Jared Padalecki has been the king of CW since before it was even The CW,so when the network cancelled his latest drama Walker, he was understandably a little salty. Before he was Walker, he was Sam on Supernatural, and before he was Sam, he was Dean on Gilmore Girls beginning in 2000. This man practically ran the network.
While he’s already got his next gig lined up with The Boys alongside Jensen Ackles, he’s still upset at how The CW has changed in his 20 year history with the network, and the cancellation of Walker.
Speaking with Variety, Padalecki said, “I feel like The CW that I was a part of last year is not The CW that I was a part of under [former chairman and CEO] Mark Pedowitz for that entire, almost 20-year stretch,” he explained. It’s normal for networks to shift some things around, but Padalecki says it was too much. He probably watched the last season of Riverdale.
“They’re just changing the network around, where it’s not really going to be a TV network as much as it’s going to be, ‘Here’s something fun for an hour that you’ll never watch again, but hopefully you watch it. And it’s cheap!’ And I hate to say that, but I’m just being honest,” he said. Then, he really got honest. “I mean, f*ck it. They can’t fire me again. I’m just being brutally honest. I think it felt to me like they were looking for really easy, cheap content that they could fill up time with.” Hence the cancelled Powerpuff Girls reboot.
Despite his brutal honesty, Padalecki is still stoked to join The Boys…whenever that may be. “Well, I’ll say this: Kripke and I texted today. It’s not been written yet, but I think he was saying [the final season] doesn’t even film until 2025. So yeah, I’m going to go play in Kripke’s newest playground,” he said, mentioning that filming is expected to begin in January.
He added, “Obviously, I’ll be indebted to [Kripke] and entangled with him forever. I met my wife because of him. I was Sam Winchester because of him. Supernatural happened because of him. So working with him on a show that I enjoy, I’m like, ‘Yeah, when do I fly out?’” Maybe he can borrow fellow CW buddy Tyler Hoechlin/Superman to help get him over there.