The second Creation Supernatural con of 2025 was in Minneapolis, just a few weeks after Boston. I hadn’t been to a con in Minn for a while, so it was nice to be back. I have fond memories of past cons in Minneapolis, despite my lack of love for the “hamster tunnels” connecting the hotels and convention center back in the day.
This con was extra fun because my friend Mo Ryan was there too. Mo is of course a respected journalist and the author of bestseller “Burn It Down” – but she’s also a long time Supernatural fan who moderated some of the first SPN panels with the boys. We’ve had some fascinating conversations about the show and fandom and the industry over the years, and it was so fun to have her join me at my table so we could chat with people and share our books with them.
Everyone who came by to say hi or grab a book – thank you!
We joined some other friends for a fabulous drag show that was right across the street from the con and had a blast there too. Great weekend for hanging out with friends, which is one of the very best things about a convention!
It was also really nice to have Chad Lindberg back!
Chad is one of my favorite people in the universe. I was thrilled that he wrote a chapter in ‘There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done’ all about ‘The Magic of the Mullet’ and the character of Ash, who was so memorable in the early seasons of Supernatural.
He talked about some of his other memorable acting roles too, and working with some amazing people.
Chad: It’s hard to stay present when Kevin Costner is talking to you!
He said he got to introduce his mom to Costner. He held her hand and she was so flustered that she doesn’t even remember, it was so intense (as many of us can relate…)
Right now, he’s enjoying filming the new series ‘The Burbs’.
Perhaps his most memorable role is on The Fast and the Furious. He said he initially turned it down because he didn’t want to be always playing the computer nerd.
He definitely does not regret Supernatural though, saying it has changed his life.
Chad: And I thank you for that.
Chad told the story of that time Jensen Ackles taught him to shotgun a beer – you can read the whole story and a lot more bts from Sueprnatural in his chapter in ‘There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done’.
Chad: He comes over and he’s like, here’s what you gotta do – terrible Jensen impression but you get it – he showed me how to shotgun a beer. The fake beer smells like Sulphur, it’s not good. So he’s showing me and that day my sister came to set and she loves Jensen like many people here. She’s literally in the corner like oooh as he’s showing me how to shoot this beer. You can see in the blooper reel, because I didn’t know, I was shooting the beer and it came out the side, over my mullet… lol
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1915849719034585170
How could Ash be brought back?
Chad: Maybe less computer? But still a lot of mullet!
The original footage filmed of Ash was more ‘out there’. He saw ghosts, he fell off the pool table, he was doing wild shit. Then they toned it down.
Chad can relate to being a fan. He said he was so awed when Mark Hamill followed him on Twitter, as a huge Star Wars fan.
Fan: The way Ash died was similar to his name….
Chad: —
Also, putting on that mullet took an hour and a half.
That’s dedication!
I also caught some of the Matt Cohen and Gil McKinney panel – two Winchester portrayers who I also love. For some reason when I arrived, they were miming some fly down shenanigans. The kind with the zippers. Down….
Followed by detachable pegleg discourse. As you do.
They would like to be on White Lotus, they said.
Which seems kinda in keeping with the theme.
Matt told a hilarious story I’ve heard before, which is so very Kings of Con – that time that Richard told Rob he was in Room 911 in a hotel and Rob dialed his room number.
Oops.
Be on the lookout for Matt’s new film, Exes, also starring Briana Buckmaster, Mark Sheppard, Felicia Day and more!
I also can’t wait for the new animated series, Public Domain, with lots of Supernatural alums voicing those characters – including Gil!
What Supernatural monsters would they date?
Matt: Abbadon… and just a little bit The Trickster…
At one point they invited a fan to join them.
This was them for most of the time as the panel went (stayed?) off the rails.
(It was a great panel)
Friday night was karaoke, and it was an off the charts one! Partly because the stage had an actual runway, which both the cast and the fans took great advantage of.
Matt Cohen, Samantha Smith, Chad Lindberg and Alaina Huffman strutted their stuff on the runway, with DJ Qualls as our host.
They were all having so much fun, and it was infectious!
My friend Dale Golden took the stage, walking the runway like a pro, and backed up by the Supernatural actors.
What a fun night!
And then it was Saturday. Which, of course, is always Misha Collins day.
Somehow one of the first things said was “It’s like I didn’t give my partner an orgasm.”
I mean, it’s Misha.
He talked about Supernatural too.
Misha: It was fun to play different versions of our characters. I studied Jared’s mannerisms in case I got to play Sam.
He insists that Castiel’s wardrobe did change over time. Slightly.
Misha: I take issue with the contention that Castiel’s wardrobe never changed.
He didn’t mention for a long time that his wardrobe was actually too big, so he ended up wearing it that way for over a year and just pinning it up!
Misha was grateful to play a character for so long.
Misha: After playing a character for 12 years, it felt incredibly comforting to play Castiel.
However, he also was ready to stop.
Misha: As much as I loved Supernatural, we were ready by Season 15 to do something else creatively. But doing a movie now would be that!
Someone asked about Cas being a character on the autism spectrum.
Misha: While I was developing Castiel, it didn’t occur to me that it might be seen as being on the spectrum, but I wanted to confey that he didn’t quite fit in. I’ve embraced it in hindsight.
There was plenty of fun on the Supernatural set, he said, but also a great deal of respect.
Misha: We would tend to respect each other in really emotional scenes and not mess with each other.
He also told a story of a time when he just could not stop laughing because first Jared, and then Jensen, kept messing with him, laughing as he recalled it.
It’s clear that these are fond memories, though I’m sure there were times he wanted to throw something at them on set lol.
Misha always blows the fans a kiss at the end of his panel, which I think is a really sweet tradition.
We also got a Jim Beaver and Mark Sheppard panel. These two together are priceless – who knew Crowley and Bobby could be so much fun?
Mark reminisced about the time he was filming both Supernatural and Doctor Who. At the same time!
Fan: Have you ever experienced monsters in real life?
Both Jim and Mark point at each other lol
Neither originally expected to be on the show so long.
Jim: I was a one episode guest star. It was season 3 before I realized I was there for the long haul.
Mark: I came for one episode and stayed for 72…
Saturday night of course was the Saturday Night Special concert with Louden Swain, always a highlight of the con.
Gil McKinney added his beautiful voice to the show – so glad he’s back on the tour and at the SNS!
Briana sang her hauntingly beautiful slow version of Carry On Wayward Son.
Jason Manns and Rob and Billy Moran shared their beautiful harmonies on Hallelujah, with the audience singing the chorus.
Billy Moran also played a song from his new solo album.
Mark Sheppard played drums, looking as always so happy to be doing so!
Rob sang Fare Thee Well, the song that was played on Supernatural, which never fails to make me emotional.
I can’t help it, I miss my Show!
They ended with Medicated, and Louden Swain (with guest bassist Nick) took a bow.
And then it was Sunday!
That means Jared and Jensen – and the morning gold panel.
Which almost immediately meant shenanigans. Obviously.
Jensen joked that it’s been a long time – he just watched an episode of Supernatural and didn’t remember it!
Jared said he gets late night messages from Jensen just saying “heh heh we’re on TV”.
For some reason, that made me all emotional…
This is old news to us now, but Jensen announced that they’d be having a big premiere for Countdown in LA at the end of June – which we now all know was awesome!
Of course they were asked about Jared joining Jensen on The Boys.
Jared: It was – we hadn’t shared a set in over four years.
Jensen: I mean, Walker, but not working together on camera.
Jared: But I think – I remember Ackles saying to me, and maybe when he came and directed Walker too, like it was fun to come see me doing my thing without him and Misha and Sam and Dean. I felt the same way. I got there, everyone knew Jensen, and Jensen is obviously wildly loved and respected among the cast and crew.
Jensen: ehhh so so…
Jared: It’s true, he’s being modest. But it was cool to come play in their playground. And Phil was directing and Kripke was there. So we just talked to each other the way we have for 20 years. It was like, hey Jared can you go back to ones and do a little more of this or that, and I’m like yeah, fuck off, and the crew is like, is that cool? It was cool, an amazing time. I love the show, I’ve seen every episode.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916526688990888232
To say I can’t wait is such an understatement!
I don’t know where this came from, but they both said they would have enjoyed Nathan Fillion playing an older Winchester cousin. That would be when fandoms collide for sure.
Someone asked why Sam and Dean had never hit a deer while driving.
Jensen: How do you know?
That led to a funny answer about that one time there was a bear near where they were filming.
Jensen: We had warnings alerting the crew that there was a bear outside, and Jared was about 40 feet up in a tree
Jared: Turns out bears can find you there!
Jensen: Jokes on you
Jared: The bear’s like oh cute, you think you’ll climb a tree, hold my…. Bear
Jensen: gives him a rim shot
Jensen: Yeah there’s not a lot of deer where we were. All of the night driving shots you saw on the screen, the car was completely still in the interior of a sound stage. I wonder if there’s video of that whole contraption they built
Jared: I think there is, I think Serge has it.
Jensen: it was all very rudimentary, analog way of making it look like we were driving.
(The first time I visited the Supernatural set, they were doing one of those Impala driving at night scenes for the episode Sex and Violence. Jensen was driving alone in the car, except it was all filmed on the soundstage. They turned out the lights and put the Impala up on boards that crew would rock up and down to make it look like the car was bouncing over a rough road, and other crew ran around the car carrying lights to make it look like it was moving. It was absolutely fascinating – and then Serge came up to me and Kathy and asked if we’d like to know all about their process, and we were absolutely rapt as he gave us a little tour and explanation. So kind, so welcoming, to the two of us who were strangers to them at the time.)
Anyway, that reminded me…good times…
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916528101762179537
We got some (fake) grumpy Jensen shenanigans when Jared excitedly shared his Pokemon enthusiasm, including watching a guy open Pokemon cards for two hours. Jensen’s face haha…
We also got Quotes To Live By, by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.
Jensen: Taking care of yourself takes care of more than just yourself.
Fan: You have to be a little bit crazy in order not to go insane.
Jared (hides behind Jensen)
Jensen: What about a lot crazy?
Jared: Pain is mandatory, suffering is optional
Jensen: Talk amongst yourselves…
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916531252896682395
I caught some of Ruth Connell and Rob Benedict and Richard Speight’s panel in the afternoon.
Ruth said that yes, Rowena did care about Crowley.
Ruth: But don’t tell him!
Also, Rob and Ruth are just too cute.
Richard had a social media lesson for everyone:
Richard: Be smarter than the people who think you’re dumb.
They talked a bit about the characters they’ve played.
Rob: In every character I play, there’s a piece of me. Even when I’m God on Supernatural and go bad. Spoiler alert!
There was a little Supernatural reboot discussion.
Ruth: If we get a season 16, we could have kelpies!
Yes universe, come on, get on that!!!
Just like Jared was discussing their ease with each other on ‘The Boys’ and the crew’s astonishment, Richard talked about directing ‘Dead Boy Detectives’. He was kidding around with Ruth (who played the Night Nurse) and the crew were like OMG he’s gonna get fired!
I also caught some Mark Sheppard’s panel, which I always enjoy.
Fan: How would you rewrite how Crowley died?
Mark: Write your own fan fiction!
(Mark says this a lot and I wish people would listen – if you don’t like canon, fine, just go write (or read) some fix it fic instead of trying to shoehorn what you want into canon)
Fan: Sam and Dean had Baby.
Mark: And I had the trunk…
He’s amusingly snarky at panels, and a sincerely thoughtful and kind person in real life.
Mark: You don’t come here for Mark, you come for a little bit of Crowley.
Mark was asked about his tattoo, which is both substantial and beautiful.
Mark: It’s about wanting to display something you’re not. When I was young, I wanted to seem tough when I wasn’t.
He is always thoughtful about Supernatural, and sincere about its importance. (It’s what he writes about in his chapter in ‘Family Don’t End With Blood’.)
Mark: What I love is Supernatural’s global impact. It’s a unifying thing in this world that is so difficult.
So true.
We also had a Jake Abel panel in the afternoon – the third Winchester brother!
Jake: I added the line to Cas, “yeah, you called me assbutt!”
I have no clue why, but in answer to the question new themed food products?
Jake: Michael and Adam’s meat…
Jake is a talented filmmaker too (if you haven’t seen the short film he made during quarantine in Vancouver, you need to check it out!) – he’s been making films with his young sons.
And then it was time for J2 – except they weren’t ready, so Richard got to sing the “Jared’s gotta poop and Jensen’s gotta tinkle” intro song. As you do.
Richard also had us all wish happy birthday to his wife, which was a good use of that time!
And then Jared and Jensen appeared, and did their traditional leap onstage.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916606648652607688
They were in a mood, and that meant we were in for a treat – Jensen on bass guitar and Jared on drums!
Jensen: Y’all are witnesses to our first and only concert!
Ummm, who knew Jared could play drums?? I felt so lucky to witness them goofing around like that – but it actually sounded pretty damn good.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916607690752626887
They talked about having three kids – both of them had been home quite a bit.
Jared and Jensen: Having 3 kids is exponentially harder than two!
Most embarrassing moment?
Jensen: And for some reason, I just couldn’t spit out the word shapeshifter. I was like, it’s a shahshahshah… I think we’re dealing with a shuhshuhshuh. And of course he’s like, What? And I’m like shut up, hang on, we gotta do it again, but I couldn’t say it. It was like one of those moments that was like, what is happening to my brain? So it got down to the point where I was like ‘Sam, we gotta get outta here, I think we’re dealing with a PAUSE Shape-Shifter.’
Jared: And then he didn’t tell me he was gonna do that so I lost my shit!
I was laughing so hard listening to this – they are the BEST storytellers lol
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916609736708902931
Then Jensen reminded Jared of his most embarrassing moment, when instead of catching a falling bowl of “blood”, he leapt away screaming lol.
Jared: I go “AHHHHH” (and run away). Blood everywhere, fake blood, and Jensen goes ‘dude, why didn’t you just go like this?’ and I was like, I don’t know, it was happening…
Jensen: It looked like this (reenacts the bowl of blood falling in slow motion). It was literally that slow. He could’ve just gone (tipped it up). It was in arm’s reach, and instead he jumped back and it went all over the couch and the floor. It was like a 40 minute cleanup.
Jared: Yeah.
They honestly love nothing more than re-enacting their favorite memories from Supernatural – and honestly I love nothing more either!
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916609894284755248
Words of wisdom?
Jared: Keep asking questions and stay curious.
Jensen: Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Somehow they had to talk about Jared’s fear of bears AGAIN. I think it’s one of Jensen’s favorite things in the whole world.
Jensen: In certain parts of the world…
Jared: You can get attacked by a bear.
Jensen: But it would be irrational to be afraid of bears coming out of the bathroom…
Jared: For you! Are there bears in the bathroom?
Lol
Here’s the whole insane conversation:
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916613562698809557
Jensen’s fear?
Jared: Straight legged people.
At some point, J2 had one of their infamous unspoken conversations.
Which happens just about every panel, but it’s still fascinating to see how well it works with them!
Before Supernatural, both Jared and Jensen lost out on jobs – that wouldn’t have allowed them to eventually do the show.
(Thank you to those casting agencies…)
And at some point, Jensen fell asleep.
Jared: Dude wake up, we’re onstage in Minneapolis!
We also got protective Jared, though I can’t remember the context.
Jared: Oh, now you’ve done it…
They were asked about their upcoming projects.
Jensen said that the things they’re developing with Chaos Machine are across the board – and one book is in script form already!
It wouldn’t be a con if we didn’t have a question about the Supernatural finale episode, which Jensen and Jared have talked about approximately ten million times. (It’s okay, I never get tired of hearing them talk about how they came to love it, but I wish people would actually listen to their answers)
Jensen: When we were pitched the ending, I did not want that to happen. I just did not in my being, I was like, he can’t die. It hurt, like it hurt hearing it, and this was ten months before we filmed it.
Jared: Longer! That was July and we didn’t film until September.
Jensen: Actually a year before, I heard that and I didn’t like it. That being said, I read a lot of things in the scripts I didn’t like. I didn’t like Bobby dying. But we’re also in the business of making TV that draws emotion from people. And even though Bobby was so loved and such a great part of the brothers’ world and lives, having him go made for really good TV.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916621258331979920
Jared: Like the saying, pain is mandatory, suffering is optional. One of the great things about Supernatural, because of the genre and this SPN family and y’all sticking with us and us sticking with y’all, is we get to explore these really uncomfortable situations unlike other shows and movies. We get to explore, and go yeah you lost your uncle, yeah you lost your dad, yeah you lost your mom – now she’s back in the universe and you get to deal with…
Jensen: If I had a nickel…
Jared: So we have these trials and tribulations. I think that’s why the writers chose to make it – I can’t watch it without crying, the finale – but you got to see Sam go on, you got to see Dean go on. We’ve all been through times in our lives when we’re like this is it, there’s no way I can get through this. And then a month goes by and you’re like, I got through it. It still hurts, it still sucks, but a lot less than it did yesterday. A lot less than a week before. Then another month goes by. So I think a lot of what Supernatural and the Winchester brothers and the entire cast and crew did was show like hey, you can go through some really dark heavy shit – and you can keep going.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916621368050802772
(That’s pretty much how I feel about it too. The finale is ultimately so hopeful and so inspiring.)
Jared knows what he’s talking about, when he speaks about getting through hard times and being able to keep going. He wrote a beautiful, powerful and very personal chapter in ‘Family Don’t End With Blood’ about his own experience, when he felt like he couldn’t get through it – and how he did. No wonder the finale resonated so much, and it does with me too, both personally and as a psychologist who has witnessed so many people get to that point – and then Always Keep Fighting.
All too soon, it was time for the last question.
Jared and Jensen thanked the fans, heartfelt as always.
I love that they always confer about the banner signing no matter how many times they do it.
It’s a tradition, y’all.
Jensen took an impromptu turn singing for 20 seconds and couldn’t help instantly looking like a Rockstar…
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1916624433524904268
And that was a wrap on SPNMinn!
This was such a fun con with some wonderful friends and lots of great conversation about the show that brought us all together. Then in the morning it was back home – and back to work!
Stay tuned for more on all the 2025 Supernatural cons – next up, my “home con” of New Jersey!
-Lynn
You can read all the actors’ personal stories,
about their time on Supernatural, their
characters and fandom, in their chapters in
Family Don’t End With Blood and There’ll
Be Peace When You Are Done. Info at:
