Last Supernatural Convention of 2024 – Nashville!
The last con of 2024 was in Nashville, one of my favorite con cities. I used to love when the Nashville Supernatural con was at the ridiculously over the top Gaylord Opryland, and have lots of fond memories there with lots of friends. This year was at a hotel, but that did make it a lot easier to get back and forth to the vendor room and the con and the hotel room, gotta say!
I got there very late thanks to my flight from the west coast being repeatedly delayed in Dallas. We finally boarded, rolled onto the runway, and then sat there for a while – before turning around and heading back to the gate for some mechanical problem. That would have been bad enough, but the next three hours were spent with them changing our gate FIVE times. Each time they did, we all had to trudge through the now-deserted airport, from terminal to terminal, which if you’ve been to DFW is a damn long walk! It was after 1 am before we finally got on another plane and made it to Nashville. My friend Kristen went above and beyond and came to pick me up at 3 am with a heating pad on the seat because by that time my back was BROKEN.
Not a great way to start a con.
However, a con is a great way to get over a truly crappy day! I missed most of Friday trying to catch up in the vendor room, but did catch a little karaoke. Things were festive!
Samantha Smith, Matt Cohen, Tahmoh Penikett, Lisa Berry, Adam Rose and Julian Richings all joined host DJ Qualls for a great time.
I also managed to catch the new episode of Fire Country guest starring Jared Padalecki as Camden Casey. It’s up in the air right now because Jared has another exciting new show on the horizon, but I really hope we get to see more of Camden in that spin off too.
Saturday was of course Misha Collins.
Like me, Misha loves ‘The French Mistake.’
Misha: I love it because they did such a good job satirizing us. Then my manager at the time was like oh, it’s great to see you playing yourself…
Lol
Misha: But the best episode for me financially was ‘Baby’. I got paid my regular rate and just had to email in a voice message! Let’s do more of those…
He does regret some things.
Misha: How would you feel if you were known for saying ‘hey Assbutt’?
I always end up laughing way too much during Misha panels. He went through an entire sequence of attempts to rename a friend named Vijaya, and I think you can imagine how that went…
Someone asked, what’s the most adventurous thing he’s ever done?
Misha: I can’t tell you that!
I think that’s probably true.
He did say that he once ate an eyeball though. Ewww.
He talked about the difficulty of having to go back and forth between being Cas and being the Empty.
Misha: They could somehow exactly and precisely track the movements and replicate them from shot to shot. So it’s like this giant programmed robot that took up like here to the end of the stage. The problem was nobody on the crew knew how to use it and they were trying to figure out how to program it. And it was like, so we did that movement there, and this is gonna work because, ohhh shoot, we have to do it again Misha, but this time you’re the Empty not Cas, we got it wrong. So we were switching back and forth from one take to the other.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865474272346697749
Misha: My brain hurt after doing those scenes, trying to figure out, am I Cas or the Empty?
He got serious at one point talking about Supernatural and what the show has meant to so many people – he wrote about that in his chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood.
Misha: We played these aspirational characters on Supernatural who have helped a lot of people.
As he and Jared and Jensen have said before, Misha talked about how meaningful it is for them as actors to interact with fans. (Being serious for a minute before….not!)
Misha: That means a lot to us. As actors who work in film and television, we usually film something and it’s for the camera operators and director and crew onstage and then it gets broadcast and we never get to find out how it lands. It’s a little bit disconnected and removed and maybe even a little bit clinical. For us to come to an event like this and meet people face to face who have had deeply transformative or powerful experiences with the material we’ve created, or are like… are just perverts. It’s nice to get that feedback.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865476141215359004
Misha: Why have a platform if you’re not gonna try to make the world better?
He said there were two versions of Castiel that he had trouble with – crazy Cas and Nazi Cas.
Misha: After that one, I thought, did I really just do that??
On working with Ben Edlund, who directed one of those episodes:
Misha: Ben had this way of directing, he’d just walk in a circle. You got the sense – you want to know your director’s got you, right? But you got the sense that he was like oh fuck, this is going terrible. His inner monologue was OMG how did he become an actor? So on the second take he said, just do something else. So what we ended up with for crazy Cas was me being like ehhhhh. That’s essentially the quality that was captured. So I had a hard time with that one.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865478158742688051
Also Misha: If Cas was on The Boys, he should definitely have a cape. And a leotard. We should’ve had Castiel in a leotard. That will be the impetus for the reboot!
Someone asked what he’d do if it was a groundhog day situation.
Misha: There’s not a lot you can do repeatedly and still have fun, other than sex. So I guess that’s my groundhog day!
In a more serious answer, someone asked about decisions that the Supernatural writers made that he didn’t like.
Misha: Cas could’ve been human longer.
I think a lot of us agree.
He had positive words for the finale of the show.
Misha: The end of the show left things open, and that’s a good thing for the possibility of a reboot.
I so agree!
Saturday night was a special Saturday Night Special, since it was announced that Jensen Ackles would be performing. He hasn’t done too many concert appearances at the cons recently, so everyone was absolutely thrilled, me included.
In addition to Louden Swain of course, Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster and Lisa Berry also performed, all of them so damn good.
Our favorite photographers, Chris Schmelke, played bass for one song, and Mark Sheppard joined on drums for several.
Because we were in Nashville, we also got the talented Emma Fitzpatrick joining Louden Swain for a song or two.
And also because it’s his hometown, we got Richard Speight, Jr. on bass, and then singing one of his own Dick Jr. and the Volunteers songs.
We also had the traditional sing-along of Hallelujah with Rob and Billy and Jason Manns, always gorgeous harmonies.
And then we got Mr. Ackles.
Ever since the first time I heard Jensen sing, way back in Toronto over a decade ago, I’ve been captivated by his voice, which is beautiful. I nearly fell off my chair a short time later when he did his first SNS in Vegas and turned into a freaking rockstar right before our astonished eyes, and I love his rockstar numbers both with Swain and with Radio Company. I was also very very lucky to be at that long ago little performance that Jensen and Steve Carlson did at the very first Nashville con, just the two of them and twenty of us in a small room as they played guitar and sang some songs. Jensen was anxious about it – I was in the green room after and he came over to ask me if he “did okay”. Um, yes?!
So I’m a big fan of all the kinds of singing Jensen does. At this con, he did Whipping Post, in all his rockstar glory, which was amazing.
He leapt off stage near the end, walking down the center aisle. I was in the second row right on the aisle, so he walked right by me as I struggled to maintain my composure and not drop my phone because – it’s hard to describe, but he has so much presence, especially when he sings.
On his way back to the stage, he stopped right in front of me and started belting out the last “I feel like I’m dyin’” as I sat there breathless and tried once again not to drop my phone.
Here’s a little video:
I love when he’s a rockstar. But I love love love when he slows it down and sings something softer and more emotional and you can really hear the gorgeous quality of his voice. So I was overjoyed when he launched into REM’s ‘Everybody Hurts’, singing beautiful harmonies with Rob and letting all the emotion he was feeling flow into the lyrics.
It felt like such a relevant song – so needed. He’s got good instincts like that.
Here’s a little video:
Jensen often picks a song that he can sing TO the fandom, and this was one of those. It’s a tough time for many people, and this is a song that’s meant as a reassurance – a reminder and an encouragement to “always keep fighting”. Jensen sang it that way – to us.
The concert was broadcast on Stage It, so it was an opportunity to reach not only those of us who were gathered in the ballroom, but much of the fandom all over the world.
He leapt off the stage and walked down the center aisle still singing, pointing to fans in the audience (and encompassing those watching virtually) as he sang “you’re not alone”, and from close up you could really see how emotional he was.
There were tears in his eyes, and his expressive face showed just how much he meant every word.
A few more videos of those emotional moments:
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865609645768741121
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865990638917066809
Once again, he stopped right in front of me to remind everyone to “hang on”. I may have had a little trouble focusing because damn, his clear emotion made me all emotional too. What a lucky fandom we are to have the people who portrayed our favorite characters actually care about all of us in the real world.
Eyes watering, Jensen held up his hands in a heart before he left the stage.
Heartfelt. Truly.
Jensen joined the band and guests for the encore too.
As did Jake Abel on epic cowbell.
This shot of Jensen and long-time friend Jason Manns is so soft.
As is Jensen looking fondly at Rob as he sings ‘Medicated’.
Ackles can’t resist letting his inner director come out.
He got out his phone and started recording the Swain encore, looking like a proud dad.
He even jumped offstage and went down the aisle to film Rob singing!
It was a Saturday Night Special to remember, as Nashville often is.
And then it was Sunday – J2 day!
The boys were dressed all comfy and warm in flannel and sweaters, coordinating as they often do. And immediately in a good mood and joking around.
Jared and Jensen: We’re very close…
Jared and Jensen: (literally bumping into each other) Not close enough!
Someone asked about their horror movie pasts and they said they’d both do another but they’re a lot of work.
Jensen said that he almost did one that just came out, in fact.
One of the things that makes panels with Jared and Jensen so much fun and makes everyone feel so good is that THEY have so much fun. There are always lots of secrets that make the other laugh that we aren’t privy to, but I can just imagine what those might be!
On a more serious note, Jensen did say that he was bullied by upper classmen when he was in school. Both he and Jared, as well as Misha and several other SPN cast, have shared that they’ve had that experience, which hopefully helps validate fans who’ve had something similar happen.
I’ve said before that one of my favorite things is when Jared and Jensen reminisce about filming Supernatural – and end up acting out something that happened on set. This panel they talked about the infamous ‘Bugs’ episode (which I actually like but I don’t blame them for not being enthusiastic about getting stung by bees!)
Least favorite episode? Bugs.
Jensen: I mean, just because of what we went through, however it does make for some good stories. But going into a set half the size of this stage and the ceiling maybe 8 feet tall, Jared and I are dressed in plain clothes, and there are 60 thousand bees. And you know what you do when just one bee is flying around you …
(both mime batting at invisible bees)
Jensen: Imagine them just landing on you…
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865810602565775428
They had to tell us more though lol.
Jensen: You cannot react, you have to just (blows them off his shoulder).
Jared: And there was a bee wrangler. Like on Yellowstone, there are horse wranglers who say this is a good horse, she wants to do this or that. The bee wrangler was like, there’s no queen bee here, they’re all drone bees.
Jensen: They’re docile…
Jared: They’re docile unless you upset them.
Jensen: Oh okay, so just stay calm. Meanwhile, when they yell action and we’re supposed to react as if we’re afraid of the bees!
Jared: And then they call Cut and a guy with like a Shop Vac vacuums the bees back into a bag and we’re like, isn’t this gonna piss them off?
Jensen: And then they shoot them back into the scene and I’m like, that would make me mad…
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865810037936922671
They got a little philosophical talking about how people grow and change over the years.
Jared: Sometimes the people from high school you stay in touch with are not who you expected.
So true.
More relevant to Supernatural, someone asked about their experience with Ouija boards.
Jared: It’s been many years, before Supernatural, but I’m not gonna lie, I was kinda pushing it…
Jensen: That’s what I was gonna say, even if I’m doing it myself I’m kinda manipulating, I know what I wanted to say. Maybe a year ago, I did those prongs, like L shaped, you hold them – dousing rods? Divining rods? Sure – and I was doing it and I know we’ve got some spirits in our house and Danneel was like, just hold them, don’t move them. And they moved. I was holding them and trying to stay as still as possible but you ask the ghost a question and it’s like ‘point to the bathroom if the answer’s yes’. I was doing it a little bit…
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865811413559574820
Maybe my favorite story at this con was about one of my favorite episodes – A Very Supernatural Christmas. And the time Jared spiked Dean’s eggnog for real.
Jensen: He was supposed to give me just some prop eggnog, and he decided to make it real – and I appreciated it. But the reaction they used, that was my reaction. That was Bob (Singer) directing.
Jared: There was another episode, one take we were doing with Kim Manners and he came in and (tasted the drink) and was like, you idiots!
Jensen: It was always like, “Dean has a flask”, and I got chummy with the props department, I’d look at them and be like, it’s close enough to noon…
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865812984364220751
In the afternoon we had a Mark Sheppard panel, which always ends up being inspiring. I love how much Mark understands and appreciates fandom – in his chapter in ‘Family Don’t End With Blood’, he writes about what it means to be a fan and why it’s such a positive thing, a message he also conveys at cons.
Mark on fans: We’re not fanatics, I see people helping people here. When I have a cause, you all make it better.
He added: You’ll never see twenty Supernatural fans robbing a 7-11!
He also loves his character – me too!
Mark: Crowley is the last sane person in the universe. If only the boys would have listened!
Mark: You all go mental when I say (in a Crowley voice) ‘Hello, boys’.
He’s right!
Crowley’s nicknames for the boys will stick forever too.
Mark: I feel so bad for Jared, he’s stuck with “Moose”.
(Pretty sure he’s unrepentant actually)
Mark: Sera was trying to come up with a nickname for Jared. He’s 6’5”, has incredible upper body strength but I think sorta chicken like legs. But he can flip 400 pound tractor tires, ridiculously strong. Smart boy but ridiculously strong. It’s like a moose, isn’t it? This giant head with a rack on it, two tons of muscle, on sticks that fold up under your bonnet (if you hit one with a car) – that picture is really kinda him. So we had Gigantor, Mop-headed Lumberjack, Jolly Green, and nothing was sticking. Then there’s me in my burnt out mansion and I look at Dean and go “where’s your Moose?”
On a more serious note, Mark talked about why we love characters like Castiel and Crowley so much, because they too love the Winchesters.
Mark: We watch Supernatural because of our love for the Winchesters. Period, that’s what it is. We live vicariously through their journey, their travails. Those themes, those ideas, that’s what brings us together. Blood’s thicker than water or whatever that is. Shaving people, punting things. That’s what we relate to. We see through their eyes, we travel through their journey.
Mark finished out his panel with an important message.
Mark: If you’re struggling, ask for help. If someone else needs help, put your fucking hand out.
It’s what fandom should be about – not arguing about ships or endings or who’s the best and who’s the worst character. It should be about helping each other, not attacking each other.
The final panel of the day was the Jared and Jensen main panel – they and Rob did the traditional leap onstage to kick it off.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865898946230686006
And because this is Nashville, we got to hear that they were both happy NOT to have to eat boiled peanuts, a Nashville (and Richard Speight, Jr.) favorite from past cons.
The dad jokes were on point.
Jensen: Tennessee? There’s a lot of tens I see…
Jared: Wow
The boys were in rare form (luckily not actually rare for them).
Jensen mentioned his soap role of Eric Brady.
Jared: (overheats, fans himself and starts taking off his shirt…)
Sometimes the most random questions have great answers. A fan asked what their nicknames are for each other.
Jared: He’s in my phone as Jack, because J for Jensen and ack for Ackles. Every time I see a text from Jack I’m like oh great, he’s texting me again…
Jensen: I have him as J-rod, because Jared is too… it’s too common a name for such a unique person.
Jared: fans self again
Jensen: I will say that the profile picture that I have of him is him at the Vancouver Canucks, where they play, we’re backstage in the underbelly and there’s a hockey net there because it’s the off season, and Jared’s like… (mimes peeing into the hockey net and grinning). He wasn’t actually peeing…
Jared: I was acting!
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865902106915549364
They told some more priceless behind the scenes of Supernatural stories in response to a favorite bloopers question, including the one about the time Jared kept cracking Jensen up and he was trying to get his take. They finally told Jared to turn around so Jensen couldn’t see him laughing.
Jensen: I was like, what, you just need the over? A dirty over is what it’s called.
(They both jump up excitedly to demonstrate because they LOVE sharing this stuff)
Jared: So a clean shot would be just his face.
Jensen: And you’d just see Jared. But a dirty over means there’s a little bit of my shoulder.
Jared: And you’d like see his hair. So we’re doing the scene and I can’t stop laughing, so Phil was like, have him turn around.
Jensen: And you turned around but they were still catching a little bit of out of focus shoulder in the background. I then had to do the scene to do the back of his head. Meanwhile, whenever we got to the point that was making him laugh, he starts shaking. And I’m like well now I can see him laughing from behind!
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865904655236288700
Jensen: So here I am, acting to this idiot’s back – and then his shoulders start shaking!
(Jared is clearly still unrepentant after all these years lol)
At one point the band helpfully played some stripper music and Jared started taking off his shirt while Jensen mimed throwing money at him. Almost immediately Jared got caught in his shirt, flailing around instead of stripping.
Jensen: Annnnnd that’s why he’s an actor…
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865904098606006357
This will forever be the con that’s known for Jensen suddenly turning into a Mariah Carey background dancer to All I Want For Christmas, which was AMAZING.
Jared is all of us.
Jensen: For years, I’ve often thought, if I could do this song with Mariah, I would be one of these guys. Comin’ up, wait for it!
Jared: does the drum part on a chair…
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865905212864831666
OMG
Priceless.
This was the Christmas and holiday con for the year, so it makes sense that the eggnog came up again.
Jensen: Dean liked Christmas more than he admitted. I know he liked the eggnog his brother made. So did Jensen!
I love that they have these favorite memories from the show and memories that they like to share with each other even now going on five years later, and that they like to share them with us too. They reminisced about hanging out on set, which they clearly still miss.
Jared: We’d have those, hey we have a big scene coming up, let’s run through it. So I’d knock on his door or he’d knock on my door like hey, did you hear there’s a new script? Or what’s going on, let’s watch some sports or something. And every single time for 15 years – 15 years – I’d knock on his door and it was never like open the door and hey how are you, it was UHHHH. That meant come in. I’d just listen for some noise or outburst, hear UHHH and be like yeah sure come in. I don’t think we ever probably said like come in.
Jensen: Yeah not like, come in, you’re welcome to open the door. No, he’d knock on the door and I’d be like UHHHH. Just letting him know that I was alive and he was free to enter.
It’s the little things that only they know that they still hold so dear.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865907810384691670
Awwww.
They’re also sentimental about the conventions they’ve been doing so long and the fans who have been along for the ride. They both thanked the fans who have gone on this journey with them, and thanked Creation Entertainment for the conventions.
Someone asked, what did you take from set? They looked at each other.
Jared and Jensen: Run!!
A little interesting tidbit from the show – there were mostly Supernatural questions at this con, which made me a happy Supernatural fan indeed. “Pudding!” was done in one take, and it was originally Sam’s line. I love that they knew their characters so well, and were so trusted by the writers and directors, that they could make those kind of changes which totally made sense.
Talk about sentimental (and practical) – Jared is still wearing Sam’s boots, as most of the fandom knows and appreciates.
Jensen: They have got to go!
You’re looking at me like you expect me to do something about it, Mr. Ackles, but I LOVE that he’s still wearing Sam’s boots!
Also, Jensen has no room to talk when it comes to being sentimental about Supernatural. He has the original “SW DW” initials in the bunker table, and the one with the added initials too. And Jared has Sam and Dean’s very last tapeball.
My heart. We are so lucky that the stars of the show love it as much as we do!
Their friendship is also dear to them, and remains so.
Jared: I spent more waking hours with Jensen from 2005 to 2020 than with my wife, my kids, my dogs, my brother, my sister, my father and mother, etc. And you see people grow, and seeing someone grow and change, that allows you to grow and change as well. So I try to keep that in mind, and I think it’s just human nature. Like I met this person and they were having a bad day or you can say oh, that’s an asshole. No, maybe they’re having a bad day. Maybe you see them in a week and they’re a really nice person. So to use judgment but not to place judgment, if that makes any sense. So getting to grow with a fellow adult male Texan. They put two alpha dudes on set, we’re both six foot plus, 200 pounds, we played sports. So to get to be alongside someone and know they have your back and you have their back as well – My friendship with Jensen allowed me to grow.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865911456438608306
Jensen acknowledged what Jared had said with a pat to the knee, as they always do when one of them has let himself say something sincere and lovely about their friendship.
Jensen: I think it’s proof that when you invest enough time and enough energy into a relationship, that you know no matter what happens, the dividends will be returned to you for the rest of your life. I don’t have to talk to him every day like I used to, but every time I do talk to him, it’s as though we’ve talked every day. And that will last until we’re old and gray. There’s a reason that my kids – the only person that’s not related to me that is called ‘Uncle’ is this dude.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865911651079438535
Jared patted Jensen’s knee in acknowledgement too – they are very Sam and Dean sometimes, usually not even looking at each other when the other is saying something heartfelt.
It’s endearing.
We went from there to someone asking what their pet peeves were about each other.
Jensen (staring at Jared): Hmmm. Let me look at you. Oh, I know what it is. When he corrects my goddamn grammar.
Jared (not missing a beat): It’s goddamned grammar. Sorry sorry, not a big deal…
(He’s right hahahahaha)
Jensen: It sucks. And it sucks because he’s right. I can’t combat that so I just have to eat it and just take it and be like grrr that stings. Because I know it’s right and he always does it but it’s really annoying. It’s a pet peeve, but here’s the thing. Now if he’s not around, I do it to myself!
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865915692866064778
Jared was so happy about Jensen’s answer that he said he couldn’t even think of a pet peeve about Jensen.
Jared: They’re all forgiven, whatever existed before. I’m not really a pet peever, not pet peeves for people who would be peeved by pets. Or among pets, if it’s more than two…
Jensen: what even? (right into my phone camera so I cracked up)
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865913937033904506
And then it was the last question, which I unfortunately don’t remember.
Jared and Jensen shared a post panel laugh, and then thanked the fans – and each other – for a great panel and a great year of conventions.
They celebrated the year with an emotional hug.
https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1865918387836330179
And they thanked the fans with clear gratitude. I feel so thankful too – four full years after Supernatural ended, we’re still able to come together at these conventions and interact with the actors who made the magic happen.
Louden Swain and Richard Speight, Jr. sang the traditional “it’s the end of the con as we know it” and then, as the song says, it was time to go home.
The boys had their own photo op fun at this con, Misha posting some photo ops of a favorite fan pose with the boys and the Impala – this time with a jealous Jensen interrupting. Hilarious!
We got so lucky with these guys.
And that’s a wrap on the Creation Supernatural cons of 2024 – wishing everyone a happy New Year for 2025. Lots of exciting new projects from our favorite actors coming up to look forward to!
No matter what the world throws at us, Mark Sheppard is right – fans can support each other, and a little healthy escape with our favorite actors and characters can be a needed respite sometimes. Be gentle with each other.
-Lynn
You can read about the actors’ experience
of fandom and Supernatural, in their own
words, in Family Don’t End With Blood and
There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done. Info
and links at:
