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 Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:20 pm
Welcome to the Official Supernatural Magazine thread! 3nodding
So basically, this is a little thread where I'm going to be
posting the main interesting parts of the monthly SPN
magazine for you all to read. Saves you money, right?
Enjoy!
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:26 pm
Uploaded for y'all so far... Issue #13 (Feb/March 2010)freshh+ Interview with Misha Collins
freshh+ Interview with Mark Pellegrino
freshh+Interview with Christopher Heyerdahl
freshh+ Interview with Alona Tal
freshh+ Supernatural Magazine Readers Awards: Results
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:31 pm
Interview with Misha Collins!  Entrances on screen don't come much bigger than Castiel's in season four's Lazarus Rising, when the handsome angel unfolded his wings and brought with him a whole new mythology to the show. Actor Misha Collins' entrance into the world of Supernatural has been no less intense, with fandom going wild, and his quirky sense of humour proving a hit on Twitter and at Supernatural conventions world wide.
Season five sees Collins now a show regular, and viewers are getting to watch Castiel evolve in other ways, from rebelling against his angelic masters to seeing him as a "love guru" in a potential future to him discovering more about earthly ways thanks to Dean. As Collins prepared to shoot Castiel's first scenes with Lucifer, we caught up with him to find out about his crazy time on Supernatural so far...
The Official Supernatural Magazine: A lot has happened over the past year since you joined Supernatural. How has it been for you so far?
Misha Collins: It's a fantastic job to have, I'm very happy about it.
Do you feel you're part of the Supernatural family now?
Yes, I feel like I'm part of it. You know, it's a fairly dysfunctional family where everyone's working incredibly long hours and is often tired, but it's a great group of people to work with. I can say that without lying, which is really nice! Jared and Jensen set a good tone for the show; they work hard and are a lot of fun to work with. We have a second-unit day this season, which means basically each episode has a ninth day of shooting; last year we were shooting in eight days what we're shooting in nine days this year, and that makes a huge difference for the crew, because the hours are a lot more manageable. I think everyone is having a slightly more manageable experience!
Will Castiel go off on his own at any point, do you think?
I don't really know. We haven't done any episodes where Castiel is off on his own that much yet. There was a little bit at the end of season four, so I think the precedent has been set for that possibility. But we haven't really gotten into that so far this season. We're only nine episodes in, though.
Is it getting harder or easier to play him as you go along?
I think it's getting harder to play. I was expecting it to fall into place and for it to be a cakewalk, but the fact that Castiel's changing and becoming more human means that I have to keep on thinking about what I'm doing.
To date, most of Castiel's interaction has been with Dean. Do you think there will be any Sam and Castiel bonding coming up? After all, Sam's the one who always believed in angels.
I can't say that I've read that there's a lot of that just yet, but like I said, there's more to come. I imagine that at some point we will see that, it seems like it would be too juicy a plot to overlook, from a writer's perspective.
Have you had any scenes yet with Lucifer?
I have not. However, I will in the next episode [Abandon All Hope] that we shoot.
Do you think Castiel and Lucifer knew each other before Lucifer fell?
Definitely. I think they were old drinking buddies!
Can't you give us a hint? By the time this issue comes out, that episode will have aired...
We'd be speaking in the past tense, then. I should just tell you that I really enjoyed working with Mark Pellegrino, he's a great actor, and I think our scenes together were amazing. How about that? We haven't actually shot them yet but... I actually worked with Mark on an independant movie years ago, but I had to remind him of the fact when I saw him on set because he'd forgotten. He was dead for much of the movie, which he did amazingly. And then he came to life [laughs]. He's a cool guy.
Maybe that's why he didn't remember you - he had his eyes closed because he was dead.
I remember he was in the trunk of a car and I had to poke at his fleshy bare a** for this once scene.
And he didn't remember you?
It was an odd vantage point to have on a fellow actor. Maybe it's old hat for him. It happens a lot!
Tell us about the brothel scene in Free To Be You And Me. Was that fun to shoot?
Every time there's a scene with a lot of half-naked woman parading around the room, I feel like the scene goes smoothly. I don't know what it is; I honestly have no idea, but it always works better.
You may have been having fun, but Castiel looked terrified...
He was horrified [laughs].
How many times did you have to down the beer in that scene?
I had this moment of inspiration. The script said he was staring at his beer and I thought, "No, I'll down the beer!" So we shot five or six takes with the directors in another room looking at the monitors, and I downed the pint, and my stomach was starting to feel kind of bloated at that point. Then we changed camera angles and I heard the director laughing from the other room in front of the monitor. At the end of the take he said, "That was hilarious, the way you just drank that beer!" Apparently I had been sufficiently off-camera for the five or six times that I had drunk the beer and it hadn't been captured on film at all. A complete waste! So the last couple were really tough. It wasn't real beer, it was non-alcoholic beer. All the calories and none of the fun!
In the very next episode, The End, you played a future Castiel who wasn't scared of women at all...
That was another room full of scantily clad women, so it went well. It was fun to play that. I'm actually grateful that the writers have given me a couple of oppurtunities to play different things: Jimmy last year, where I was human, and then future Castiel. I feel pretty lucky.
How was it working with two deans in The End? We can only imagine how hard Jensen worked on that episode.
That was a tough episode for him, because not only was he doing essentially eight-page scenes played against himself, he was also working against the person who was giving him his dialogue, his stuntman [Todd Scott], who's less accustomed to acting. It was really him imagining what he would do on the other side. It was quite a complex, convoluted house of mirrors for him to be operating in. He pulled it off, but he was definitely one frayed rope on that episode. I think his head was about to pop by the end.
What has happened to Jimmy, Castiel's vessel? Do you think he's still hanging around in Castiel's subconscious?
Well, I don't have final word on that, but I think he is. That's my take. He's still around. It's entirely possible that that's not true, however. I'm not the one who gets to decide these things in the end. Jimmy was a nice guy [laughs]. He really got screwed!
Castiel's outfit has kind of become his trademark, hasn't it? Will you be sick of wearing it by the time the show has ended?
I am sick of the suit! It's kind of perfect in that sense. It's almost a metaphor wrapped inside a metaphor. Oddly, I think the outfit does help me with the character now, because I just put it on and automatically certain things happen to my body. I immediately feel a little bit stiff. It has been indelibly printed on the character.
Some people have compared Castiel's look in the trenchcoat to Peter Falk's 1970s TV detective Columbo.
There's a movie by Wim Wenders called Wings of Desire, and Peter Falk was in that. I think that Castiel was in part based on the character Bruno Ganz played in that movie, the angel named Cassiel...
"The angel of solitudes and tears." It's a great film."
It is a great film. If you notice in that, Cassiel was wearing an overcoat, and I think that the writers, in choosing that look, were partly drawing on the character from that movie. The parallels between Wings of Desire and the fact that that angel was named Cassiel - it's a little too much of a coincidence. Nobody's actually told me Castiel was based on that, but when I saw the movie I thought it was true.
You're very big on Twitter, aren't you? Having 26,600 followers is very impressive. Your Tweets are very funny...
Everything I write on Twitter is meant to be dead serious. Too bad it comes across as funny. [Laughs] Oh well. It is kind of weird, you know? If I post something on Twitter I will immediately have 300,400 responses, which is kind of surreal. Such a large volume of input from a large number of people all at once. A lot of it is "Oh Misha, you're so great, you're so funny," which is always kind of nice as a momentary ego boost - you can always write something not that funny and a bunch of people will write back, "You're so funny!" You can feel good about yourself for 10 minutes then get on with your day. There have been a couple of times when I have logged on to Twitter and they're all, "Why don't you Tweet? What's wrong?" And I feel [sighs] "Oh, I should, they're making me feel guilty..." and then I think, "Wait a minute! I didn't sign any contract saying I was going to Tweet 'x' number of times per week! Nobody can hold me over the barrel for this! I'm a free man!" Then I'll feel guilty and think, "Oh, I'll just do one..."
Have you had any strange fan encounters yet?
Of course! There's some replies that are just long, rambling 15 different tweets from the one person, one after the next, about how great our children are gonna look, things like that. And it's nice to hear, but at the same time, I dunno, I don't feel like Twitter's the best place to start a family!
Looking back over the last year, what do you think is the best thing that's happened to you because of the role?
The best thing that has happened to me this year is having an action figure made of my character [for I Believe the Children Are The Future]. That's definitely the best thing.
Were you allowed to take the action figure home and play with it?
No, I actually asked them if I could keep the action figure and they said no. So ironically in the same fell swoop, it was the best and the worst thing that happened to me all year, because they wouldn't let me keep it!
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:35 pm
Interview with Mark Pellegrino!  Can you picture a young Lucifer sitting in a classroom taking notes? Maybe a class on how to lie convincingly, but otherwise not really, right? So it should come as no surprise that Supernatural's Lucifer incarnate, Mark Pellegrino, wound up acting because school wasn't holding his attention. "I went to college for a little bit and got straight A's," he said, "but I found it boring, so I dropped out and starting singing with a rock band." From there he got into modelling and then acting, but it wasn't planned. It was all 'by luck' he claimed, although we think maybe the Devil made him do it.
Pellegrino certainly had the luck of the Devil when it came time for audtioning for the role of Lucifer. "I didn't audition for it," he revealed. "They just called me. I'm not sure what the machinations were behind the scenes, but maybe they thought since I was playing a Christ-like figure on LOST that there'd be dichotomy with playing the Devil on Supernatural, that it'd be an interesting overlap."
Of course, since LOST has a mythology that's just as rich and full of twists as Supernatural, it's possible Pellegrino could find out that his character Jacob is really the Devil in disguise on that show as well. "I don't know where they're going with it, actually," he said "I just get little hints as to what I am and I have to make up the rest in my own mind, but it does seem like a Christ-like figure. Somehow I'm controlling things and working things in that universe."
"The good thing about Supernatural is that I think Lucifer has a real beef and that's very wordly in nature and easy for anybody to understand. He's been betrayed. I think any person can relate to wanting justice. Whereas Jacob is more of a celestial kind of character; he's a little more difficult to relate to. I think Lucifer's really down to earth. I think he's got a real cause to be upset. He's been betrayed and he's seeking justice. I try to make him be as human and as relatable a possible. And sympathetic."
Nick, the first character that Pellegrino played on Supernatural was certainly sympathetic with Lucifer's plight - so much so that he willingly became his vessel. "Nick was a really unfortunate soul," Pellegrino commented, "because he did everthing he was supposed to do - he was a devout Catholic and punched the clock and did everything right - and yet he had this horrible, horrible tragedy befall him, more than most people ever would deal with in their lives. He looked for some kind of answer from God, but it wasn't there. And he felt not just bereft and that je'd lost his faith, but also he was angry - angry at God - and he felt the same kind of injustice that Lucifer felt, the same kind of rage and the same kind of grief. I think that rage is driven by grief, a grief that he just couldn't get out because he'd lost hope."
It'd be easy to looked at that scene in Sympathy for the Devil and just assume that Lucifer took advantage of Nick's grief and told him what he wanted to hear. After all, Lucifer is known as the Prince of Lies. But that's not how Pellegrino sees it. "I think Lucifer was being utterly and totally honest from his point of view. It could be that the ends justify the means in Lucifer's mind, so it's okay to lie because the end is just, but I like to think of him in terms of being utterly straight. And if you think about it, his case is pretty strong. He really doesn't have to go through a lot of fancy machinations to make somebody believe that he has a just cause."
Nonetheless, it is difficult to believe Luciferis being sincere in his show of kindness, caring and sympathy toward humans like Nick and sam, when his disdain for humans is at the root of why he was cast out of Heaven in the first place. But Pellegrino further deends Lucifer's point of view. "Lucifer didn't want to serve man," he explained. "I think being asked to serve a being that's lower than you is like asking a virtuous man to sacrafice for the un-virtuous. It feels like an injustice. Then to be condemned and cast out, to be betrayed by your father for it... it's quite a tale of Hamlet-esque, Shakespearean proportions. That's the way Lucifer looks at it: it's horrible injustice."
It's evident that Pellegrino has put a lot of thought into his portrayal of the Devil, and a lot of that's been influenced bu the ultimate source material, the Bible. "Many years ago I had a dance with Christianity where I read the Bible numerous times in my search for philosophy," he revealed. "I read the Bible and lots of Christian philosophers, from C.S Lewis to Kierkegaard. And I started reading the Book of Enoch, which is an apocryphal book that they have on the shelf there at Supernatural that's all about the angels and demons' fight. So I feel like the groundwork has been laid over the years and years of just searching on my own part.. The sturggle itself I think is a human thing; something easy to grasp."
Which is probably why Pellegrino admits he's a little bit like Lucifer. "To be honest, I'm a little bit of both Nick and Lucifer. I relate to Nick's problem and to that seething sense that an injustice has been committed and wanting justice for it. I feel very powerfully about that. I have a tattoo on my shoulder that is a Japanese figure that stands for justice. Justice is very impoirtant to me, so I think on some level I relate to these characters."
Pellegrino also wanted to make sure he could relate to Nick's relationship with Nick's wife, Sarah. "I took out the girl who played my wife [Bellamy Young] and talked with her so that we had a connection during thse scenes together." Obviously it worked, since their scenes were very powerful. Of the episode's he's been in so far, Pellegrino said his favorite scene was, "The scene with my wife when she's Lucifer convincing me to become Lucifer. I really like the way that went."
Unfortunately, he's not likely to play such scenes again. Even if Sam says yes to Lucifer and the Devil leaves Nick's body, Pellegrino doesn't expect Nick to stick around and lend Dean a hand in fighting Sam. "It appears that when these angels leave the people that they end up shells," he pointed out. "After such a powerful angel as Lucifer leaves someone like Nick, I don't think there will be much left of him. I do hope that Sam has to struggle and struggle so that I can be Lucifer for more episodes, that's for sure!"
In fact, Pellegrino would be quite happy to portray Lucifer right to the end. And if Lucifer's not in Sam, Michael probably won't be in Dean, so that means Pellegrino's Devil would have to face off with another actor's Michael... or even someone playing God. "To be honest, I think the perfect God would be Meryl Streep," he mused, "because she's so amazing. She can do anything. I don't really know where they're going to go with that, but it would be great to have somebody of the stature and dimensions of a Meryl Streep. If we were to fight with her playing God, she'd blow me away."
Not that he actually wants God to win. Not on TV, anyway. "I have to say that I'm kind of torn in a way right now just talking about it," he said of the final battle. When I'm [acting as Lucifer], yeah, I'm 100 per cent behind my character's cause, but as a person know what that means for [humanity], it makes me not want him to win. But he's got a justified cause, so ultimately I'm behind him."
With Pellegrino bringing him to life, the Devil really does have a good chance of winning, espeically if it's against the Winchester brothers instead of God. That's because the actor is a very talented fighter. However, he politely refused to speculate on whether he could triumph over Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in a real-life battle. "Well, I am a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I've been boxing for years, and I have a pretty high ranking in Jujitsu, too," Pellegrino said. "I'm pretty good when I'm pressed, and I've had to use it a couple of times in the street where I've done pretty well. But I wouldn't want to hit Jared and Jensen - they're pretty. They're too good-looking and too nice to hit!"
But fighting them on the show is a whole different matter. "There's gotta be a time where Lucifer has to stop talking, that's for sure," Pellegrino said. "If somebody's resistance to him is strong enough, I certainly hope it comes down to action. That would be great."
What's certain is that the off-screen relationship between the three actors couldn't be more harmonious. "They've been so professional and really on their game; really dedicated and devoted, and sweet on top of all that. You don't always find that combination, and it makes the working atmosphere very nice."
"Everybody on the crew in Vancouver is just so nice. Everything has been really great - they're good people to work with. I got to chat with wardrobe and make-up, who are big horror movie fans. They gave me a whole list of horror movies that I've been working through. It's great because I love horror movies. I love horror; it's my favorite genre on the planet. I could go on for years, but some of my favorites are The Exorcist, The Shining and Rosemary's Baby, which are all awesome. I also love the Alien films, 28 Days Later and all the zombie movies."
"The thing I like about the horror genre is that it puts people in extraordinary circumstances where they have to be heroic, and you don't see as much of that anymore. You see a little bit in the action genre, but you don't find that heroic kind of tension in [most] drama anymore. You find it in horror. Plus, it was a great genre for women early on because they were heroes [at the time] when they weren't allowed to be [in other genres]."
Despite being a big horror fan himself, Pellegrino hasn't kept track of what the diehard Supernatural fans have been saying about his portrayal of Lucifer. "I haven't gone online," he admitted, "but I've been hearing very positive things from people, so I hope that's some indication of what the fan base is experiencing."
The fans here at The Official Supernatural Magazine would like to see more of Pellegrino, but we had a Devil of a time trying to find out how many more episodes he'll be in. "I'm not sure," he said, "I don't know if there is more for me or what. I'm in the dark." That's perhaps not surprising - Lucifer is afterall, the Prince of Darkness.
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:38 pm
Interview with Christopher Heyerdahl!  Making his first appearance in I Know What You Did Last Summer, Hell's grand demon inquisitor Alastair proved to be an instant hit with Supernatural fans. So much so, in fact, that the character was recently voted Best Villain by The Official Supernatural Magazine readers in an online poll, and now Best Demon/Monster/Ghost in our Readers' Awards.
Mark Rolston was the first actor to play the role, but when Alastair moved on to a new "meat-suit", it was genre favorite Christopher Heyerdahl who took on the role, just in time for Alastair to be tortured by his former victim, Dean Winchester.
After playing everything from an alien Wraith on Stargate Atlantis to a time travelling serial killer and Bigfoot on Sanctuary, to Clark Kent's scheming uncle Zor-El on Smallville, Heyerdahl was ideally suited to play the nastiest demon Sam and Dean had yet encountered. We caught up with Heyerdahl to find out about playing this villain of villains...
The Official Supernatural Magazine: We thought we'd start off by letting you know that Alastair was voted Best Supernatural Villain by our readers...
Christopher Heyerdahl: I take that as an enormous compliment! An enormous compliment. I know how many great villains there have been on the show, so that's fantastic. Thank you!
Did you have to audition for the part of Alastair?
I did. It was in front of a number of folks, actually. Eric Kripke was there, and Steve [Boyum], of course. It was Steve who I was interacting with mostly. He's a very interactive director, and he was a great help in explaining to me the heart - or rather the heartlessness - of Alastair. We had a great time playing it. It was one of those auditions that I left and thought, "I want to work with that guy. That was so much fun!" So many auditions you walk into and it doesn't really leave you feeling one way or the other, but that was one where I just loved the character and I loved the director and everyone was really positive. We had a hell of a time.
When did you decide to play Alastair with the same Southern accent adopted by Mark Rolston when he played him?
Once I was cast I looked at the episodes that Mark had done and I just loved the 'music' that he'd brought to Alastair, and I thought that had to be honored. I was just grinning from ear to ear when I saw the way Mark had portrayed him - I loved it. I thought, "Okay, I want to bring some of that into what I'm doing." So the flavor I brought in was really started by Mark.
Were you aware of the show before you auditioned for the role?
Yeah. It was funny, actually. Just before my audition I was [surfing] Youtube and I came across the video with Jensen doing his 'Eye of The Tiger'. Seeing that, I thought, "Ah, man, I'd really love to work on that show, that guy looks like a lot of fun!" Literally two days later I got the call and went to the audition!
Everyone always says how much of a pleasure Jensen and Jared are to work with. Was that your experience?
They were great. I worked with Jensen most of the time, while Jared rarely bookended my episodes. Jensen is an incredibly generous actor. As a regular on a TV show, you have people coming in every week, and some you must click with and some you don't - that's just human interaction, right? But I felt very welcomed by Jensen - he was very open to working together on scenes. Both of us were throwing suggestions out there and it was a lot of fun. He's very vulnerable, open actor. I had a great time with Jared as well. I thought I did a good job of looking at his "Diana Ross hand" and faking the pain. [Laughs]
You had quite a few standout scenes, but the one that really sticks in the memory is Dean's prolonged torture of Alastair. How was that to film?
Those particular scenes took about three or four days to film, and I was trussed up almost the entire time. There's not a lot of prepartion you can do for that kind of thing - you just dive in headfirst. That's the way both of us approached it. We talked a little bit about the architecture of the scene and where we wanted to go with it; how soon we'd like to get there, and then we just started playing. As gruelling as it was, it was also a hell of a lot of fun, and I'd just like to say what a great honour it was to be tortured by Jensen. I wonder how many people would have liked to trade places with me? [Laughs]
The main arc of the show both last year and this year has been based on the Book of Revelation; the End Times, the Apocalypse, Lucifer's fall, etc. Knowing this, did you do any extra research before heading to Vancouver for the shoot, or did you just stick to what was in the script?
I kept it with the script, but knowing that's going on in a scene and the mythos behind it is also absolutely necessary, so I certainly did my research too. There's no point in walking into these things without knowing exactly what's going on and what exactly the characters are talking about. It's too huge not to do that.
Over the course of your career you've worked on Masters of Horror, Sanctuary, Smaville, Stargate Atlantis and now Supernatural to name but a few. Are you a fan of the sci-fi and horror genres, or is that just the way things have worked out?
Both are true. It is the way things have worked out, but they're also things that I like to watch. Horror's not really my thing, but certainly fantasy and sci-fi. Those things I absolutely adore. It's something I definitely find myself watching when I'm wanting to delve into my fantasy world, or escape from the harsh realities of life. That's definitely where I go to play. That's my downtime. I love that kind of stuff.
You also seem to relish bad guy roles such as Alastair...
I have to admit I do. I think that bad guys tend to be far more interesting. That being said, most good guy roles out there are pretty paper thin, and so are most of the bad guys. But when you find the bad guy roles that are three-dimensioned and there's a struggle going on internally and there's something interesting happening, then there's nothing better. So I will have to say, yeah, I'm pretty much down with the bad guy, as long as he's got a little bit of good guy somewhere. Although with Alastair, I'll completely contradict myself and say that I don't think there's any 'good guy' in him. But that's what also makes him so much fun. he just unabashedly loves creating havoc and pain and thinks it's the greatest thing.
You've been in this industry for 20 years and have played a vast array of characters. Is there any one role that particularly stands out for you?
There are a bunch of roles that stand out for me. H.P. Lovecraft is a character that I absolutely adored playing [in the TV movie Out of My Mind: Stories of H.P. Lovecraft]. I always felt that somehow HP was at my back every day that we were shooting and that he'd crawled into my "meat-suit" and expressed himself. That same year, I played Charles Dicksens as well [in The Ghosts of Dickens' Past], and that was a great role. Those are two of my favorite parts that I look back on whenever anybody asks me that. I always think of them.
Next up for you is the new Twilight movie, New Moon. What can you tell us about your character Marcus?
Where can I start? Marcus is a 3,000-year-old vampire; I think of him as the oldest vampire of the lot. He's the one vampire, certainly of the Volturi, who has known love and lost it.
Having worked on the likes of Smallville, Stargate and Supernatural, of course, you're obviously used to passionate, devoted fans. The Twilight fans are supposed to be something else again, though. Are you ready for them?
Well, I'll see. [Laughs] I've met a couple of Twilight fans and I certainly have a number of Twilight fans in my immediate family and Twilight fans in my extended family and friends, so I certainly know the passion that's behind a fan base like this.
How about Supernatural fan conventions? Can we expect to see you at one soon?
I'd love to. It just hasn't come up yet. With these things one needs to be asked, and I haven't been asked yet. When one comes up and the timing is right, I'd be all over it. I'd be ecstatic to go.
Going back to Supernatural itself, we've been wracking our brains as to how the writers can bring Alastair back. But after his 'death by Sam,' it's not looking good is it?
[Laughs] Well, as everyone says on Supernatural, you never know. There are no rules and they can pretty much do anything, so who knows? As I said, maybe Jared's "Diana Ross hand" didn't have as much power as he - and we - all thought. As far as I'm concerned, it didn't, but that's a secret.
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:40 pm
Interview with Alona Tal!  Introduced in season two's Everybody Loves a Clown, Jo Harvelle was the daughter of hunters and an aspiring hunter herself, against her mother Ellen's wishes. At first, it seemed Ellen was right to worry, as Jo was captured by the spirit of serial killer Dr. H.H. Holmes on her first hunt in No Exit. And, after a flirtation with Dean, and a terrifying hostage situation involving a possessed Sam when she learned the truth about her father Bill's death, Jo disappeared from the Winchesters' lives, seemingly forever. When she returned in season five's Good God Y'all, however, it was with all guns blazing and a grudging hunting partnership with Ellen, who understandably didn't want her only daughter to suffer the same fate as her late husband. Jo survived that encounter, however, helping Sam and Dean defeat the Horseman War, at least for a time.
When the time came to attack Lucifer directly and try to kill him using the Colt in Abandon All Hope, Jo and Ellen headed into battle alongside the Winchesters once again. This time, however, Jo was not to be so lucky. Helping Dean when he was attacked by Hellhounds, Jo was mortally injured and chose to die a hero's death along with her mother. Detonating a makeshift bomb to kill the approaching Hellhounds and allowing Dean and Sam to escape to go after Lucifer, Jo proved she was a true hunter to the end. We caught up with the actress Alona Tal before she filmed Abandon All Hope, to find out what it was like playing this headstrong hunter...
The Official Supernatural Magazine: In the beginning, how much was outlined to you about Jo and what made her tick?
Alona Tal: When I first came in to read for Jo, it was pointed out that shew as a new hunter. They wanted someone who was experienced and knew the craft. They didn't really go much into what makes her tick, but what ended up happening was the whole father situation, and her dad being killed off really set the stage for her going into the hunting business. Later, it became very clear she actually wanted to be a hunter. The viewers got to see her go on her first hunt [in season two's No Exit]. Initially, she was supposed to know a lot about it, having grown up in the business with hunters all around her.
Were you already adept at handling a rifle and knife, or was there some kind of weapons training boot camp for you to prepare for the role?
For the knife-handling, they brought someone in that sat with me for a couple of days. I didn't have too much time to get very familiar with it. Usually if you're going to do an action role, you get at least a couple of months to really get acquainted with whatever you're going to be doing. They were really patient with me, and I did my best. As for the guns, I had prevous training so I wasn't afraid of that - I knew what I was doing in that department.
What would you say made Jo and Dean's relationship complex, and were there originally plans to have it progress further?
Initially, Jo was introduced as a possible future love interest for Dean. The relationship being complex has to do with the fact that she was the first girl on the show that was familiar with this world and history. Although, she turned out to be a damsel in distress [in No Exit], she really isn't. It's just when you're on your own, you tend to get in trouble. The boys are never on their own; they always have each other, and if they aren't together, they get in trouble. Same with Jo. In the end, their family history made it so that a love connection really couldn't work.
How much fun was it playing that banter between Jo and Dean?
It was a lot of fun. I do that anyway. I like banter and being sarcastic. Jensen Ackles is very smart and sarcastic by nature, and he has such a great comedic timing that it was actually hard to keep a straight face. You don't want to step over the line; it's fun because we can roll with it.
There was a definite rhythm to it, do did one piece of dialogue stick out?
It was actually one of the first ones when Dean goes "God, don't let that be a gun." I say "No, I'm just really happy to see you." That was my favorite line, because it was really a badass way to introduce the character.
As you mentioned, Jo wanted to follow in her late father's hunting footsteps. How would you say she fared out in the field for the first time in No Exit?
Not so good. Jo took a little bit too much on herself, and when you're by yourself, you open yourself up to trouble. Even when you go to war, you don't see soldiers just going in by themselves. You always have back-up. Things go wrong more often than not. She was so eager to get into this world. That file she gave Dean that she made herself, that's like an eager student saying "I'm ready! I'm ready! Let me at them!" That eager behavior got her in trouble. At the same time, she didn't want to wait around. It was a 'now or never' deal for Jo.
At least Jo lived in the end of that episode anyway...
I thought it was a good experience. Even when she was in trouble, she didn't give up. Jo didn't roll over and go "Okay, that's it." There was always that determination to get herself out of there, because there was no other choice.
Was it challenging filming in that enclosed wooden box for that episode?
It was more painful than anything. My neck was so sore. For 16 hours, I had to stay with my head tilted up, but laying down. They put Bengay on [my neck]. It was claustrophobic [in the box]. They always had a little opening, but it wasn't just two walls. It was four or three-and-a-half walls closing in on you. It helped because I really get claustrophobic; I don't like tight spaces.
The hands closing in on Jo appeared to be frighteningly real.
They used a really cool special effects trick for that. They actually did have his [actor Stephen Aberle, who played Holmes] hand come through and then they put the wall up. I didn't have to imagine anything. Everything you see was actually done, except when I turn and stab him. Obviously, I stabbed the air.
Were you shocked when they called you back for Good God, Y'all in season five, and what were your thoughts on the circumstances she was brought back under?
I was very surprised, but happy! I didn't think after the fan reaction I'd be coming back, especially because it had been two-and-a-half seasons. I realized anything could happen on this show. I like that they brought Jo back hunting and handling her business. You see her a little quiter and not as mouthy as before. Banter doesn't always work, and she learned that the hard way. I liked that they didn't go too much into what happened. It was what was going on and Jo was hunting with her mom. I wish they had made it that Ellen wanted to hunt with Jo just because she wanted to be with her, and not so much because she thought Jo couldn't handle it. That's my wish. I don't think my character was stupid, because I don't think Jo was incapable. People just didn't give her the benefit of the doubt.
Speaking of being capable, even though she was being manipulated, did it feel good having Jo conforting Ellen?
Well, I wasn't really conforting my mother; I was conforting the demon [I thought was possessing my mother]. I was upset. It's even worse because it's inhabiting the body of somebody I love. Jo has dealt with somebody that is possessed before [Sam in Born Under a Bad Sign] and knew where that could go. That's upsetting to Jo, and she knew Ellen could die. That ups the stakes, because Ellen is my mother. As for the skank line, you just say whatever comes to your mind in a stressful situation. "You evil skank!" When I read it, I went, "Ouch! Is that what I say? Okay." You see in the following scene when Jo's sitting with a pipe bomb that she's happy with the whole situation. She wanted to go out blazing because she didn't want her mom to get killed.
What was it like working with Jared and Jensen?
Fun! They both have good senses of humor, they're down-to-earth and very thoughtful. If you've worked on a set before, it's really unusual to have the same crew for as long as the show has been on the air. I've come back after two-and-a-half seasons and the crew's 95 per cent the same. That says a lot about the environment which is set by your stars. The boys are definitely spear-heading the energy and setting a beautiful tone.
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:44 pm
Supernatural Readers Awards 2009: The Results! Best Season Three Episode
Winner: Mystery Spot
2nd: No Rest For The Wicked
3rd: Jus in Bello
Last year's winner: Mystery Spot
Best Season Four Episode
Winner: Lazarus Rising
2nd: Yellow Fever
3rd: In The Beginning
Best Overall Episode
Winner: In The Beginning
2nd: What Is And What Should Never Be
3rd: Lazarus Rising
Last year's winner: What Is And What Should Never Be
Best Dean Moment
Winner: Revealing to Sam what happened in Hell (Heaven and Hell)
2nd: Affected by ghost sickness (Yellow Fever)
3rd: Stabbing Ruby (Lucifer Rising)
Last year's winner: Grieving over Sam (All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2)
Best Sam Moment
Winner: Killing Alastair (On the Head of a Pin)
2nd: Going through demon blood withdrawal (When the Leeve Breaks)
3rd: Knowing he was meant to be something else (It's a Terrible Life)
Last year's winner: Losing his shoe (Bad Day at Black Rock)
Best Brother Moment
Winner: Reunited when Dean comes back from Hell (Lararus Rising)
2nd: Exchanging Christmas gifts (A Very Supernatural Christmas)
3rd: Killing Ruby (Lucifer Rising)
Last year's winner: Opening their gifts (A Very Supernatural Christmas)
Best Dean One-Liner
Winner: "That was scary!" (Yellow Fever)
2nd: "I've been re-hymenated!" (Monster Movie)
3rd: "Sammy, wherever you are... Mom is a babe! I'm going to Hell. Again." (In the Beginning)
Last year's winner: "I'm Batman!" (Bad Day at Black Rock)
Best Sam One-Liner
Winner: "Nice shorts." (After School Special)
2nd: "Dude, you're confusing reality with porn again." (Heaven and Hell)
3rd: "Hey there, Hansel." (Monster Movie)
Last year's winner: "I lost my shoe." (Bad Day at Black Rock)
Best Director
Winner: Kim Manners
2nd: Phil Sgriccia
3rd: Eric Kirpke
Last year's winner: Kim Manners
Best Writer
Winner: Sera Gamble
2nd: Eric Kripke
3rd: Ben Edlund
Last year's winner: Sera Gamble
Best Guest Star - Female
Winner: Julie McNiven
2nd: Traci Dinwiddie
3rd (=): Genevieve Cortese/Samantha Ferris
Last year's winner: Samantha Ferris/Nicki Aycox
Best Guest Star - Male
Winner: Misha Collins
2nd: Mitch Pileggi
3rd: Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Last year's winner: Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Best Winchester Ally
Winner: Castiel
2nd: Bobby Singer
3rd: Pamela Barnes
Last year's winner: Bobby Singer
Best Demon/Monster/Ghost
Winner: Alastair
2nd: Ruby
3rd: Lilith
Last year's winner: The Yellow-Eyed Demon
Scariest Moment
Winner: 'The Girl in the Wall' crosses the salt line (Family Remains)
2nd: Dean suspended on hooks in Hell (No Rest for the Wicked)
3rd: Dean is savaged by Hellhounds (No Rest for the Wicked)
Last year's winner: Mary comes out of the mirror (Bloody Mary)
Best Use of Song
Winner: "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor (Yellow Fever)
2nd: "Carry On, Wayward Son" by Kansas
3rd: "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi (No Rest for the Wicked)
Last year's winner: "Renegade" by Styx (Nightshifter)
Funniest Moment
Winner: Dean screaming at the cat (Yellow Fever)
2nd: Suicidal teddy bear (Wishful Thinking)
3rd: Dean chased by little dog (Yellow Fever)
Last year's winner: Sam loses his shoe (Bad Day at Black Rock)
Most Shocking Moment
Winner: Ruby was evil all along (Lucifer Rising)
2nd: Sam drinking demon blood (On the Head of a Pin)
3rd: Castiel's first entrance (Lararus Rising)
Last year's winner: The Impala being hit by the semi-truck (Devil's Trap)
Most Romantic or Sexy Moment
Winner: Dean and Anna in the Impala (Heaven and Hell)
2nd: Sam and Ruby get it on (I Know What You Did Last Summer)
3rd: Mary makes a deal with Azazel to bring John back (In the Beginning)
Last year's winner: Sam and Sarah's kiss (Provenance)
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:47 pm
ok first article about Misha I have to say:
"Do you think Castiel and Lucifer knew each other before Lucifer fell?
Definitely. I think they were old drinking buddies! "
rofl Angels gone wiiiild!!!!!!!! XDDDD
"Every time there's a scene with a lot of half-naked woman parading around the room, I feel like the scene goes smoothly. I don't know what it is; I honestly have no idea, but it always works better. "
LOL wtf?? Typical man rolleyes xd
LOL Aw poor Misha drank all the fake-beer for nothing XDDD
I like that he ad-libbed that in though, that made the scene so much more funny smile
ahhhh so he was based off of that?? I didn't not know that! O.O
rofl awwww we make him feel guilty for not tweeting. muwahahaha so we dooooo have him wrapped around out little fingers twisted
LMFAO @ the s[sycho fans who tell him they'll have beautiful children rofl oohhhh poor Misha! xDDD
AWWWW give Misah the damn action figure! That's so mean of the set directors! evil
Ha that first interview was super awesome Panda, thanks !!!!!!!!
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Punk~Pirate~Princess Crew
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:49 pm
Punk~Pirate~Princess ok first article about Misha I have to say:
"Do you think Castiel and Lucifer knew each other before Lucifer fell?
Definitely. I think they were old drinking buddies! "
rofl Angels gone wiiiild!!!!!!!! XDDDD
"Every time there's a scene with a lot of half-naked woman parading around the room, I feel like the scene goes smoothly. I don't know what it is; I honestly have no idea, but it always works better. "
LOL wtf?? Typical man rolleyes xd
LOL Aw poor Misha drank all the fake-beer for nothing XDDD
I like that he ad-libbed that in though, that made the scene so much more funny smile
ahhhh so he was based off of that?? I didn't not know that! O.O
rofl awwww we make him feel guilty for not tweeting. muwahahaha so we dooooo have him wrapped around out little fingers twisted
LMFAO @ the s[sycho fans who tell him they'll have beautiful children rofl oohhhh poor Misha! xDDD
AWWWW give Misah the damn action figure! That's so mean of the set directors! evil
Ha that first interview was super awesome Panda, thanks !!!!!!!! Haha, the old drinking buddies thing made me giggle rofl
Did you see he also said something about "poking Mark Pellegrino's fleshy bare a**" ... WTF? rofl rofl
They should give him the action figure! And they should make more....
Your welcome Punky! 3nodding
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:54 pm
Woah Mark is a really deep person ain't he? eek
That's interesting that he took the 'wife' aside so they'd have good chemistry in the scenes.
To be honest, I think the perfect God would be Meryl Streep,"
LOL that would be so weird! O.o
"Well, I am a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I've been boxing for years, and I have a pretty high ranking in Jujitsu, too," Pellegrino said. "I'm pretty good when I'm pressed, and I've had to use it a couple of times in the street where I've done pretty well. But I wouldn't want to hit Jared and Jensen - they're pretty. They're too good-looking and too nice to hit!"
1. HOLY s**t HE'S CHUCK NORRIS! O.O
2. *dies laughing at what he said about Jensen and Jaared* rofl rofl rofl
I wanna see him kick their a$$es now!! rofl
Panda, btw, you've been amazing at the perfect spelling and grammar of everything! You typed SOOOOO Much, I would have been tripping over keys by now O.O
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Punk~Pirate~Princess Crew
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:58 pm
Punk~Pirate~Princess Woah Mark is a really deep person ain't he? eek
That's interesting that he took the 'wife' aside so they'd have good chemistry in the scenes.
To be honest, I think the perfect God would be Meryl Streep,"
LOL that would be so weird! O.o
"Well, I am a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I've been boxing for years, and I have a pretty high ranking in Jujitsu, too," Pellegrino said. "I'm pretty good when I'm pressed, and I've had to use it a couple of times in the street where I've done pretty well. But I wouldn't want to hit Jared and Jensen - they're pretty. They're too good-looking and too nice to hit!"
1. HOLY s**t HE'S CHUCK NORRIS! O.O
2. *dies laughing at what he said about Jensen and Jaared* rofl rofl rofl
I wanna see him kick their a$$es now!! rofl
Panda, btw, you've been amazing at the perfect spelling and grammar of everything! You typed SOOOOO Much, I would have been tripping over keys by now O.O I know, right! I liked how he kept talking about justice and all that, and then when he said he has a tattoo that means justice! He's really open about it and quite deep, it was really interesting to read. O.O
rofl rofl rofl @ Chuck Norris XD
And yeah, I totally wanna see that too! XDD
Aw, thanks XD
There's probably a whole load of mistakes in there somewhere... if there isn't then I'm scared xd
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 5:27 pm
@Misha's interview
I think it's funny that he feels guilty about updating his twitter because of us fans. lol.
Also, "I don't feel like Twitter's the best place to start a family!"
This is why I love this man. He just has a way of so nonchalantly/sarcastically throwing out stuff like that.
I hope they make more Cas action figures, as well as Sam, Dean, John, and Bobby action figures to keep them company. Hell, I think even Jo, Ellen, and Pam action figures would be kick a**!
Then they could do a whole line of action figures for the villains. It would be great! I really want a Cas action figure. And he should also come with realistic stabbing motions. lol.
@ Mark's interview
I hope that Mark gets to play Luci right up to the finale too. He makes a good Lucifer, and as good as Jared is at playing evil Sam, I want Sam to go out fighting, not succumb to the devil's trickery.
"But I wouldn't want to hit Jared and Jensen - they're pretty. They're too good-looking and too nice to hit!"
Lol. Reminds me of a Firefly quote. "We can't die. You know why? Because we are so very pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."
But I have to agree. Last summer, my co-workers and I talked about a fight club between the day three partners to see who would win, and we concluded that the winner would actually be the sweetest, nicest girl we worked with, because nobody would be able to bring themselves to hit her. lol.
@ Christopher's interview
"I'd just like to say what a great honour it was to be tortured by Jensen. I wonder how many people would have liked to trade places with me?"
*raises hand*
Ok, not actually be tortured, but I would have loved to film that scene with Jensen. It would have been awesome.
You know, he's right about Ali. He doesn't have that little bit of humanity that usually makes villains both believable and interesting, and yet he's still an insanely interesting character to watch.
Wait, he's in New Moon? Well now I might have to see it just for him. xd
@Alona's interview
I agree with her about how Jo changed during that big gap of time. It was more interesting to just leave it open then to go into explaining exactly what had happened to her. It was a subtle change, so it was believable, and I think it really helped to improve her character.
Ok, now about the reader's awards . . . . .
Best Demon/Monster/Ghost
Winner: Alastair
2nd: Ruby
3rd: Lilith
Last year's winner: The Yellow-Eyed Demon
lol. People clearly love the demons.
Best Sam Moment
Winner: Killing Alastair (On the Head of a Pin)
2nd: Going through demon blood withdrawal (When the Leeve Breaks)
3rd: Knowing he was meant to be something else (It's a Terrible Life)
Last year's winner: Losing his shoe (Bad Day at Black Rock)
If you're not laughing your head off, read that through one more time.
Winner: intense scene
2nd: intense and emotional scene
3rd: emotional scene
Last year's winner: Sam loses his shoe.
xd xd xd xd
Most Romantic or Sexy Moment
Winner: Dean and Anna in the Impala (Heaven and Hell)
2nd: Sam and Ruby get it on (I Know What You Did Last Summer)
3rd: Mary makes a deal with Azazel to bring John back (In the Beginning)
Last year's winner: Sam and Sarah's kiss (Provenance)
When I first read this, I was really grossed out by number 3. Mary kissing her dad is sexy? EWWWWW!!!!!!!
Then I realized they meant it was romantic that she made a deal to save John. At least, I hope that's what they meant . . . . .
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 5:54 pm
I can't write a whole big reply right now cause i'm on my iPhone, but yeah, they said the scene with Mary kissing Azazel/her dad was romantic because she was doing it for John. If they didn't mean that, they'd be a little bit messed up XDD
Also, I'd like to add, I totally want Mark to continue being Lucifer until the finale too!! I really hope he is. ><
Haha, I also raise my hand to be swapped places with Alastair...
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Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:56 am
garra_eyes Best Sam Moment Winner: Killing Alastair (On the Head of a Pin) 2nd: Going through demon blood withdrawal (When the Leeve Breaks) 3rd: Knowing he was meant to be something else (It's a Terrible Life) Last year's winner: Losing his shoe (Bad Day at Black Rock) If you're not laughing your head off, read that through one more time. Winner: intense scene 2nd: intense and emotional scene 3rd: emotional scene Last year's winner: Sam loses his shoe. xd xd xd xd I noticed that rofl rofl
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Punk~Pirate~Princess Crew
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Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 12:54 pm
southern accent? rofl
Yeah I don't know what that was but it WAS NOT southern lolol.
rofl I love that he saw Jensen doing eye of the tiger and totally wanted to join that cast afterward. that's so funny!
"Diana Ross hand" rofl rofl rofl rofl
Ohhhh god now I got 'STOP! In the name of love...' stuck in my head *dies laughing*
*moves onto next interview*
Aw that must have sucked filming in that tiny box gonk
lol 'after the fans reaction...' awww we weren't THAT mean about Jo! She was better than Ruby anyway.
"You evil skank!" When I read it, I went, "Ouch! Is that what I say? Okay." " lol ha, but at least it came out good.
*next!*
LMAO i love how the year before 'I lost my shoe' won virtually half the awards rofl
ew Mary's kiss with the YED was one of the sexiest moments???? O.o
That... that was practically incest! gonk
Anyway, once again THANK YOU Panda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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