult time, brings out a response of quiet humility. “One of the great things [Supernatural] gave me was stories like that,” he says, sharing anecdotes of viewers over the years explaining how they found “comfort” in the horror series when going through things like chemotherapy or even deployment to Afghanistan. It’s this connection he never takes for granted.

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The Winchester brothers did it all.

“I think the show, because of the subject matter that it dealt with — but also because of these two brothers who would never say die — gave not only an escape for people who are dealing with whatever they were dealing with, but it also gave them maybe a little inspiration,” Ackles says. “There’s an old saying on set if things get a little too emotional or a little too intense, or whatever it might be, people used to say — I haven’t heard it anymore, but they used to say, ‘Hey, we’re making TV. We’re not curing cancer.’ I remember when it hit me, somebody said, ‘We may not be curing cancer, but we might be giving somebody a little inspiration to fight it.’” Amid being locked up for 15 years in Vancouver to shoot the series with co-star Jared Padalecki, Ackles says their little bubble expanded their appreciation for the stories they were telling. “We were doing the show. Our heads were down. We weren’t going to premieres and red carpets and parties and doing all that kind of thing. We were working. And when you’re sitting on a set and you’re working around 80 crew members, they’re your only audience. They’re the only people that you’re getting a reaction from because the camera’s not giving you anything.” For Ackles, getting out in the world, meeting fans, and going to conventions is what continues to ground him and his co-stars. “They would tell us their stories about how the show may have impacted them and how much they love it or how much they bonded over it…” He pauses.. “I’ve met generations of, ‘This is my grandmother and this is my mother, and we all sit down and watch it, and it brought us together.’ That was really when it dawned on me that we were doing something special.”
Ackles Prefers TV’s Deep Dive Over Hollywood’s Quick Fix

Photography by Steven Simko for Collider

Dean Winchester might have been known for his bravado-filled snark and swagger, but Ackles’ most meaningful work on Supernatural was buried beneath all that noise. “There’s a lot,” he says, raising his eyebrows when asked about the quieter choices he made for Dean over the years that fans might never have caught. “I think his vulnerability was something that was heavily guarded in a lot of the first seasons.” That vulnerability became the soul of his character, especially as the seasons progressed, and it was also where the storytelling got personal for Ackles. “As the show went on, you got to kind of peel back a little bit of that vulnerability, and see that there’s a young kid there who never had a childhood, who missed his father, who missed his mother, who fights for his brother,” he explains. “Of course, all of that’s under the gruff exterior of what he had to create in order to face the world that he was in.” Despite starring in features like My Bloody Valentine and Buddy Games, or even indie favorite Ten Inch Hero alongside his wife, Danneel Ackles, this is exactly why Ackles prefers television over film — it allows space for a long-haul kind of intimacy. “It just makes for a more complex character and more complex storytelling,” he says. “That’s one of the reasons why I love doing television so much as opposed to features… You don’t just have an hour and a half or two hours to do so. You’ve got 13 episodes, or you’ve got 15 years.” Even now, he approaches each new role with that same slow-burn philosophy, opting for instinct over forethought — because too much information is seemingly a trap. When Countdown showrunner Derek Haas asked how much Ackles liked to read ahead, the actor told him up front it would need to “maybe [be] a script or two,” because he wanted to go on the journey as well. “I don’t want to know where I’m going to end up in Episode 7, which might subconsciously make me make different choices for what I’m doing in Episode 2 or 3,” he admits.
‘Countdown’ Is Ackles’ Grittiest Role to Date

This long-haul philosophy from Ackles also mirrors his overall career journey thus far. At this stage in life, it’s not just that he’s booked or busy with Prime Video projects, like The Boys or its upcoming prequel Vought Rising. Each role he looks to tackle offers something different. For someone who originally planned to attend Texas Tech University for sports medicine and eventually take on physical therapy, this moment, with all the work he’s put in, stands as a testament to his evolution as an actor. It’s especially true in Countdown, Prime Video’s new, high-stakes action thriller, where Ackles steps into one of his most grounded, emotionally layered performances to date as LAPD detective Mark Meachum, a man pulled into an undercover federal task force after a Homeland Security officer is assassinated in public. What begins as a manhunt turns into something far bigger — a race against time to stop a massive threat to Los Angeles. While the gritty procedural aspects of the show may feel familiar, Meachum isn’t your average rogue cop. “I had some really good talks with Derek early on,” Ackles says, reflecting on his team-up with Haas for the series that streams weekly until September. “I really enjoyed his approach, and obviously, his career and his pedigree speak for itself. We got on really, really well. I think that’s a key component to making really good entertainment, is the people that you’re working with are people that you can trust, people that you have faith in, that you admire, and that you can collaborate really well with.”

I wanted to dive a little deeper into some of these things, some of these internal demons, as opposed to just fighting the bad guy.

Ackles adds that the showrunner just “stepped off immediately” with the role of commander on the sharp thriller, making a strong impression early on by pitching him on the wheelhouse of genres he truly loves. “It’s the type of show that I would watch, the type of characters I would be, I would gravitate towards, and I just felt like it was an easy fit for the two of us. Then, we were off to the races,” Ackles says, adding how their conversations dug into the meat of those complexities in his Countdown character — the kinds of things you don’t often see in procedurals. “Those were obviously things that interested me that I wanted to play. I wanted to dive a little deeper into some of these things, some of these internal demons, as opposed to just fighting the bad guy, and I think he found it brilliantly, and it was just up to me to find a way to make it pop on screen,” he says. That collaborative trust with Haas laid the groundwork for a complicated, yet vulnerable performance, especially once Ackles’ character learns the truth about his own ticking clock following a brain tumor diagnosis. “I do like the direction that it gave the character — because we’ve all seen the cavalier, cool guy cop or renegade officer of some sort that plays outside the box and is bad with authority and all that kind of stuff,” Ackles admits. “I grew up watching stuff like that. You think about the Die Hard movies. He was a cop, but he was a cop that everybody was like, ‘Ugh, McClane!’ You think about Lethal Weapon; those guys were always causing problems with their superiors. So, I had an idea of that world, but the fact that this guy wasn’t driven by just, ‘He’s crazy.’ It was driven by the fact that he has a death sentence, and he’s going to take chances that maybe he wouldn’t normally.” But as Ackles puts it, Mark’s reckless choices lead to issues in his relationships with other officers. “Maybe he doesn’t go by what he’s trained to do; he goes by instinct. I think a lot of cops and a lot of military, they’re trained to not do instinct but follow orders, and so I think it gives him almost a free pass to be a little more cavalier and be a little bit off the rails, and I like that.”
Ackles Isn’t Sitting Back for Those ‘Countdown’ Stunts

Photography by Steven Simko for Collider

Even the show’s most intense physical scenes, which feel like something out of the School of Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt, carried a deeper meaning for Ackles, who embraced the stunt-heavy work. “It’s deepened my connection with my stunt double, I’ll tell you that much,” he laughs. “I would say I’m probably a little safer than I used to be, but that’s not saying much because I was pretty risky in stunts.” Ackles admits that his stunt coordinators would often roll their eyes when he assumed there was a stunt he could do. “They’re like, ‘Oh, no way.’ They don’t want me to get hurt because it’s kind of on them. So, I would say that I love that part. I love the physical aspect of these characters that I’ve gotten to play. I like to push the envelope on the stunts, and I like to try to make it as gritty and as real as possible.” Even with an amazing stunt industry and the choreographed takes making it safe for everybody, Ackles has his own “false sense of security,” where he sometimes wonders if he can throw his body against anything and still be fine. “What could go wrong?” he grins, nonchalantly. “Meanwhile, they’re all holding their breath, hoping I don’t break an ankle or something. But, as I’ve gotten older, wisdom is now playing into the things that I do and the things that I’m willing to do. I also kind of can shape it now.” Across Countdown’s nearly one-hour episodes, one of Ackles’ best standout moments is yet to come for audiences watching week after week, but it’s one that the actor happily teases is a stunt straight out of Mission: Impossible. “When I was standing on the top of the trailer, about to jump to the bed of the truck, I remember in my head going like, ‘Oh, this is what Tom Cruise must feel like on a daily basis,’” he laughs. “I’m not hanging off a plane, but I felt like that was about as close as I’ve gotten to it in a while. So, there are moments like that, or even just the big car crash at the end of that sequence, where I climb out and jump on the roof of the truck — all of those little bits and pieces of being athletic and being active and doing that stuff, I really like that. I enjoy it.” But it’s not all just about the fun and games for Ackles. Even though the actor has had his fair share of weighty on-screen moments, he reveals some of the “tough scenes” are all about the emotional dialogue. “But again, I enjoy doing that, too, with whoever my scene partner is, really finding the nuance within the dialogue, and pulling a performance out of the script is also very rewarding, as well.” It’s those emotional beats that resonate most with him after years of building and assembling a variety of shades within his performances. “You can’t just play the tough guy all the time. You have to see the cracks in the armor,” Ackles says, recalling a dark backstory that Mark shares with his colleague Amber (Jessica Camancho). “This guy is obviously in a different world. He’s in the real world. I’m not used to playing in the real world. I’m used to playing with ghosts and demons or superheroes,” he chuckles. “So the fact that this is real life, real world, brought a different context to it; the fact that this is stuff that people really deal with.” He pauses again, then, for thought. “It made it a little bit more real for me, just in some of those vulnerable scenes, that this is more real life than I’m used to dealing with.”
Whether It’s ‘The Boys’ or ‘Vought Rising,’ Soldier Boy Isn’t Done Yet

Image via Prime Video

There’s something almost poetic about Ackles slipping back into Soldier Boy’s boots for not only the final season of The Boys releasing next year, but also as a man set in an era where he was once king with the upcoming Vought Rising. The Prime Video prequel from Kripke and Paul Grellong flashes back to the 1950s, painting a brutal portrait of Vought’s earliest days. First described by Kripke at last year’s SDCC as “a twisted murder mystery” following Soldier Boy and a then-unknown Stormfront (Aya Cash) — going by her original name, Clara Vought — the series works to peel back the propaganda to show how deep the corruption in the supes’ empire really goes. For Ackles, it’s less about picking up where he left off and more about rediscovering who Soldier Boy was before history got to him. “I’m excited to explore what that world looks like and feels like and sounds like, and see how those characters come to life in that setting,” he says, with a faint smile. “I’ve been playing Soldier Boy in modern day, but I’ve been playing him like he’s kind of an old guy. He’s a grandpa from back in the day, so it’ll be interesting to now play him with contemporaries.” If The Boys reveals what Vought became after all those years, Vought Rising is the how: a front-row seat to the birth of corporate supe culture, complete with a fresh layer of blood, politics, and retro glamor. “It may be like an odd explanation of how we’ve ended up where we are.” Of course, even with a setting decades in the past, the series’ instinct for satire remains razor-sharp — something Ackles admits will be no different this time around. The Boys has always blurred the line between fiction and reality, but the actor is aware of how prescient it can feel at times, especially when looking at it through a kaleidoscope of nationalism, toxic masculinity, and political violence. “Kripke and his team have always done an oddly crack job at somehow managing to look into their crystal ball,” Ackles says. “We shoot these seasons a year before they come out, and then they just happen to play into a lot of what’s happening in the real world.”

I have confidence because I know that he believes that I can do it, but then I put all of the pressure on myself not to let him down.

But even as that sentiment is never once lost on him, one of the most unshakable constants in Ackles’ career thus far has been the creative trust between him and Kripke. Their bond, forged over multiple seasons of Supernatural, continues to deepen as the showrunner needles Ackles through some increasingly complex material. And while that kind of trust can be a gift, it can also feel like a high-stakes handoff. “I would say it’s a healthy dose of both,” he says, when asked what kind of pressure or freedom that gives him. “I have confidence because I know that he believes that I can do it, but then I put all of the pressure on myself not to let him down.” Ackles leans into a football metaphor to explain the weight of that dynamic, saying it’s a lot like “getting called in” in the fourth quarter. “The quarterback gets hurt… and you’re down, and the coach is like, ‘Alright, kid, I know you can do it. You gotta get in there and you gotta win this game.’ I know my training, and I know he believes in me, and I know I can do it, and I put the hours in, I put the time in — but now I’ve got to actually step up and win this.” That moment came the day he walked onto The Boys set. “I felt like I was vouched for by the head guy, by the boss. I also felt an enormous amount of pressure to not let him down and to earn the respect of everybody else there who, for all I knew, were just, ‘Oh, great. Kripke’s bringing in one of his guys.’ And I didn’t want it to be like that. I wanted to come in and earn their respect as much as I wanted to deliver for Kripke. They’ve told me that I did,” he adds, with a modest smile. “But I don’t know.”
There Is No One More Excited Than Ackles for That ‘Supernatural’ Reunion on ‘The Boys’

Image via Warner Bros.

Of course, filming The Boys in Toronto this year came with a Supernatural reunion that felt less like work and more like muscle memory for Ackles. After previously teasing on social media that Padalecki and Misha Collins were joining the cast for its final season, it was a moment the actor couldn’t help smiling about when I make mention of it now. Having spent years together in Vancouver for Supernatural and then meeting up again in Toronto, the on-set energy resembled a long-overdue hangout between the three. “Look, I know those guys very well. I consider them both enormously great friends and brothers,” he says, visibly lighting up. When I ask if it felt strange to be working together again after almost five years following Supernatural’s finale, he doesn’t hesitate to respond. “People were like, ‘Is it odd being back on set?’ No, it was actually more comfortable than people would ever imagine. It was like going to dinner with them.” His voice softens in reflection of the kind of ease that only comes from spending years in the trenches with his co-stars. “I think that kind of connection, that kind of camaraderie, that kind of history that you have with somebody — when you can bring it back together — it was very easy. It felt natural.”
In the Wise Words of Dean Winchester, “I’m Batman”

Photography by Steven Simko for Collider

That level of trust — both on and off set — has followed Ackles through every era of his career, from demon-hunting in flannel to weaponized patriotism as Soldier Boy to emotionally worn-down lawmen in Countdown. But if fans have their way, the next chapter could involve a cape and cowl. Ackles has voiced Batman across multiple DC animated projects, including The Long Halloween and Justice League: Warworld, establishing himself as one of the most beloved modern takes on the Dark Knight. And if you haven’t been on Reddit forums or perusing threads on social media, you’ve been missing fans campaigning for him to play Bruce Wayne in live-action, which has only gotten louder in recent years. Those calls have made their way to Ackles, who has his own modest thoughts about whether Superman director James Gunn ever came calling while setting up the new DCU. “Oh, man. I don’t know,” he says, taking a deep breath, when asked what kind of live-action Batman he’d want to play. “It would be hard to carve out something truly unique amongst all of the performances as Batman. I would probably have to lean heavily on Gunn and whoever’s directing and whoever’s writing it, and get inspiration from the text.” Still, he knows what’s at stake. “You talk about not wanting to fumble the football — that’s one that I would be nervous as hell to carry. But also proud. A certain feather in the cap. Anybody who gets to wear the cowl, they got something.” Knowing he’s already spent years inside the head of Gotham’s brooding protector — and earned a loyal following because of it — Ackles doesn’t consider the idea of donning the cowl lightly. But just in case those long-running fan hopes ever became something more, I tell him I’ll be crossing my fingers with others. He doesn’t miss a beat at that wish: “I’ll cross ’em, too,” he says with a grin. “Just say the word.” With a career built on showing up, stepping in, and making it count, I think he’s good for it. Photography: Steven Simko | Location: The London West Hollywood

Countdown

Release Date

June 25, 2025

Network

Prime Video

Showrunner

Derek Haas

Jensen Ackles

Mark Meachum

Jessica Camacho

Amber Oliveras