Jensen Ackles opened up about the even that made him realize how big Supernatural actually was, right after he was done with Season One.

Jensen Ackles thought that Supernatural was just a fun ‘monster of the week’ kind of show.

However, he realized how popular the show was after a fan event following Season 1 of the show.
Jensen Ackles’ portrayal of Dean Winchester matured with him, having played the character for 15 years.

Supernatural was one of the biggest IPs that CW had on its hands, running for a whopping 15 seasons, clocking in at around 327 episodes. Jensen Ackles, the actor who played Dean Winchester, revealed how he figured out how big the show had become after the first season, before which he thought it was more akin to shooting a horror film every week.

Supernatural first season landed on the network with great reviews, but Ackles was not convinced about how big the show had actually become. However, as admitted by the actor himself, the show was part of the network’s push into the UK market, which caused the show to blow up across the pond.

Jensen Ackles thought Supernatural would be a fun show to do

Jensen Ackles was on a different CW show aimed at teens when he came in for Supernatural, which he picked up thinking that the show would be fun to do. However, there was more to it, given that the actor was possibly stepping into one of CW’s biggest IPs. Speaking about the surprise of the impact of the show, he said:

I didn’t realize the audience we were reaching until there was a huge U.K. push for the show. We’d only been on for one season, but the crowd response was jaw-dropping when I came out for the show

At this point in television history, similar shows like Buffy: The Vampire Slayer were popular, which proved to the network that there was already a market for shows like this, something that would be echoed with likes of Vampire Diaries, Grimm, and Shadowhunters.

Jensen Ackles believes that Dean Winchester became a paternal figure by the end of the show

Jensen Ackles played Dean Winchester for a long time, starting when he was in his mid-twenties. The show, like the real world, saw Dean age up and become more mature as well. Ackles talked about this shift, saying:

The character of Dean, he really grew as well; we kind of grew together over the years. Before, he was this sort of gunslinging, blue-collar, unlikely hero. And I feel like he’s always kept that, but it’s just matured into a more paternal type of situation. He feels — and you’ll see that a lot in these final few episodes — he has started taking this father-figure role… He cares with a love that is more paternal.

Ackles saw his character grow with him, having had children over the course of the show in his own life. Given that the show covered a good 15 years in the actor’s life, the character was bound to mature with what the actor did. This allowed the showrunners to explore different aspects of the character, with some parts of the story exploring how the character approached situations differently.