I mean the beauty.
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No kidding.
Where are you now in the series?
I’m almost caught up. It’s been a marathon.
I don’t know which episode that cap’s from, but rewatching season 2 recently I was stunned. By god they knew how to photograph him in Season 2.
I’m pretty sure it’s season 2. Early on, any way. This particular closeup just stunned me. Like: come again? With your beauty? How the hell can I even process beauty at this level?
And he’s got freckles too – You’re right: they do know how to photograph him.
The scenes with him in the driver’s seat of the Impala – so so many scenes – with the darkness and the rain on the windshield or his window – his eyes gleaming as he looks over at Sam … thoughtful or worried or whatever.
It’s an extremely good-looking show – just in terms of art direction and lighting. And those many many scenes of Dean driving is a perfect example: they could be repetitive (and they are, to some degree) – but they also put him in a sort of iconic light: the shadows all around him, his eyes in shadow, with flashes of his whole face from oncoming headlights …
Very impressive lighting on this show.
Oh, yes, the driving is often a delight! Sometimes the budget limitations are a blessing on this show — they probably couldn’t afford good-looking daytime driving effects, and so most of it takes place at night.
There’s one episode in season 2 — Roadkill — where the entire story takes place in one night; and then the dawn comes. Best of both worlds!
Like: come again? With your beauty? How the hell can I even process beauty at this level?
The ones that get me are when his heart is broken — like, that slow push in at the end of Heart or the monologue over Sam’s deathbed; how can you have a face like that, and then do that with it? One of the things I love about the show is its willingness to fetishise the feminisation of such an ostensibly masculine character, if you know what I mean, and they certainly couldn’t do it if Ackles didn’t have that face.
I love your comment so much. This is going to be so much fun talking about this.
The first piece I’ve been working on has been about his beauty and how the show (and he – he is totally aware of it) use that beauty in very destabilizing ways. Just as you say: the alpha male-ness of him, which is such a huge part of him – it’s not an act – mixed with the soft prettiness of his face, and how vulnerable he is –
It’s a tremendous performance, and I’m really impressed with him.
I love how you write about performance and how you link performance to narrative and story mechanics so I’m excited to read you on Ackles and Supernatural as a whole!
One of the smartest things I think they ever did on this show is mess with the parental identifications/inheritances of Sam and Dean — ie in many ways and despite appearances Dean is far more like his mother than his father, and Sam more like their dad. I don’t think they had that in mind in the pilot days but the energy the actors bring to it — the softness of Ackles and the steel of Padalecki — really changed the possibilities open to the show.
Yes!! Imagine how boring it would have been if it had always been Dean being tough and Sam being sensitive. The whole Ruby sub-plot was fantastic (and how great that those two are married now) – and I LOVED that whole storyline, because it showed something else in Sam – both his weakness to temptation and his ferocity and stubbornness.
I’m not too crazy about the angel-possession plot they’re dealing with now in Season 9 – it feels a bit like a retread, although I trust the show will make it work.
The fetishization of Dean’s beauty is made explicit when it is suggested, repeatedly, that what happened to Dean in Hell was of a sexual nature. “I can’t talk about that …” he says, in tears. Yes, he was made to torture people but that was only after being tortured himself for months. And to a Protector like Dean, torturing human beings is the worst possible Fate. But I think Jensen Ackles is playing more than just the torture aspect in those episodes when it becomes clear that he cannot speak of what has happened to him. What I see in so much of his behavior is that Dean has been sexually traumatized – and for a guy like him, he wouldn’t even have words to put his experience into – it is outside his wheelhouse. A rape counselor with a knowledge of PTSD would help, but of course Dean would never go that route. and it’s like … there’s almost an “he was asking for it” vibe, reminiscent of what happens to women (especially good-looking women) when they are sexually assaulted. You know, Abaddon saying to Dean, “you’re so pretty – I’ve been wanting that body for a long time …”
He’s treated like a woman, in other words. Like a sexual object. When he is able to consent to that (with his various real-life conquests), he’s cool with it. (I also love that he is a friendly lay. He’s a slut a bit, but he doesn’t denigrate the women who have been with him. He’s pretty open and fun about it. I would dislike him if he had a double standard thing happening, but he doesn’t.) But then the fact that he is objectified by pretty much everybody due to what he looks like is turned on him in Hell. The pretty boy made to pay for the fact that everyone desires him. Really ugly. ALSO: for a Tough Guy like him, he could never admit to being made to do things he didn’t want to do, he could never confide – and so he is left totally alone with it (except for that one scene with the angel he bangs in the back seat of his car. He confides in her and she understands – she puts her hand over Castiel’s handprint burned into his shoulder – a healing gesture – not a surprise that he would choose to confide in a woman, not a man – because a woman understands being violated, being seen as “weaker” and being made to PAY for being “weak”).
All of these gender-bendy elements are there.
SUPER fascinating and Jensen Ackles plays the hell out of it.
and I think that other Tough Guy Actors would shy away from the waters Jensen Ackles willingly goes into.
They’d want to keep reminding us that they are tough. Jensen doesn’t have to remind us. He IS tough. But he is also broken – WAY more than Sam is or ever will be. He doesn’t value himself at all – he martyrs himself once a season.
There’s a sexual component to all of this, something that is a byproduct of sexual assault and being de-valued in that way, having your boundaries crossed without your consent in a violent way.
No wonder the guy is tough. He’s HAD to be. Jensen Ackles makes his tough-ness both an integral part of who the character is, and a necessary bulwark against assault – and also a reminder that he may have been raped repeatedly in Hell (I truly believe that’s what happened to him) – but he’s still a MAN, dammit, nobody can take that away from him.
I’m still ambivalent on the Angel possession plot because I feel like we oughta be past these kind of secrets ‘n’ lies by now…but some interesting things have come of it…but I hate that Dean is basically gaslighting Sam. And I just feel so bad for Sam!
I could go on for SO LONG about how the show dances around the imperiled body of Dean (and to a lesser extent Sam). I also believe that Dean was sexually assaulted in Hell — it seems obvious to me that that was part of the torture regimen. And Alistair had a very predatorily intimate way with Dean after Hell. But all of that’s left to Ackles to incorporate into Dean’s childhood and various traumas and I think some people would be shocked to learn we had that reading.
What’s hilarious — amazing? frustrating? — about this show is the way it conceptualises and represents those queer threats to Dean’s body. Like, it has no problem raping women with knives in an aesthetically pleasing way (my #1 bone of contention with the show) but it would never explicitly mention a sexual assault of Dean (in the episode where Sam is essentially assaulted by Becky, the marriage one, it’s played as a joke!).
The show ties itself in loops trying to emphasise its core pleasures — the emotional melodrama, the pleasure of their bodies — without crossing the boundaries of queer desire. And it just gets ridiculous. Like, they would never show Dean being bitten on the neck by a male vamp, so to vampirise Dean they go and get vampires to bad touch Dean in what basically looks like a still from a gay porn film.
Jessie – the screen grabs you are including in your comments are killing me.
Yes, I do see what you are saying and I understand those complaints – I don’t think the show is as sexist as some of its detractors claim, but there are some problematic elements. I also totally get that everyone’s triggers are different. SPN is a very trigger-y show. I do think the actors are playing what the writers are shying away from – that doesn’t excuse it – but it’s so THERE. Kind of like the sexual content of 1930s films which can be downright dirty – but because of censorship issues it’s mostly subtext and innuendo. And the actors are CLEARLY playing that subtext – those people in the 30s were not dumb and understood sex as well as we do now. They knew what they were doing.
And Ackles knows his appeal on that aesthetic level – understands it intimately – in the same way other beautiful (not handsome, but beautiful) men – like Elvis, like Cary Grant – did. JA is not a dumbbell, a dumb jock, unaware of how he comes across as basically a Fuck Toy. He is aware of it, and uses it, and also plays against it – Man, I can count the actors on one hand who could pull that off. And who could do it with HUMOR.
For me, humor is the key to the appeal of JA – even more so than the blowup-doll lips and all of that.
If Dean wasn’t as funny as he is – and he is hILARIOUS – the show would be deadly dull.
And Jared is hysterical too – I love their dynamic together as actors. It’s a really interesting show about manhood – and – unlike any other show I can think of – takes manhood as its central theme. It investigates it, what does it mean to be intimate with another man – emotionally – especially for guys who scorn “chick flick moments”?
Because Sam and Dean are brothers, it just makes it even better – because there’s that childhood intimacy already there – so there are so many opportunities to really LOOK at how men operate and navigate.
One of my pet topics, for sure, and SUPERNATURAL hits that sweet spot. It seems to me that that is its real topic – and fighting monsters is secondary. What it is really interested in is what it means to be a man, and what it means to isolate yourself from others because you are being “manly”, and how it is so important to crack through that.
My two cents.
I also think that at this point the show could afford to be more explicit in some of these elements. They could do so without compromising the show – the show works on Subtext for sure – and you lose a lot when Subtext becomes Text (cue the Sam and Diane from “Cheers” cautionary tale) – but I think they could certainly afford to loosen those reins a bit because they’ve done the hard work, make us invest in these characters, etc.
I would like Dean’s sexual trauma to “go Text” – not in a Very Special Episode kind of way, but to be acknowledged because it’s there.- the episode where he was in the Boys Home in Season 9 was FAAAAASCINATING because it showed that Dean actually was innocent once, that he was psyched to go to a dance and be there for his innocent young girlfriend, etc.
It makes what has happened to him that much more tragic – that so much has been taken away from him.
Dean is so against self-pity that these elements are difficult to get into the show – he just isn’t a complainer. And to complain about sexual assault? Dean? So not his style.
Again, JA is playing all of this already. The sadness that crossed his face throughout that Boys Home episode – as he looked back on being a sweet young virgin making out with a girl for the first time … There it all was on his face in the current-day: What … the fuck … has happened to me?
Huge loss.
Again, I am excited to read what you say about the show because I have my set of hobby horses and a fairly settled way of reading it that could use a little shaking up. “What is a man” is not really the central question of the show for me (that would be more like “what is familial love”) — although it’s funny you say that because “what is Sam?” which is almost the same thing, has certainly driven most of the plots! And all of this is interlinked anyway.
Ackles is sometimes shockingly funny — like it actually a deep surprise how much humour he can wring out of a scream or a mouthful of food or a pleasant surprise or a minor interaction with a day player. Which I think speaks to what you say about how in control of his physicality he is. And Jared has probably my favourite single second of humor in the show with “I lost my shoe.”
The Boys’ Home episode was my favourite this season. I loved the layers of it. I loved Sam looking at Dean’s name on the bed and I thought the actor who played young Dean did a magnificent job at the end with the return of family, the call of Dean’s purpose.
Young Dean was perfect! He had obviously studied JA’s behavior and mannerisms – he nailed it, even down to the adorable wrinkling of the forehead.
Oh my God, “I lost my shoe.”
SO FUNNY.
I think my favorite episode is also the silliest – Changing Channels. I can’t get enough.
Jensen Ackles doing a sitcom version of Dean Winchester? Screaming, “SONof a BITCH!” with that big grieved sitcom face.
Like this is a Jerry Lewis level of ridiculousness and he is so free with it.
Changing Channels would definitely be in my top five, if only for those opening credits! The family biz, two hunting bros…
Another favourite is A Very Supernatural Christmas, which also has a moment of sublime humour, when they bust into Santa’s trailer and have to start carolling when they realise he’s not a monster, he’s just watching porn!
hahahahaha
And the genital herpes ad in Changing Channels? I am dying just thinking about it. The woman doing the arabesque? HILARIOUS.
Dean: “I am wearing sunglasses at night, man. You know who does that? Douchebags.”
And gotta say and this may sound weird, but I love the show’s attitude toward porn. It’s everywhere in the show. And it’s used as a joke, but it’s also just admitted as a harmless part of life, part of Dean’s life certainly – and I like that. It seems realistic and again, friendly, about sex and having a sex drive and (presumably) masturbation, which strikes me as very realistic, at least in my experience. And also rare, on television. I can’t think of another show that mentions porn so freakin’ often without it becoming totally weird or some “oooh these people are corrupt and skeezy” type of commentary.
It came up again in the recent episode with the chastity group and Dean sleeping with that porn star. I’ve read a couple of folks who really did not like that scene – but I LOVED it and I LOVED how JA played it.
“You? You’re the stuff of good dreams.”
So sincere.
I don’t know – that was a tough scene to get right, I imagine – you don’t want to feel he’s taking advantage of her – you want to know she’s into it too – and I think they both did a great job.
I am roaring looking at that screen grab, Jessie. Look at their faces!!
I have to say I had one of those more negative reactions to that scene! I loved what I think they were trying to get at — the nature of the solace and comfort these guys can take, and Dean’s open-mindedness about sex work — and I thought the actress was great, but I thought the show essentially betrayed the female character and discarded her after they had sex.
But it’s so refreshing to see you have such a positive reaction to the show and recent seasons! The corners of the internet where I usually talk about Supernatural are much more critical these days — and I am more easily irritated by stale parts of the show. I think it makes a difference to do it in one big go or perhaps not discuss ad infinitum each episode as it emerges.
I could post screencaps of these guys making funny faces all day long, don’t tempt me!
Oh my God, please keep posting screen grabs. I love it!
I haven’t been really keeping up on the fan chatter – many of the Tumblrs I have been following (which got me into this in the first place because I was fascinated by the more unhinged corners of the fandom) – have been OVERWROUGHT about what is going on. I realize that Tumblr is the place for overwrought people, but still: it got me curious.
I wasn’t crazy about the entire Leviathan season – the Dick Roman season – I mean, individual episodes were wonderful, but the stakes overall (in terms of the Demons and Heaven and Hell) weren’t as there for me. It also felt a bit preachy and didactic about obese Americans – totally not the show’s style. Would you agree with that?
In terms of the porn star: I did wish that there was a final scene between the two of them, a sort of “Hey that was fun, nice meeting you” button to the whole thing. Dean was so kind about her – no “hey you were a slut in those films, so you’re MINE” – he was in awe of her. And kind about her sexual experience. I would have liked a moment where they acknowledged that at the end of the episode. My bet is they filmed it and then didn’t include it due to time issues – because usually they do wrap things up nicely.
Like I said, I’m a tiny bit bored by the Ezekiel/Gadreel thing. And I almost wish we had more of Castiel being human – but those are all still open-ended right now.
My hope is that the writers keep the Larger Arcs in mind – which they do seem to do. The smaller arcs are always there, the monster-a-week format – but the larger story arcs – of the war in heaven and hell – and also the larger emotional story arc – which is what I am interested in: what the hell is going to happen to these two guys?
I know they’ve signed on for a season 10 – and maybe even a season 11? I love them both, by the way, for the loyalty to this program and to each other.
But I really want to feel that End Game … the pressure building on the characters – which you really got in season 1 and season 2 – each episode had its quirks and smaller stories – but each one was also pushing towards the End Game. The ending to season 1 and season 2 were both devastating.
I guess what I am saying is: the plot is obviously important. What’s gonna happen to Crowley? Who will rule Heaven? and etc. These things add tension and urgency.
But the real gold of the show is these two broken beautiful brothers. Will Sam get out? Is that his End Game? Will Dean die? Is that his End Game? I am sure the writers already know where they are all going – at this point. I would not be surprised if they had already written a “final episode” – just in case they get canceled – which happened with Quantum Leap.
These two characters are so great. I want their End Game to be perfect. Whatever it may be. Huge, perfect, thought-provoking, devastating, beautiful … all mixed together.
One thing I really think it was a mistake to drop was the whole hustling-for-cash thing that was present in the first season. Dean playing poker, pool for cash – credit card scams – that outlaw side of the Winchester business. Dean’s casual amorality about scamming other people – he didn’t steal outright, no breaking and entering – but he was not above semi-illegal hustling scams over a pool table to get some cash in his pocket.
And then they dropped it – and now it is strange, like: how on earth do they make money? They need gas money, they need food money. Yes, they have the bunker – but they still have to pay for motel rooms. Bogus credit cards won’t work all the time. I loved that aspect in the beginning, that Dean would have to go out to some pool hall and hustle some bikers – it added to the dangerous feeing about what they were doing. That these guys are truly off the grid.
It seemed like they tried to set it up for the character and then for some reason – any idea why? – dropped it.
Season 6 is my least favourite season, and S7 my second-least. I did enjoy the way the stakes changed in S7, though — I thought they were running into escalation problems and appreciated the track change to corporate espionage! But it wasn’t perfect. At times the commentary was interesting — corporations are using additives to turn you into a zombie! — and I enjoyed the irony of eating snacks while watching that on screen but sometimes it was a little mean-spirited, yeah. They don’t always aim their jokes at the right targets.
I wish Castiel had been human a little longer!
At this point, I don’t think there’s anything this show can really do to make me leave before the end game. I need to know they come out okay, together. At this point, after everything they’ve been through, I don’t think I could handle a sacrificial/tragic finale where one of them dies and one of them goes on! But gosh am I looking forward to seeing it; seasons 4 and 5, where they had an end game in mind, were on the whole stellar.
I think they dropped the hustling side of things because they assumed it was taken for granted, but I miss that part of it too! It goes along with the outlaw romance of them. And speaking of hustling, and sex work, and Dean, sometimes I wonder if he ever had to engage in sex work as a teen to keep the money coming in during the long periods without their dad.
One of the things I love the most about the show is the gaps caused by its sparse backstory, and its structural weirdness, and its emotionality. There is so much space to read into it, to make anew pasts and characters and throughlines. Part of the pleasure of Supernatural for me is how it reminds me of the pleasure of reading, creating something in an interaction with a text, and discarding it a moment later!
Jessie – We are in sync. I’ve always thought Dean might have had sex for cash at one point in his life. Especially now that we’ve seen the Boys Town episode, that we know he actually had a moment where he was allowed to be innocent. After that? I could see him thinking it wouldn’t matter – no need to save himself for anything – and also, and also: He’s so gorgeous, he would get propositioned ALL. THE. TIME. It’s not like it would have been difficult for him. One desperate time, he might have said Yes.
The show obviously will never reveal something like that – but I think JA is playing it. He’s made comments along those lines when talking about the character – “who knows what he’s done to make money …” that kind of thing.
I think it’s there, like a supersonic buzz – in his attitude towards sex, and also – that weird strain of kindness he has in him towards women – which doesn’t really go with the Player-Ladies-Man image. He’s been there, he’s been objectified and treated like that, he gets it. So sex for him isn’t about a conquest – it’s about comfort. JA plays that, I think. It’s very clear.
I’ve already sort of come to terms with the fact that I think Dean is Dunzo, but God, how great it would be if it didn’t go that way. I’m with you. I want to know these guys are going to be okay.
So sex for him isn’t about a conquest – it’s about comfort. JA plays that, I think. It’s very clear.
Yes, exactly. I love what you say in the other post about how different their physicality is in their sex scenes, and how unconcerned Dean is about his sex drive. Dean is very happy to enjoy the little moments — pie! — (and Sam always ruins it for him by thinking “too much” about their past and future): Dean, who always already knows himself as a sacrificial lamb, has made peace with the present. (And perhaps this is why Dean is so bad at processing trauma).
I’ve already sort of come to terms with the fact that I think Dean is Dunzo
I CANNOT COUNTENANCE THIS
hahaha Oh no, she’s busting out the all caps!! I feel you and I will hope for the best.
You know what moment I love?? In the “groundhog day episode” where they first meet the Trickster (who is also excellent) – and the moment we keep seeing of Dean rocking out to Asia sitting on the bed. Why does that please me so much? The way his head rocks back and forth, the way he says, “Dude! Asia!”
It makes me laugh every time – and of course we see it about 20 times during that episode.
and it adds up to why Dean is special: his enjoyment of the moment. Sex! Pie! Asia!
JA knows he’s funny. He can manipulate it, he can make it do what he wants it to do. He’s so great.
This show’s chief weapon is hope! And laughter. The show’s two chief weapons are hope, laughter, and heartbreak. Three! It’s three chief weapons are hope, laughter, heartbreak, and an almost fanatical devotion to beauty.
That whole episode is genius and full of some of the best editing the show ever did! The three comic trickster episodes are a trilogy of greatness and each time expanded what the show was capable of WRT humour. I mean seriously.
dying.
The bit where they both act out the other’s version of themselves – when Padalecki actually says “blah blah blah”??? HA. Like that is how Dean actually hears Sam when Sam talks?
Yes: you’re right – hope. and they are survivors. I just fear for Dean. He’s a mess. But that’s why the show’s working. :)
I’m there with you, I’m in to the End Game.
Blah blah blah blah! With that pinched face. And Dean’s picturing himself as Mr Smooth. Purple nurple. hysterical.
United in hope we stand! Well, sit on the couch with our fingers crossed.
Well, it’s obvious it will get worse before it gets better – and I’m really curious to see what will happen next, especially with regards to kevin and the fallout from Sam/angel and Dean’s betrayal of Sam. It’s gonna get ugly.
I want Charley to come back from Oz, too – I am sure she will. She brings such a freshness with her, and both of the brothers really change in her presence – but especially Dean.
I love his line: “she’s like the little sister I never wanted.” hahaha
But still: it’s interesting for him to deal with a gay woman – who loves porn as much as he does (GREAT choice on the script writers). It brings out this whole new thing in him – a way of dealing with a woman that we haven’t seen before. An appreciation of her qualities and a sensitiveness to what she’s going through. I mean it was there with Lisa and Cassie and all the other ladies – but because he knows he won’t be banging her, everything sort of calms down in him and he can just deal with her as a person.
It’s nice – I love their scenes together.
Oh, it’s definitely going to get worse! Even if just on a relationship level, it’s hard to see how Sam could find his way to forgiveness after all that.
Yes, I absolutely love Charlie! I think Dean’s really going to need that relationship after what happened to Kevin, because Charlie is proof that someone can care about him, and love him, without him destroying their life. And part of that is because she exists in a category of her own. She’s a mother figure (like Ellen, another of my favourites). She’s not an enemy. She’s not a damsel. Sex is off the cards. Heroism is implicated but not necessitated. Yes, he can relax around her.
If Charlie dies I will be gathering my mob and handing out pitchforks.
Yes, nothing can happen to Charley. That would be too much, dammit. She represents hope and renewal – also survival – look what she has been through herself. Her reading The Hobbit at her mother’s bedside? I was sobbing. And how Dean handles her – his whole demeanor changes. She loosens him up. I love it.
AND – she’s sort of a dog as well, sexually – kind of on the make for pretty girls at Comic Cons and LARPs – the two of them are “on the make” together, at all times. You know that Dean always has a condom in his back pocket. Like he would never forget it. He’s THAT prepared for spontaneous sex because you never know what the day will bring. And so is Charley.
But it’s so funny when she references sex or a conquest and you can see Dean get all awkward, and yet – he likes it, he gets it. And it kind of turns him on too but he can’t really ogle at the thought of the lesbians because Charley is his friend, so he holds it together. It makes for a nice dynamic.
Dean into Charley’s earpiece: “Pretend he has boobs.”
Hysterical.
Just re-reading what I said — I meant NOT a mother figure, of course! Yes, Charlie is a horn dog, and we love her for it.
Dean hitting on guys via Charlie was awesome! So was their bonding over tactics during the LARP.
Mmm! I could look at this all day. And I’m excited to hear you’re almost caught up!
And so now … I am ready to start writing about it.
So LOOK OUT.
:)
Yay! Reading you is like a Christmas present every day. ^_^
:)
He’s also a HELL of an actor and has created an amazingly consistent and compelling character over 9 seasons. I’m blown away – and Jared is amazing too.
Amen.
More pretty pictures please! hahaha
The show is overwhelming that way. My Lord.
And I miss Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It was a great family dynamic, that first season. I know they shouldn’t bring him back story wise, and I suppose the actor is busy working, but the shallow teen fan girl in me wishes he’d pop up now and again. Flashbacks … or something …
Yes, I miss him too. It was so interesting to see how Sam and Dean transformed in his presence – heads bowed down, obedient, submissive … fascinating.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he eventually did return – you know how nobody ever REALLY dies on the show.
I am so in love with Charley – I love her dynamic with the brothers.
YES. I am so excited to read any and all of your thoughts on SPN!
Gearing up for it! May do some re-caps so we can all re-live the episodes together.
Can’t wait to read your writing about this series. JA is beautiful, but my heart belongs to Jim Beaver!
Oh he is wonderful!!
and I adore Misha Collins too. Great cast.
I knew you’d finish before me! My life is getting away from me right now. As I think I told you before, Ackles used to be on Days of our Lives where he was — it pains me to say so — essentially a pretty boy zero. To be honest, I was surprised when I found out he’d gotten a prime times series. I was like, “THAT guy? Seriously??” Then he proceeded to blow me away and shut my mouth forever.
It’s the perfect match of actor and character. You can’t picture anyone else as Dean. No one.
(And I’m still quite taken with his lip sync to “Eye of the Tiger” during the credits in an episode from ….. Season 4, I think? Something like that. He’s adorable.)
I didn’t watch Days of Our Lives during his stint – but I imagine in an environment where his humor is basically not needed, he couldn’t shine as bright as he needs to. Yes, he is inhumanly unfairly gorgeous. But lots of people are.
In Supernatural he gets to be like Clint Eastwood – which totally suits him – and yet is in direct contrast to his soft girlie features. Slam-dunk. The icing on the cake is how much of a CLOWN he is. Super funny in sometimes broad ways and sometimes really subtle deadpan ways. He’s so good! This is a great vehicle for him.
Exactly. It’s the perfect part for him. It sounds condescending — and I don’t mean it to — but he was a revelation to me in this part because of how underused/unchallenged/unexplored (however you want to say it, or all of the above) he was in Days of our Lives. (I went through a weird DOOL obsession years ago.) For me it was like, “Wow. Who knew?” Now I only see him through THIS grid, the grid of what a great actor he is, not the grid I previously placed on him. I love it when that happens — when someone blows my expectations out of the water and basically puts me in my place for ever doubting that they had IT. And this guy has it in spades.
I totally know what you mean here. I’m just so psyched for him – a role he was born to play.
I just started watching the series yesterday-you all have convinced me that I must! I remember watching a few episodes when it first aired-to be honest, it scared the crap out of me. I realized last night, it still does! Great show though, and I will be happy to be reading your comments on it. I know they will enhance my enjoyment of the series.
Maureen – I’m so excited you started watching it!
Yes, it is very scary – a mini horror movie every week.
More to come!!