Ackles was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of Donna Joan (née Shaffer) and Alan Roger Ackles, an actor.[1] Ackles has a brother, Joshua, who is three years older, and sister, Mackenzie, who is seven years younger. He is of English, Irish and Scottish ancestry.[2] He had planned to study sports medicine at Texas Tech University and become a physical therapist but instead moved to Los Angeles to start his acting career.[3]Early life
Career
Ackles departed
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.
[5] 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). His character died in the episode, but Ackles 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.
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. 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,
[6] Ackles turned down the role, which was then offered to Eric Christian Olsen and the character's name was changed to "Jensen" because the producers of
Tru Calling liked Ackles' name. 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). He also had a lead role in the 2005 film
Devour in which Ackles' father, actor Alan Ackles, also had a role playing the father of Ackles' character, Jake Gray.
Most recently, Ackles joined the cast of the CW
horror/drama series
Supernatural in 2005, where he stars as
Dean Winchester. Dean and his brother Sam (
Jared Padalecki) drive throughout the United States hunting paranormal predators, sometimes with their father, (
Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The seventh season began broadcast on September 23, 2011.
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. 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. 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.
Personal life
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Awards and nominations
- Ackles won the 2008 and 2010 Best Actor in a Drama Series Ewwy Award for playing Dean Winchester on Supernatural.
