Jensen Ackles will always have his Supernatural family.
The actor and his co-star Jared Padalecki called time on the series after 15 years on the air and 327 episodes. He looked back on the experience during a June 9 appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, saying it was a "long, long run" for the cast "but there was a reason why we all stuck around though because we just truly enjoyed it."
Over the years, the cast and crew became like "family," so much so they birthdays and holidays together. Jensen said, "We went through so much together as a crew and a cast that by the end of it, it was a really sad goodbye, but something that we all felt like we really earned."
But since the series ended in November 2020, the star has been able to reunite with some of his family members on other projects. Jensen recently joined forces with Supernatural showrunner Eric Kripke on Prime Video's The Boys, in which he stars as O.G. supe Soldier Boy.
In addition, Jensen narrates the upcoming Supernatural prequel series The Winchesters, which takes fans back to 1972, when Sam and Dean Winchester's parents, Mary (Meg Donnelly) and John (Drake Rodger), first met. The trailer, released May 19, reveals that Dean is searching for answers to his parent's relationship and how they both became demon hunters.
The series was announced last year and raised eyebrows when Jared said that he was "bummed" that he had to learn about the show secondhand.
But the co-stars later sorted it out, with Jared explaining that Jensen was keeping the news quiet because the show was still in the early stages of development. "He knows and I know how much Supernatural means to both of us, and it wasn't a secret he was trying to keep, necessarily," he explained to the New York Times. "It was just something that he didn't feel really even existed yet. But he has been like: 'Hey, I'll let you know what's going on.'"
Jared added, "He's my brother—he has been for many years, and he always will be, no matter what."
The Winchesters premieres this fall on The CW.
(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)