"A SUPERNATURAL NATURAL

Jensen Ackles never thought about directing an episode of his show, The CW’s Supernatural, until the late veteran director Kim Manners mentioned it. “In the first season of the show, he said to me, ‘You’re gonna direct one of these,’ ” Ackles recalls. “I said, ‘Oh, OK, Kim. Yeah, sure.’ He said, ‘You will. And when you do that, I’ll be right there.’ ”

It took another five years, but Ackles eventually directed this season’s “Weekend at Bobby’s.” The episode focused on two of the show’s more minor characters, Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) and Crowley (Mark Sheppard), as Singer struggles to come up with a way to trick the demonic Crowley to give him back his ransomed soul.

Again, the actor’s longtime professional relationship with his cast mates paid off when it came to directing Beaver on the set. “There’s a very kind relationship he and I have built over the past several seasons,” Ackles says. “He basically showed up and said, ‘Tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it. Whatever I can do to help, I will. I’m here for you.’ ”

Like most directors, Ackles also had a hand in casting the guest actors in the episode.… Read More