In our final video interview with the boys from Supernatural, Jared Padalecki talks about tomorrow’s big return, “Ghostfacers.” If you’re observant enough, you may have been able to discern from the preview videos of the episode and these interviews that during our set visit, we filmed inside the house featured in “Ghostfacers.”
Jared spoke to us about the premise behind the episode and the differences and difficulties involved in the way it was filmed. If you have clear enough vision and a good enough monitor, you might also notice Jared’s face is a bit roughed up, though he explains that too. Without a doubt, “Ghostfacers” is a very different kind of Supernatural episode, one that comes back after the strike as an appetizer before delving into the main course of the “Dean goes to Hell” storyline.
SPOILER WARNING: This interview contains some minor spoilers about next week’s episode, “Long-Distance Call.”
Hi, this is John Kubicek, and I’m on the set of Supernatural with Jared Padalecki.
What’s going on guys?
First, do you want to explain your appearance a bit?
Yeah, Jensen pissed me off so I kicked his ass. No, we’re shooting season 3 right now and we’re at the end of episode 14 of 16, instead of 22, because the strike obviously shortened the season eight episodes. No, six episodes, I’m sorry. We’ve got 16 instead of 22, and now we’re on 14. This is the aftermath of a fight I got in with the crocotta, so I guess if you’re seeing this you know that I made it. So don’t watch it if you haven’t seen episode 3.14. Yeah, we’re filming the end scene right now of the episode, so we’re both beat up, worse for wear, and war torn soldiers just trying to relax at the end of the day.
Now that you’re coming back after the long strike with these final four episodes, the first one back is kind of a standalone, “Ghostfacers.” Can you explain a little bit about that episode?
Absolutely. We’re actually in the set of “Ghostfacers,” which was the first one back like you were saying, the 13th episode of the third season. The Hell Hounds come back from season 1, who were in the episode “Hell House.” Two funny guys, they play Ed and Harry, but their real names are Travis and AJ, and it’s a good time. It’s kind of funny, but scary, and we run into these basically podunk wannabe demon hunters, and we have to go save their asses — save their butts — from a haunted house that they found out about. They’re going to try to debunk the myth. Sam and Dean are actually there on a totally separate agenda all on their own, and then we run into them once again and we’re like, “Hey, aren’t you…? Aww.” So we have to come in and save the day once again.
And it’s all filmed like the pilot episode of this reality show they’re shooting?
Correct. We see it as if we’re watching an episode of their television show, so there’s no film cameras, there’s no get in your light and hit your mark because we have these big, huge, gigantic, expensive cameras. Now we have these very tiny expensive cameras, but it’s just stuff you can buy from Best Buy, little high definition, whatever brand it is, that you just strap on the side of your head for like a security camera, or you’re just holding it in the palm of your hand. We have I think 11 of them set up in different rooms, and then all the characters have headband cams and they’re holding cameras. It’s really cool. It’s kind of shot like Cloverfield, which I haven’t seen yet, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about. So sort of that Blair Witch meets Cloverfield kind of reality/scary show.
Just as an actor filming something that different, how does that compare to the normal way of shooting an episode?
It’s very different. It’s very, very different. As an actor you’re able to sort of act more realistic. You don’t have to fluff it up so much, it doesn’t have to be “HEY!” You can exist, and it’s almost like they’re catching the action as opposed to your acting like an enzyme for the action. You get to sort of exist there, as opposed to the cameras existing for you. Hard to explain, but anyways, it was hard to get into because we had just had a three month break. I think it was the longest Jensen and I had gone without playing Sam and Dean since the pilot. Even the difference between the pilot to when we shot “Wendigo” was like two and a half months. We went a long time, so it was weird to get back on the set anyways, then to get back on the set with all these little handheld cams was really strange, but it was really fun. And a fun sort of way to ease back into the reality of film days.
Coverage of BuddyTV’s Exclusive Supernatural Set Visit:
First Impressions
Video Interview: Jensen Ackles Answers Fan Questions (Transcript)
Video Interview: Jared Padalecki Answers Fan Questions (Transcript)
Video: The Special Effects of Supernatural
Video Interview: Jensen Ackles Discusses Dean’s Fate
Video: The 1967 Chevy Impala
Video: Behind-the-Scenes of “Long-Distance Call”
-Interview conducted by John Kubicek
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
