Jensen Ackles Biography

Jensen Ackles
Biography

Birth Name
Jensen Ross Ackles
Date of birth (location)
1 March 1978
Dallas, Texa, USA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boyishly handsome Texan Jensen Ackles began his career at age four, modeling in print and TV ads for Wal-Mart, Nabisco and Radio Shack, but didn't begin to fully realize his potential until fifteen years later, where he broke hearts and won fans portraying Eric Brady on the NBC daytime drama "Days of Our Lives" (from 1997 to 2000).

Jensen was born in Dallas, Texas. His father Alan Ackles was an actor in the Dallas area, so he was exposed to the entertainement industry at a young age. When he was a sophomore in high school, a friend asked him to come along to a local acting seminar.

After his preschool foray in to the modeling world, Ackles stayed out of the spotlight until 1995, when he was signed by an agent after being spotted at a Dallas actors' workshop. His TV acting debut came shortly thereafter, appearing in an episode of the Dallas-lensed PBS series "Wishbone", starring a talking dog who acts out literary classics for kids. After completing high school, Ackles moved to Los Angeles, where he landed a guest role on "Sweet Valley High" (syndicated) and a regular part on the high school-set sitcom "Mr. Rhodes" (NBC, 1996-97).

Though the series was troubled from its beginnings and enjoyed only a short run, Ackles used the part as an important jumping off point, and was soon essaying the role of Eric on "Days of Our Lives". Walking in the shoes of a character who hadn't been seen onscreen since infancy, Ackles was a good counterpoint to his evil twin sister Sami (Alison Sweeney), who shared his freshly-scrubbed, golden blond good looks, but unconvincingly hid a poisoned heart. The far more sympathetic and charming Eric quickly gained favor with fans of the soap. In addition to three Emmy nominations (1998, 1999 and 2000), he won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Male Newcomer in 1998.

Ackles left the series in 2000, when his character's storylines stalled. He appeared in the CBS 2001 miniseries "Blonde", based on Joyce Carol Oates' fictionalized biography of Marilyn Monroe and that same year became a series regular on the popular Fox sci-fi adventure series "Dark Angel". Having first appeared on the series the season year before as a doomed X5 escapee, Ackles reemerged as Alec, a genetically engineered superhuman with a sarcastic sense of humor and a mysterious background.

Since Fox cancelled Dark Angel after two years, Ackles took on a recurring role on WB's own, "Dawson's Creek", playing Michelle Williams' love interest C.J., during its last seeason. In 2004, Ackles returned to Vancouver and became a regular on the popular WB Network series, Smallville, which revolves around the life of the teen aged Clark Kent/Superman. His character, Jason Teague, was an assistant coach for the high school football team and a love interest of Clark Kent's ex-girlfriend, Lana Lang, played by Kristin Kreuk.

Ackles returned to television in 2005 in the new WB horror series Supernatural in the role of Dean Winchester, who teams with his brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) to road-trip across the country investigating the paranormal.