Jared Padalecki is a famous American actor who is known worldwide for playing the role of Sam Winchester, the younger of the two Winchester brothers who hunted down ghosts and other supernatural characters on the superhit CW show, Supernatural. Jared Padalecki grew up in Texas and began his rise to fame during the early 2000s after being cast in the famous TV show Gilmore Girls. He also appeared in some movies like New York Minute and House of Wax. he hit the jackpot after being cast as Sam WInchester in Supernatural. The show went on to run for 15 seasons and became the longest running live action fantasy show of all time. He also met his future wife on the set of the show and his co-star Jensen Ackles, who plays the role of Dean Winchester, is one of his best friends in real life. Jared Padalecki is known on sets for his love of playing pranks on his co-stars. Jared Padalecki is also very skilled at chess and he loves playing it frequently. Let’s take a closer look at Jared Padalecki’s life and career.
Jared Padalecki: All You Need to Know
When was Jared Padalecki born?
Jared Padalecki is a native of San Antonio, Texas. He was born on July 19th, 1982. His father’s name is Gerald Padalecki and his mother’s name is Sherri Padalecki. As it’s quite evident from his surname, Gerald Padalecki has Polish ancestry. Sherri Padalecki has an extremely mixed ancestry, ranging from English, French, Scottish, to German. Jared Padalecki has two siblings, older brother Jeff and younger sister Megan.
Where did Jared Padalecki study?
Contrary to what people might expect from popular actors, Jared Padalecki wasn’t always just into the acting field. He was one of the candidates for the Presidential Scholars Program in 2000. Two years prior to that, Jared Padalecki and his partner Chris Cardenas had emerged victorious at the National Forensic League national championship in Duo Interpretation. Padalecki had planned to attend the University of Texas after graduating from James Madison Highschool in 2000. However, he took an unexpected career step and decided to pursue a career in acting by moving to Los Angeles, California. Padalecki had also been taking acting lessons since the age of 12.
Jared Padalecki: Acting Career
Jared Padalecki was the victor of Fox Broadcasting’s 1999 “Claim to Fame Contest”. As a result of that, he made an appearance in the famous Teen Choice Awards. He met an agent at the awards and that proved to be a major turning point in his acting career. He landed a small role in the 1999 movie A Little Inside. In 2000, he was cast as Dean Forester on the tv series Gilmore Girls, and he continued to play the role for five years. During that time, Jared Padalecki also made appearances in several TV movies. Some of those movies were Silent Witness, On The Brink of Home and Disney Channel’s A Hoop of Endless Light.
Jared Padalecki also landed an uncredited role in the 2003 movie Cheaper by the Dozen. He played the role of a highschool bully in the movie. He played the role after his friend and fellow actor Tom Welling (who played Clark Kent/Superman in Smallville) asked him to do so. Welling played the role of Charlie Barker and he needed someone bigger than him to play the role of the bully. Initially, Jared Padalecki auditioned for the role of Tom Welling but he decided to drop out in order to film a pilot called Young MacGyver. Unfortunately, the pilot failed and the show was never picked up. In 2004, Jared Padalecki appeared alongside Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in the movie New York Minute. He played the role of Trey Lipton, an attractive young man who the Olsen twins have a crush on. He also landed a brief role within the thriller Flight of the Phoenix alongside Dennis Quaid and Hugh Laurie. Jared Padalecki also appeared in the popular horror movie, House of Wax alongside Paris Hilton, Chad Michael Murray and Elisha Cuthbert. In the same year, he made an appearance in another horror movie, Cry Wolf. He played the character of Tom. Jared Padalecki was also considered for the role of Superman/Clark Kent in the proposed relaunch of the Superman film franchise.
The biggest and perhaps the most life changing event of Jared Padalecki’s life also occurred in 2005. He was cast to play the role of Sam Winchester on the TV show Supernatural. The tv show was created for television by Eric Kripke and it was broadcast for the first time on September 13th, 2005. The ratings for the show’s first four episodes were so good that it was picked up for a full season. Kripke intended to wrap up the show in three seasons. He managed to expand it to five seasons but left after the end of the fifth season. The massive success of the show led to Warner Brothers hiking several other showrunners to continue the series. Supernatural continued for 10 more seasons and its 15th and final season was released near the end of 2019. Jared Padalecki was a part of the show from the start and stayed till the very end. Due to its longevity, Supernatural has become the longest running live action-fantasy/horror/sci-fi show in history. The premise of the show features Padelecki’s character Sam WInchester and his brother Dean Winchester (played by Jensen Ackles) driving across the USA and hunting paranormal creatures, fighting demons and angels and dealing with a lot of paranormal activities.
He and his Supernatural co-star Jensen Ackles were voted People Magazine’s “Sexiest Ghostbusters” in 2005. He is four years younger than his TV older brother, Jensen Ackles. They are real life best friends.
In 2007, Jared Padalecki also worked as the host of MTV’s horror reality series, Room 401, which was discontinued after only eight episodes because of poor ratings.
He had the lead role in 2008’s The Christmas Cottage as Thomas Kinkade, alongside acclaimed actor Peter O’Toole.
Jared Padalecki also tried out for the roles of Clark Kent/Superman in Superman Returns (2006), Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Conan in Conan the Barbarian (2011).
He and Supernatural co-star Misha Collins both use sign language with their children. At the 2012 Salute to “Supernatural” convention in New Jersey, the two joked about their reactions to Signing Time! (2002) and “Baby Signing Time”.
He also played the lead role in the 2009 version of the Friday the 13th series of movies. He appeared alongside Amanda Righetti and played the role of Clay Miller, a person who goes to the dreaded Camp Crystal lake to search for his missing sister.
On September 23, 2019, it had been announced that Padalecki was cast to play the titular role in Walker, Texas Ranger. The reboot of the classic show was eventually signed up as a series in January, 2020.
Jared Padalecki was engaged to long-term girlfriend Sandra McCoy and proposed in Paris while on holiday during the writers strike (October 2007-March 2008). However, in June 2008 at the “Supernatural” Dallas convention, he announced that they were no longer engaged or together.
He and former Supernatural recurring guest star Genevieve Cortese were married on February 27, 2010, in her hometown of Sun Valley, ID. Jensen Ackles, who plays “Dean Winchester”, the older brother to Jared’s character “Sam Winchester” on Supernatural, was one of the groomsmen. Jared’s real-life older brother, Jeff Padalecki, was best man.
Jared Padalecki met his future wife Genevieve Cortese on the set of the fourth season of Supernatural. She was recast in the role of Ruby after the original actress Katie Cassidy was let go because of financial reasons. Jared Padalecki and Genevieve Cortese’s engagement was announced in January 2010. Padalecki proposed to her ahead of their favorite painting, “Joan of Arc”, by French realist Jules Bastien-Lepage at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in October 2009. The couple got married soon after that on February 27th, 2010. The event took place in Sun Valley, Idaho, the hometown of Cortese. The couple announced Cortese’s pregnancy. Cortese gave birth to the couple’s first child Thomas Colton Padaleckin on March 19th, 2012. The couple’s second son Austin Shepherd Padalecki was born on December 22nd, 2013. The couple’s daughter Odette Elliott Padalecki was born on March 17th, 2017.
Padalecki and Supernatural co-stars Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins publicly endorsed Democratic nominee Beto O’Rourke for the Senate election of Texas in 2018.
Jared Padalecki also owns Stereotype, a ’90s-themed bar in Austin, Texas, which opened in 2018. Padalecki was arrested for assault and public intoxication at the same bar on October 27th, 2019.
In March 2015, Padalecki launched his Always Keep Fighting campaign through Represent.com. His first campaign raised funds for to write down Love On Her Arms, which supports people battling depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. The cause is especially on the brink of Padalecki, who has been candid about his own struggles with depression. For the second campaign within the Always Keep Fighting series in April 2015, Padalecki partnered with co-star Jensen Ackles to release a shirt featuring both of their faces, to profit their newly formed joint charitable fund. Over 70,000 shirts were sold. Padalecki also launched a 3rd campaign selling an extra 40,000 shirts.
During San Diego Comic-Con 2015, more than 6,000 fans surprised Padalecki at the Supernatural panel by holding up candles for him. They were out there to show solidarity with him after he revealed his battle with depression earlier in the year.
What are some of the defining features of Jared Padalecki?
The following are some of Jared Padalecki’s defining features:
- Mole
- Triangular nose
- Sideburns
- Puppy dog eyes
- Deep baritone voice
- Towering height
Jared Padalecki: Best Quotes
Jared Padalecki has had a long and illustrious career in the public eye. His most popular show, Supernatural has legions of devoted fans who love all the cast members on the show. Here are some of the best quotes of Jared Padalecki:
“I’m a sucker for gag reels and teaser trailers for new seasons. One of the great parts of panels, especially on a show like ‘Supernatural,’ which can be so dark, it’s fun to get up there and laugh and remember we’re only telling a story. Seeing Eric Kripke and Ben Edlund up there being so funny always makes me laugh.”
“There’s a book that I read, really a great book – it’s called ‘Lone Survivor’ and I think they’re trying to make it into a movie. I would love to play Marcus Luttrell, who was the author and the ‘lone survivor.’ He’s a national hero; he’s very courageous and heroic in insurmountable danger, so it’s something I’d love to explore.”
“I’m a Texas guy, and the good and bad of that is that I’m always, first and foremost, loyal. If it weren’t for ‘Supernatural,’ I wouldn’t have a lot of the blessings that I have today, so I’m going to play it out. I’m going to give it my all.”
“I had a nightmare about being on a cruise ship and the ship going down. It was an arduous process of the ship going down and we knew it was going down. There was everyone I know and love on the ship.”
“I have a house, with two big plasma-screen TVs, two dogs, a grill, chessboard. I like to keep it low-key: invite friends over, order some Papa John’s pizzas and Coors Light, play poker and ping-pong and chill. I’m pretty private.”
“There are no words that can describe the euphoria you feel when your baby recognizes you for the first time and smiles.”
“We’re gonna try to have the baby a little while before we name it. We don’t want to put it out there, like try and turn him into something before we meet the kid. We want to get a feel for who this kid is before we name him.”
“I’m a big ‘Star Wars’ fan and grew up watching the movies. I read all the books and have read ‘Star Wars’ fiction that went between the newest trilogy and the original trilogy and it was part of my childhood.”
“Whenever I drive under a yellow light, I always kiss my finger and tap it on the roof of the car.”
“I’m a little self-conscious about my body. I love to wear hoodies because you can get cozy and eat some food and your belly doesn’t show!”
“There are a lot of actors that I really love to watch, actors who I have fun watching – I think Johnny Depp is phenomenal. But I wouldn’t want that career as much as I’d like a career like Tom Hanks – he kind of represents the everyman.”
“I’m so happy with my family, my career and my friends, and I’d like for them to be here forever, so I guess loss is what scares me the most.”
“When ‘Supernatural’ came out, there were a lot of procedurals and you were either a doctor or a cop or lawyer, otherwise the show didn’t stay on TV. And then we came around, and I don’t want to say we were trailblazers, but we found our niche.”
Did Jensen and Jared actually get tattoos?
On “Supernatural,” Sam and Dean have matching tattoos to prevent them from getting possessed. In real life, actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, along with onscreen dad Jeffrey Dean Morgan, have matching crown tattoos, but they apparently have a special meaning.
Are Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles still friends?
Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles used to be roommates. Just like Sam and Dean, the two actors once lived together. Jared and Jensen were roommates when the show was in its early seasons. Both actors married their wives in 2010, so they don’t still live together today, but there was a time when they were practically inseparable, even at home.
Do Jared and Jensen get paid the same?
Jensen Ackles made an average of $175k per episode of Supernatural. Jared Padalecki on the other hand, made $125k per episode of the show.
How much is Jared Padalecki worth?
As of 2020, Jared Padalecki’s net worth is 12 million dollars. Screen Rant reports that Padalecki makes 125,000 dollars per episode. While this may seem like an impressive amount to most, this is actually 50,000 dollars less than Padalecki’s co-star, Jensen Ackles makes per episode.
Do Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki hate each other?
Not even slightly. On The CW’s hit series Supernatural, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki play ghost-and-ghoul-fighting brothers Dean and Sam Winchester. Ackles and Padalecki are really good friends in real life, so good that they were once roommates and were even in attendance at each others’ weddings.
How did Jared Padalecki and Genevieve Cortese meet?
Padalecki and Cortese met on the set of Supernatural. In 2009, Cortese was brought onto the show to play an attractive demon named Ruby. She replaced actress Katie Cassidy for the role, who was let go because of financial issues. According to Heavy, the first time that the talented actor had laid eyes on his future wife was while she was standing on the set in nothing but her underwear. He was obviously immediately attracted to her, but he didn’t say anything to her right away.
When he finally mustered up the courage to talk to her, he was afraid that he might have annoyed her because he had interrupted her while reading a book. ” I was very excited to meet her,” Padalecki recalls. “Meanwhile, I think she was like, ‘Who is this long-haired A-hole who thinks he can come talk to me while I’m reading a book?’”
He had described her as being “fussy” the first time that they had ever talked. But apparently, she was able to forgive him for interrupting her and they eventually started to talk on a regular basis and get to know each other better.
Four months after their initial meeting, Padalecki asked Cortese out on a date. Today, he says that the reason why the two are able to have such a strong and lasting relationship was because he waited and truly got to know her before he started a romantic relationship with her.
On February 27, 2010, Padalecki and Cortese tied the knot in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Sun Valley, Idaho. Cortese had always wanted to get married underneath the falling snow. However, she was afraid that her dreams would not be able to come true because the skies had been clear all week long.
According to PopSugar, the morning of the wedding, there looked to be no snow in sight. Although the weather report was predicting snow, it looked as if the snow was going to bypass Sun Valley that day. Then around four o’clock that afternoon (the same time that the ceremony was set to start) a few snowflakes started to fall from the sky, and Cortese was able to get married the way that she had always been dreaming about.
The couple’s close friends and family members were all in attendance at the wedding. Padalecki’s co-star, and TV brother, Jensen Ackles, was even a groomsman in the wedding.
Together, Padalecki and Cortese have three children. Their oldest son, Thomas “Tom” Colton, is 8 years old, their youngest son, Austin “Shep” Shepherd, is 6 years old, and their only daughter, Odette, is 3 years old.
Padalecki had recently said that when it comes to his family, they are his top priority. “Learning lines or this or that becomes unimportant. It’s about going, ‘Are Gen and Odette okay? Is Tom okay? Is Shep okay?’ There’s no such thing as boredom when you have kids because you’re just always on point.”
Jared Padalecki and Genevieve Cortese have had a very happy and successful marriage so far. They are proud parents of three adorable kids and they seem to love and respect each other very much. Hopefully, they can stay together and enjoy many more years of a happy marriage together.