JENSEN ACKLES LIFE IS SUPER (Naturally)

DESPITE 15 YEARS ON THE FANTASY SERIES SUPERNATURAL, THE ACTOR AND DAD OF THREE REMAINS ROOTED IN REALITY

- By BRIANNE TRACY

After a 15-year run on the cult classic TV show Supernatural, not much makes Jensen Ackles sweat. “We'd spend nine and a half months filming 23-episode seasons,” says the actor. “It was a marathon.” So when he began shooting his latest series, Prime Video’s new crime drama Countdown, he felt very well equipped. “A 13-episode season feels respectful,” he deadpans.

Ackles, 47, is known for his Supernatural character Dean Winchester’s fight against demons, ghosts and monsters, but he tackles a different kind of evil in Countdown: When a Department of Homeland Security officer is murdered, his character Mark Meachum, an LAPD detective, is recruited to a top-secret task force to find the killer. “I connected with Meachum’s work ethic,” he says. “He figured out a way to make things happen on his own.”

While Ackles prides himself on staying active to “capitalize on fight scenes” in his projects—also including Prime Video's