-Our next guest is a talented actor you know from his work on
shows such as "Supernatural" and "Smallville."
He joins the Emmy-nominated series "The Boys,"
which is now streaming exclusively on
Amazon Prime Video.
Let's take a look.
-The most idiotic of them all.
-What do you say, Gunpowder?
Give them the Fourth of July.
-Let's light 'em up, Soldier Boy.
-Please put that down.
-Oh, well, I didn't realize
they made case officers as pretty as you.
We're just having some fun.
-Our munitions dump is in that direction.
You're about to blow up half the camp.
Put it down -- now.
-I do like the assertive type.
You know, with a figure like yours, you are wasted down here.
-Please welcome to the show Jensen Ackles, everyone.
[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪
Such a pleasure to have you here.
How you doing? -Hey. Good. Great. Grand.
-I am a big fan of this show. This show is gory.
This show is graphic.
This show is also very funny at times.
Were you familiar with it before they reached out?
-I was.
Eric Kripke, who's the showrunner,
created a little show a few years ago called "Supernatural."
-Yeah.
-And so I was certainly friends with the boss.
And when he came out with the show, I was like,
"I'm gonna have to watch another Kripke show."
'Cause he's done -- You know, he went off and did "Timeless."
He went off and did "Revolution."
The guy -- He can't stop working.
But this one really is him with the gloves off.
And it shows.
Because it is everything
that he couldn't do on network television.
-It is -- You have a million-dollar voice
for superheroes,
and I feel like the clip was a perfect illustration of that.
But you have done some superhero voice work before.
Not acting, but you did some DC Comic stuff.
You did Red Hood. -Yep.
In fact, I just spent about 3 1/2 hours in the studio
yesterday doing Batman.
-Oh, wow. You do it for Batman, too?
Look at that. That's a big deal.
-That is a big deal. I don't want to drop that ball.
-Yeah. Now, that, of course,
is nice because you just get to do the voice.
Here, you have to get the gear on.
It seems like as far as the costumes on this show go,
you did okay, 'cause some of them are
maybe a little bit less fun to put on.
-Yeah, it was -- I got the nice one, I would --
I can still move around.
There was no leotard, no rubber,
no suit that you had to peel off at the end of the day.
-Right.
-That being said, while we were fitting it --
'Cause these things are works of art
and they take quite a bit of time to really put together.
The super-suit costume designer, LJ --
she was starting to put the stuff together and was like,
"Are you gonna give me some -- you know, give me some muscles?"
Like, I see these suits,
and they are clearly outlined with, you know,
added muscles.
-No, I would definitely show up
assuming muscles would be there already.
-Yeah. And then -- But instead, she just lightly taps me
on the shoulder and she goes,
"You're going to bring me some muscles in April."
-Wait. How much time -- When was that?
When was that conversation? -This was like October.
-Oh, my God. That's not enough time.
-Well, it was. -Yeah. Oh, wow.
-I was like, "Challenge accepted."
-Yeah. I'm sorry that I saw the clip and I was like,
"That wasn't enough time."
-Yeah, thanks, man.
So, apparently, it wasn't.
-You mentioned that this is a show --
-Noddle-armed Soldier Boy there.
-This is -- Obviously, I would say
there's not an episode in the show that you don't see
five or 10 examples of something
that couldn't be on network television.
Obviously, you mentioned you're friends with the showrunner.
Did he -- Was there anything he asked you to do
that you thought, "Oh, man, this is not friendship"?
-So, yeah, if anybody's ever thinking of coming on to
a Kripke show and portraying one of his characters,
never tell him that something bothers you.
-Oh, interesting. -He will write to it full force.
-Oh, like, he'll -- If you have, like, one fear thing --
-Oh, yeah, if you're like,
"I don't like fluid all over me,"
he's like, "Oh, okay!
Okay. Got it."
-Yeah. So if you do it, be like, "I hate cake."
-Right, right, right, right.
Needless to say, he found my line very quickly
and then continued to write to it.
-So, this is a no-spoiler situation,
but for anybody who finishes the season,
we should be able to pinpoint the moment where you --
he has found the weakness?
-Yeah, I mean, let's -- Yeah, without any spoilers,
I mean, it's just odd sexual positions.
-Alright, great.
Now, that is troubling, 'cause that means,
based on everything you've said so far,
that you went to him and said,
"There's just -- I got two sexual positions I hate.
Whatever you do, Kripke,
just know this one and this one are off limits."
-Well, they --
And this is how really advanced this whole process is,
is I would get e-mails with just stick figures in positions.
I would be like, "Oh, 'A' and 'B' are out.
I'm sorry. I can't. I have children."
-That's right.
You do -- And we were talking backstage.
We each have three kids. You've got two 5s and a 9.
-I got two 5s and a 9.
-So, this is obviously just off limit.
They cannot watch this show. -Oh, yeah, no.
-Is there anything -- I mean, they must be aware.
-My parents don't watch this show.
My mom better not.
-Is there anything that you could show them
where they think, "Oh, that's cool that dad's doing that"?
-So, a few years back,
"Supernatural" did a crossover with "Scooby-Doo."
-Alright, perfect.
-And, I mean, they were animating me
as my character on "Supernatural,"
but at the end of the day, they were just animating me.
So dad is animated with Scooby-Doo on a cartoon
that my kids just adore.
-And you got to voice it? -Oh, yeah.
-Oh, that's good. -Yeah.
-And they weren't thrown off by that?
Because I have some friends who have done voice-over work,
and they say their kids -- they don't like that moment.
-Well, 'cause I have actor friends
that do voices of characters in movies that they have watched
that they're very familiar with.
And I'll be like, "Hey, hey, talk to my buddy."
And then they're like, "Why is that person talking to me?"
So -- Or they'll come over to the house and be like,
"This is so-and-so," and they're like,
"No, that doesn't look anything like a little dog."
-Yeah. Well, that's the -- I've said the same thing,
where I'm like, "I've actually --
Yeah, the guy who does that bear voice --
he's been on my show."
And I show them a clip, and they're like,
"Oh, he's a human."
-Unimpressed. Unimpressed at this point.
-I do want to mention --
You know, you alluded to "Supernatural."
15 years, over 300 episodes.
This is, like, an unheard of accomplishment for
you, yourself, and everybody who did that show.
And, obviously, an incredible fan base.
I don't think any show could be on 15 years without one.
That must have been a tremendous ride.
-It was. [ Cheers and applause ]
Thank you. Yeah. -Give it up.
-Yeah, I think we topped out at 327 episodes
of prime-time television, which was a long, long run.
And it was fantastic.
There was a reason why I think we all stuck around, though,
because we just truly enjoyed it.
It was a family.
You know, we -- I spent birthdays,
and we spent holidays and we -- There was just --
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.
-That's really cool. -Yeah.
-A shorter run, but also a big fan base --
you did three years on "Days of Our Lives."
-[ Laughs ] Nobody remembers that.
-Do you get recognized, though?
-So, okay, funny story. No.
-Okay.
-Until about two weeks ago. -Okay.
-When I was on a flight back from Europe --
we were over there doing some press for "The Boys,"
and a lovely flight attendant kind of, like --
You know how they look at you and they're like, "Ehhh..."
-Yeah. -Like, "Ehhhhhh."
So I'm thinking maybe "Supernatural,"
maybe "The Boys," I don't know.
And, so, I'm coming out of the bathroom,
and they're there in the galley.
And he says, "Days of Our Lives."
And I immediately was like,
"You're not even old enough to remember me."
And, immediately, he went right into it.
He was like, "What's Marlena like?"
And, so, I sat there speaking, you know, like,
taking up space in the galley there, sipping coffee.
-Well, I mean, I would imagine -- For 15 years,
you've had to answer so many questions about "Supernatural."
It must have been a nice break to go back to the "Days" days.
-Yeah, I had to go through the files in the brain there
and come up with some stories.
But, yeah, David, if you're out there, that was a pleasure.
It was enjoyable.
-And I'm sure, your next flight,
you'll be answering questions about "The Boys."
Hey, thanks so much for being here.
It's been a real pleasure talking to you
and having you on.
Jensen Ackles.
The first three episodes of the third season of "The Boys"
are streaming now, with new episodes available Fridays
on Amazon Prime Video.
We'll be right back with music from Tove Lo.