Jared Padalecki

Jared Tristan Padalecki is an American actor born on July 19, 1982. He is best known for playing the role of Sam Winchester in the television series Supernatural. He rose to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in the feature films Flight of the Phoenix, House of Wax, and Friday the 13th.

Padalecki was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Gerald and Sherri Padalecki. His father is of Polish descent, while his mother has German, Scottish, French, and English ancestry. In 1998, Padalecki and his partner Chris Cardenas won the National Forensic League national championship in Duo Interpretation. He was also a 2000 candidate for the Presidential Scholars Program. Although he originally planned to attend the University of Texas after graduating high school in 2000, Padalecki decided to move to Los Angeles County, California, to pursue an acting career.

After winning Fox Broadcasting's Claim to Fame Contest in 1999, Padalecki met an agent at the Teen Choice Awards. His first role was a minor part in the 1999 film A Little Inside. In 2000, he was cast as Dean Forester on Gilmore Girls, playing the role until 2005. Throughout the early 2000s, he appeared in made-for-television films including Silent Witness, Close to Home, and A Ring of Endless Light. He also had an uncredited role as a bully in the 2003 comedy Cheaper by the Dozen.

In 2004, Padalecki appeared in the comedy New York Minute and the thriller Flight of the Phoenix. In 2005, he starred in the horror films House of Wax and Cry Wolf. Also in 2005, Padalecki was cast as Sam Winchester on Supernatural. The series concluded in 2020 after fifteen seasons, making it the longest-running North American sci-fi series in history. During this time, he hosted MTV's horror reality series Room 401 in 2007, starred as Thomas Kinkade in Christmas Cottage in 2008, and played Clay Miller in Friday the 13th in 2009.

In September 2019, Padalecki was announced in the title role of Walker, a reboot series of Walker, Texas Ranger. The show premiered in January 2021 and ran for four seasons before being cancelled in 2024. Following the cancellation, Padalecki agreed to guest star on the superhero drama series The Boys. In August 2024, he joined Fire Country for a three-episode guest appearance with the possibility of a spinoff. In September 2025, it was announced that he would star opposite Leighton Meester in a Netflix film adaptation of the novel The Bodyguard.

In his personal life, Padalecki proposed to his Supernatural co-star Genevieve Cortese in October 2009, and they married on February 27, 2010. The couple has three children. In 2018, Padalecki opened a '90s-themed bar named Stereotype in Austin, Texas. In October 2019, he was arrested at the bar and charged with public intoxication and two counts of assault causing bodily injury.

Padalecki launched the Always Keep Fighting campaign in March 2015 to support organizations such as To Write Love on Her Arms, which helps people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. He has spoken candidly about his own battles with depression. Through shirt sales partnered with co-star Jensen Ackles, the initiative raised funds for a charitable fund, and in 2015, over 6,000 fans held up candles for him at San Diego Comic-Con to show support.