Much like one of its subjects, Supernatural refused to die. The series has been going strong since September 2005, and it was only recently announced that the show would be coming to an end in 2020. In the end, Supernatural will have run for fifteen seasons and over 320 episodes. It's the type of gig aspiring actors dream of. Long-running, popular, and high-paying. If Celebrity Net Worth is anything to go by, Padalecki is sitting comfortably with $12 million.
But let's not pigeonhole its star to just one thing. While Supernatural is great, Jared Padalecki has done a lot of great work. These are just a few of them.
House Of Wax
Well, it's in the title of the article, so we may as well get it out of the way! In May 2005 (just four months before the debut of Supernatural), Padalecki starred in the horror remake House of Wax. This was a remake of the 1953 movie, which itself was a remake of Mystery of the Wax Museum. The movie grossed $70 million at the worldwide box office and was primarily known for Paris Hilton's graphic death scene (Hilton wasn't especially liked back then). But Padalecki is great, and so is the movie.
Gilmore Girls
Long before he was Sam Winchester, Jared Padalecki was the adorable Dean Forester on The WB's Gilmore Girls. Of course, he wasn't one of the main stars - that belonged to both Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham. Rather, Padalecki played Bledel's love interest throughout the first three seasons of the show (he would later re-appear in a recurring role throughout seasons 4 and 5). In the end, Padalecki starred in 63 of the show's 153 episodes. A little less than half, but hey, he certainly made an impact nonetheless.
New York Minute
New York Minute was known for being the first theatrical Olsen twins movie in nearly ten years. New York Minute was released on May 7, 2004, and It Takes Two (their prior theatrical release) came in November of 1995. Padalecki plays Trey, the son of a wealthy and powerful Senator. Unfortunately, no one seemed to care about the Olsen twins in 2004, and the movie was a bit of a bomb. It only grossed $23 million on a $30 million budget and earned an 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was not the breakout movie role that Padalecki hoped it would be.
Cheaper By The Dozen
Padalecki isn't always the good guy. In 2003, when Padalecki was 21 years old, he played "High School Bully" in the Steve Martin led Cheaper by the Dozen. Unfortunately, Padalecki was not credited for the role. Perhaps it was due to the insignificance of the role itself, or maybe it was meant more as a cameo.
After all, Padalecki was already quite popular from Gilmore Girls, and both it and Cheaper by the Dozen may have shared a demographic. Either way, you can still spot him in the movie. Just don't expect to see his name in the credits.
Friday The 13th
And here we come to something about as far away from Gilmore Girls and Cheaper by the Dozen as you can get! In 2009, Padalecki starred as the main male hero (and only male survivor) of the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th. Clearly Jared loves him some horror movies. The movie was a modest success, grossing $92.7 million at the worldwide box office. However, it wasn't nearly as popular with the critics, and it currently sits at just 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. But then again, what slasher movies are popular with the critics?
Cry Wolf
Yep, it's another slasher film! Only, this one wasn't nearly as popular as Friday the 13th. Cry Wolf is a low-budget horror movie (made for just $1 million) that was released on September 16, 2005 - just three days after the premiere of Supernatural. Padalecki stars alongside Julian Morris, Lindy Booth, and Jon Bon Jovi of all people. Unfortunately, this too received poor reviews and sits at just 24% on Rotten Tomatoes. That said, it ended up grossing $15 million, so at least it was profitable!
Flight Of The Phoenix
One of Padalecki's rare non-horror roles comes in Flight of the Phoenix. Padalecki plays John Davis. Flight of the Phoenix was released in 2004 and stars the likes of Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, and Hugh Laurie as a group of people who are stranded in the Gobi desert following a plane crash.
Like many of Padalecki's movies, Flight of the Phoenix was not well received. It sits at 30% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed just $34 million, well short of its $45 million budget.
Christmas Cottage
Did you know that Padalecki starred (yes, starred) in a Christmas movie called Christmas Cottage? Probably not, seeing as how it made just $41,000 at the international box office and wasn't even released in the United States! It's weird, because the movie actually has a fantastic cast - Padalecki stars opposite Marcia Gay Harden and Peter O'Toole, AKA Lawrence of Arabia. But despite the winning cast, Christmas Cottage just couldn't find distribution. The movie is now largely forgotten, but it does have a surprisingly good 6.5/10 rating on IMDb, so it has that going for it!
Room 401
Room 401 was sort of like the successor to Punk'd. Remember Punk'd? Much like that show, Room 401 concerns hidden camera pranks, aired on MTV, and was created by both Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg. Room 401 took unaware victims (not celebrities, like Punk'd) and placed them within various scary situations. And throughout the episodes, Padalecki was there to guide us through them as host. What did we say about him loving horror? Unfortunately, Room 401 lasted just eight episodes and ended in August of 2007.
Walker
Now that Supernatural is coming to an end, Padalecki needs to find more work. Well, he probably doesn't need to find more work, but you know. And that "more work" seems to be a reboot of the classic CBS action crime series Walker, Texas Ranger. The reboot was announced back in September 2019, and Padalecki is currently set to star in the titular role. Not only that, but Padalecki is also producing the series! He is currently in the midst of casting, and a few new casting announcements were recently made in March. Fear not - the work is progressing!