Jensen Ackles is an American actor. He's starred in several television shows and a few films. He currently stars in the TV show Supernatural on the CW.
Date of Birth: March 1, 1978
Place of Birth: Dallas, Texas, USA
Basic History
Jensen was raised by his mother and father, Donna and Alan. He has a brother, Joshua, and a sister, Mackenzie. Since his father is an actor, Jensen's career started very early. He started out with some modelling at the age of four, but started to really focus on his acting career when he was a teenager, sometime in the mid-nineties. While he was in high school he considered becoming a physical therapist and attending Texas Tech University, but he ended up deciding to focus entirely on his acting career and moving to Los Angeles.
In May 2010, Jensen married Danneel Harris and they have one daughter, Justice Jay ("J.J.").
Acting Career
Television
Most of Jensen's career is based in television shows, and this is where he got his real start in the world of acting. He started out with a few bit parts in sitcoms like Mr. Rhodes and Cybill, and teen-oriented shows such as Sweet Valley High, but his breakthrough role would be found in daytime soap operas. Jensen played the teenage version of Eric Brady on Days of Our Lives from 1997 to 2000. He received several Daytime Emmy nominations for his portrayal and won an award for Best Male Newcomer from Soap Opera Digest in 1998. After working on Days of Our Lives, Jensen received a role in the sci-fi series Dark Angel, where he played Alec McDowell (and his evil twin Ben), and he had a brief stint on Dawson's Creek as C.J.
In 2004, Jensen joined the cast of Smallville, a CW show depicting young Clark Kent's journey to being Superman, as Jason Teague, who would be Clark's high school football coach. Jensen had actually auditioned for the part of Clark Kent when the show was casting, but the network decided to go with Tom Welling instead.
It was right after his time on Smallville that Jensen was chosen for the role of Dean Winchester in the CW's newest show, Supernatural. He has been starring in this show since 2005, making this his longest running role to date (the show just finished season 9 and has been renewed for season 10). This role has also given him a very dedicated fanbase, even though the number of viewers is smaller when compared to other television shows. His role on Supernatural has also garnered him multiple award nominations, though he has only won a few, such as TV Guide's award for Favorite Actor in 2011. Also, with the help of his co-stars Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins, they won the People's Choice award for Favorite TV Bromance.
Film
Jensen has also starred in a few films over the course of his career. In 2005 he starred in a straight-to-video movie called Devour, a horror movie about people who are dying after playing an online roleplay game. Jensen's father also starred in the film as well, playing Jensen's character's father.
While working on Supernatural, he has been able to take on other movie roles as well. He starred in another straight-to-video movie in 2007, this time a indie film called Ten Inch Hero. He was given the role of Priestly, the unusually dressed cook, and his future wife Danneel also starred in the film as Tish. Another film he has been in is the 2009 remake of My Bloody Valentine, where he played Tom Hanniger. Unlike his previous two films, this movie was released in theaters and opened at #3 in the box office, but only received lukewarm reviews.
Finally, he's also done some voice-work in movies as well. He voiced the villain Red Hood in the 2010 animated Batman film, Batman: Under the Red Hood. This film was a very big success, despite being a direct-to-video movie, garnering a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8 out of 10 on IMDB.
Sources
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jensen_ackles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Rhodes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Valley_High_(TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brady
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Angel_(TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devour_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Inch_Hero_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Bloody_Valentine_3D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Under_The_Red_Hood
Other Sources:
http://www.cwtv.com/shows/supernatural/cast/jensen-ackles
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179891/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 (IMDB, My Bloody Valentine (2009))
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1569923/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 (IMDB, Batman: Under the Red Hood)