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Supernatural Cast: Then and Now

See how much Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and the rest of the cast have changed from their first episode to now

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1 of 37 The CW

Supernatural Cast: Then and Now

It's been a long road for Supernatural. The hell-raising, demon-hunting, time-traveling series, starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, premiered on the now-defunct WB in 2005, transitioned to the then-new CW in 2006 — and kept right on cranking out the otherwordly adventures for a total of 15 seasons.

PHOTOS: See how Supernatural stars have changed through the years

It's time to look back at — and catch up with — the cast of this TV favorite. We've, of course, included the show's stars, including Ackles, Padalecki, and Misha Collins — as well as members of the series' revolving cast of demons, hunters, and what-not, including both actresses who've played Ruby: Katie Cassidy and Genevieve Padalecki.

While we don't know how Sam and Dean's story will end, we know this: This show's stars are a must-see.

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Jensen Ackles Then

Jensen Ackles had an extensive TV resume (Smallville, Dawson's Creek, Days of Our Lives) when he hit the road for Supernatural as one of its demon-slaying co-leads, Dean Winchester.

3 of 37 Katie Yu/The CW

Jensen Ackles Now

Jensen Ackles has been with Supernatural from the beginning to its presumed end.

"I'm not ever ready to close doors or burn bridges," Ackles told reporters in 2019, per ETonline, as he reflected on the show's final season. "Am I saying there's something in the works? No. Am I saying that I'd be open having a conversation about this in the future? What's the harm in that?"

Ackles' wife, Danneel Ackles, has also appeared as Supernatural's Sister Jo since Season 13.

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Jared Padalecki Then

Jared Padalecki was best known as Rory Gilmore's original Gilmore Girls crush, Dean Forester, before he was cast as Supernatural's Sam Winchester, Dean's younger brother, road companion, and fellow demon-hunter.

5 of 37 Colin Bentley/The CW

Jared Padalecki Now

Supernatural has been a huge part of Jarad Padaleki's life — and not just because the show racked up a 15-season run: He met his future wife on the show, actress Genevieve Padalecki (née Cortese).

Post-Supernatural, Padalecki is poised to star in a Walker, Texas Ranger reboot, titled simply Walker.

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Misha Collins Then

Misha Collins had a recurring role on 24 before entering Supernatural's world in Season 4 as the trench coat-wearing angel Castiel.

7 of 37 Cate Cameron/The CW

Misha Collins Now

Misha Collins toggled between recurring and series-regular status until Supernatural's Season 9 when he rejoined the main cast and never looked back — except for, well, those times his character was temporarily killed off. At least the trench coat never deserted him.

8 of 37 Sergei Bachlakov/The CW

Katie Cassidy Then

Supernatural was Katie Cassidy's first primetime gig as a series regular: She joined the show in Season 3 as the demon Ruby.

9 of 37 Paul Archuleta/WireImage/Getty Images

Katie Cassidy Now

Katie Cassidy departed Supernatural after one season due to "purely budgetary" reasons, per series creator Eric Kripke. She's now best known for being a prime player in The CW's Arrowverse, appearing on Arrow, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Vixen.

10 of 37 Sergei Bachlakov/The CW

Genevieve Padalecki Then

The actress, then billed as Genevieve Cortese, had been the star of the ABC Family series Wildfire when she was brought in to play the new demon host of Ruby during Supernatural Season 4. The on-screen gig was short-lived: Ruby was killed at the end of that season.

11 of 37 Katie Yu/The CW

Genevieve Padalecki Now

Genevieve Cortese met Jared Padalecki on the Supernatural set, and the two became a couple. They married in 2010 and have three children.

Now known as Genevieve Padalecki, the actress reprised her role as Ruby during Supernatural's farewell season.

12 of 37 Dean Buscher/The CW

Alexander Calvert Then

Alexander Calvert played a villain on The CW's Arrow, but that character, Lonnie Machin, was nothing compared to the Supernatural gig he scored back in the Season 12 finale: Jack Kline, aka the spawn of Lucifer.

13 of 37 Jeff Weddell/The CW

Alexander Calvert Now

Alexander Calvert joined Supernatural's main cast in Season 13. And after his character temporarily died earlier in Season 15, Calvert returned to help see the show off.

14 of 37 Marcel Williams/The CW

Lauren Cohan Then

Lauren Cohan played the thieving Bela Talbot during Supernatural Season 3.

15 of 37 AMC

Lauren Cohan Now

After Lauren Cohan's Supernatural character was killed off, the actress went on to play Maggie on AMC's The Walking Dead, and star on the short-lived 2019 ABC adventure series, Whiskey Cavalier.

16 of 37 Justin Lubin/The WB

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Then

Before he was Grey's Anatomy's doomed Denny Duquette, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was Supernatural's doomed patriarch, John Winchester. It's his character's disappearance that sets the show's road-tripping saga in motion in the 2005 pilot.

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan Now

Jeffrey Dean Morgan appeared on roughly a dozen Supernatural episodes over the years. His most recent appearance to date was in Season 14. Since 2016, Morgan has been a star of AMC's The Walking Dead, where he plays Negan.

18 of 37 Bettina Strauss/THE CW

Lisa Berry Then

Lisa Berry joined cast in Season 11's "Red Meat" as the reaper Billie.

19 of 37 Bettina Strauss/The CW

Lisa Berry Now

Lisa Berry's Supernatural character eventually earned her wings, as it were, as Death. Berry is seen here in scythe-wielding form in the Season 15 episode, "Galaxy Brain." In addition to her recurring role on Supernatural, Berry's starred in a season of Netflix's Slasher.

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Jim Beaver Then

A vet of numerous primetime shows and daytime soaps, Jim Beaver made his Supernatural debut as Bobby Singer, John Winchester's old pal, in the Season 1 finale.

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Jim Beaver Now

Jim Beaver has made more than 60 appearances as the Winchester boys' father figure over the course of Supernatural's 15 seasons. He's also had a recurring role on Netflix's The Ranch, and popped up in episodes of The Boys and Young Sheldon.

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Adrianne Palicki Then

On Supernatural, Adrianne Palicki played Jessica Moore, the girlfriend of Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) whose death by demon in the pilot spurs Sam to join his brother in the fight against supernatural baddies. Jessica reappears to Sam a few times over the years.

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Adrianne Palicki Now

Since 2017, Adrianne Palicki has starred as Commander Kelly Grayson on The Orville, Seth MacFarlane's Star Trek-vibing series, which originally aired on Fox but is now bound for Hulu.

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Mark Pellegrino Then

Mark Pellegrino joined the Supernatural world in Season 5 as Lucifer. Well, technically Pellegrino first played Nick, a grieving family man who becomes the human vessel for Lucifer, but he's always going to be Lucy to us.

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Mark Pellegrino Then

Mark Pellegrino was a part of Supernatural's main cast from Seasons 12-14. Outside of Supernatural, Pellegrino is on duty in a recurring role on Netflix's 13 Reasons Why.

26 of 37 Michael Courtney/The CW

Rachel Miner Then

Rachel Miner debuted as the Castiel-romancing demon Meg in Supernatural's Season 5 premiere "Sympathy for the Devil." A previous version of the character was played by Nicki Aycox.

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Rachel Miner Now

Rachel Miner's iteration of Meg loomed over Supernatural for years; the actress most recently appeared in Season 15's "Destiny Child." (Technically, that last time out, Miner didn't play Meg; she played the Empty in the form of Meg.)

Outside of Supernatural, Miner appeared as a single mom in a 2020 episode of Chicago Fire.

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Mark Sheppard Then

Mark Sheppard was a big part of Supernatural's world from Seasons 5-12 as the demon Crowley, aka the King of Hell himself.

29 of 37 DC Universe

Mark Sheppard Now

Since his character sacrificed himself at the end of Season 12, Mark Sheppard has gone on to appearances in the DC Universe series, Doom Patrol.

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Ruth Connell Then

Ruth Connell entered the Supernatural universe in Season 10 as Rowena MacLeod, a witch and the mother of Crowley (Mark Sheppard).

31 of 37 Colin Bentley/The CW

Ruth Connell Now

Ruth Connell has worked her Rowena magic in nearly three dozen Supernatural episodes, right up through the farewell season, which revealed her to be the new Queen of Hell.

32 of 37 Jack Rowand/The CW

Felicia Day Then

On Supernatural, Felicia Day played hacker-turned-hunter Charlie Bradbury from Seasons 7-10; after Charlie's demise, she played an alternate-reality version of Charlie in Seasons 13-14.

33 of 37 Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images

Felicia Day Now

Felicia Day set her Supernatural return for the show's final episodes. In addition to acting, Day produces role-playing games.

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Kim Rhodes Then

Kim Rhodes went from policing precocious twins as the mom on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Suite Life on Deck to policing the people of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as Supernatural's Sheriff Jody Mills. She joined the cast in Season 5 and almost led her own spin-off, Wayward Sisters.

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Kim Rhodes Now

Kim Rhodes' sheriff character has assisted the Winchester brothers numerous times over the years, from Seasons 5 all the way through Season 15.

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Samantha Smith Then

Veteran actress Samantha Smith died the original Winchester death as Mary Winchester, the mother of Sam and Dean, who bursts into flames on the nursery ceiling in the Supernatural pilot. (Darn demons.)

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Samantha Smith Now

Though her character died in Supernatural's very first episode, Samantha Smith popped up dozens of times over the show's lengthy run — Mary was even resurrected in the Season 11 finale. (Sure, she died again in Season 14, but that's how things go in the family Winchester.)