Acting career After modeling on and off since the age of four, Ackles began to concentrate on an acting career in 1996. He appeared in several guest roles on
Mr. Rhodes,
Sweet Valley High and
Cybill before joining the cast of the
NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives as
Eric Brady in 1997. He won a 1998
Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Male Newcomer and went on to be nominated three times (in 1998, 1999 and 2000) for a
Daytime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his work on
Days of our Lives. Ackles left
Days of our Lives in 2000 and went on to appear in the mini-series
Blonde, about the life of
Marilyn Monroe. He also auditioned for the role of the young
Clark Kent on
Smallville, a role offered to actor
Tom Welling instead. Next he appeared in a guest role on the
James Cameron television series
Dark Angel on
Fox in 2001 as
serial killer Ben/X5-493, the brother of main character
Max/X5-452 (played by
Jessica Alba), and returned to the show as a series regular in the second season as Ben's sane clone,
Alec/X5-494. He remained with the show until its cancellation in 2002. Ackles worked steadily throughout 2003. He joined the cast of
The WB's hit show ''
Dawson's Creek'' during its final season, playing CJ,
Jen Lindley's lover. Afterward, Ackles filmed several episodes of the unaired series
Still Life for Fox before it was abruptly dropped. He also had a small role in the 2004 short film
The Plight of Clownana. Ackles was the producer's first choice to play
Eliza Dushku's love interest on the second season of
Tru Calling; Ackles however, turned down the role, which was then offered to
Eric Christian Olsen and the character's name was changed to "Jensen" He also had a lead role in the 2005 film
Devour in which Ackles' father, Alan Ackles, also had a role playing the father of Ackles' character, Jake Gray. '' co-star
Jared Padalecki in 2008 In 2005, Ackles joined the cast of the WB show
horror/
action series
Supernatural where he starred as
Dean Winchester. Dean and his brother Sam (
Jared Padalecki) drive throughout the
United States hunting
paranormal predators, fighting
demons and
angels, and showcasing
fantasy &
sci-fi pop culture. The show ended after fifteen seasons, making it the longest-running North American sci-fi series in history. In the summer of 2007, Ackles took on the role of Priestly in the independent comedy
Ten Inch Hero. The film began hitting the film festival circuit in early 2007 and Ackles received high praise for his comedic timing in the role. In February 2009, the film was released on DVD exclusively by Blockbuster Home Video. He also appeared on stage from June 5–10, 2007 with
Lou Diamond Phillips in
A Few Good Men at Casa Mañana Theatre in
Fort Worth, Texas as Lt. Daniel Kaffee. Ackles received strong praise for his work in this role, which was also his professional theatre debut. In the summer of 2008, Ackles was cast in the remake of the cult film
My Bloody Valentine 3D, which opened nationwide on January 16, 2009. In summer of 2010, as part of the
DC Universe Animated Original Movies franchise, Ackles provided the voice for the
Red Hood (
Jason Todd) in the animated film,
Batman: Under The Red Hood, which was released to DVD and Blu-ray on July 27. In summer of 2021, Ackles voiced the role of
Batman (
Bruce Wayne) for the
two-part adaptation of
Batman: The Long Halloween. He voiced the role again in February 2023 in
Legion of Super-Heroes and
Justice League: Warworld. On October 22, 2010,
Disney Interactive Studios announced he would be voicing a character named Gibson in the video game
Tron: Evolution which was released on December 7, 2010. In August 2020, it was announced he would join the cast of
The Boys in its
third season as
Ben / B.C.L. RED / Soldier Boy. The third season premiered in 2022, with Ackles receiving critical acclaim for his performance. He would return as Soldier Boy in a guest role for the
fourth season of the show, and returned to a main role for the
fifth and final season. He later portrayed a version of Soldier Boy in the "Jumanji" episode of the show's spin-off
Gen V who is an
imaginary friend of Cate Dunlap. Ackles will reprise the role in the prequel
Vought Rising, starring alongside
Aya Cash as
Stormfront. In 2020, he and his wife formed Chaos Machine Productions with a deal at
Warner Bros. Television. In June 2021, it was revealed that they were developing a
Supernatural prequel spinoff for The CW, titled
The Winchesters, about young John and Mary Winchester, Sam and Dean's parents. Ackles would serve as narrator, reprising his role as Dean. It was picked up in May 2022. In October 2021, Ackles was cast to play U.S. Marshal Wood Helm in the Western feature
Rust, written and directed by
Joel Souza. He played opposite
Alec Baldwin, who starred in the title role. Production was temporarily suspended after the accidental death of cinematographer
Halyna Hutchins and later Ackles left the cast. In May 2022, he guest starred on the
ABC drama
Big Skys second season finale "Catch a Few Fish", as temporary sheriff Beau Arlen. The role was planted to be series regular for the show's third season, which was ordered the day after the episode aired, premiering in late 2022 with Ackles in a main role. Since 2024, he has had a recurring role as Russell Shaw on the
CBS action drama
Tracker,. and in 2025 starred as Detective Mark Meachum in the crime drama
Countdown.
Music career In 2018, Ackles collaborated with longtime friend and musician Steve Carlson to form
Radio Company; the duo had previously worked together on Carlson's 2003 album ''Rollin' On
, his 2007 Christmas EP An Auld School Christmas
and his 2012 album Different Town
. As Radio Company, Ackles and Carlson completed their debut album, Vol. 1''. The album's first single, "Sounds of Someday", was released on October 18 2019, and the album was released on November 8 2019. In April 2021, Radio Company released two new singles, "City Grown Willow" and "Quarter To" ahead of their second album,
Vol. 2, which released on May 7, 2021. On December 19, 2022, Radio Company played live for the first time in Nashville. Their third album, ''
Keep On Ramblin', was released on February 24, 2023, and was followed by their first live album later that year, when they announced that their debut Nashville performance was being pressed for release. A 17-track double album, titled Live from Nashville'', was released on November 24, 2023. Outside of Radio Company, Ackles has collaborated multiple times with singer-songwriter Jason Manns; notably, Ackles contributed covers of
"Simple Man" by
Lynyrd Skynyrd and
"The Weight" by
The Band to Manns's 2016 album
Covers with Friends, along with covers of
"Up on Cripple Creek" by
The Band and
"The Joker" by
Steve Miller Band to Manns's 2018 album,
Recovering with Friends. Ackles often performs at conventions, both with Radio Company and with other musicians. As part of the soundtrack for
The Boys season 3, Ackles contributed a cover of the
Robert Mitchum song "From a Logical Point of View", sung in character as
Soldier Boy, whom he portrays on the show. ==Personal life==