Jared Tristan Padalecki was born on the 19th of July 1982 in San Antonio, Texas (U.S.). He was born second (of three) children of Gerald Padalecki (a tax accountant) and Sherri Padalecki (an English teacher). Jared has an older brother named Jeff and a younger sister named Megan. Jared grew up in Texas and he fondly recalls his childhood days as 'the best'. He loved biking and skateboarding (and skinned his knees multiple times). He also played basketball and took part in all kinds of outdoor activities. Jared also recalls him and his friend placing pennies on the nearby train tracks, to watch them being flattened by a passing train. It may not be the safest of activities, but Jared loved to be outside. Jared grew up in a loving and supportive family. He recalls his parents being at all of his plays and basketball games, but he also recalls that they refused to do everything for them. The children had to learn that nothing comes for free and there was a lot of discipline in the household. Jared calls this the 'Texas values', which taught him to treat people right and being kind.

Jared attended Wood Middle School and went on to James Madison High School in San Antonio and he excelled academically. He was a grade A student and even participated in the gifted and talented program. During his time in middle school and high school Jared also nurtured his passion for acting with lessons in speech and drama, where he owned his skills in public speaking and performing. In 1999, he and his duo partner Chris Cardenas participated in the National Speech Tournament for duo acting (in St. Louis) ... and they won! Also in 1999, at the age of 17, Jared entered Fox TV's  'Claim to Fame' contest, a nationwide search for young talent. First prize was the chance to help out on stage at the "Teen Choice Awards" (handing over the trophies to the presenters, accompanying people off stage and so on). To enter the contest, he had to submit a videotape of himself at the local Planet Hollywood restaurant. On the tape Jared had 30 seconds to tell the judges, why he should be the one on stage at the award show. Well Jared did good, because out of 20000 contestants he (and a girl named Patricia) won. Together with his parents, Jared flew to Los Angeles where the show was taped. Later on, Jared mentioned that he thought he would get the chance to help backstage, but he was on stage most of the time and even got the chance to hand over some of the awards to presenters and winners. This opportunity introduced Jared to the entertainment industry and he got the chance to meet some agents. One of them was Rich Beddingfield (who was representing Freddie Prinze Jr. at the time among others) and they kept in touch. Beddingfield encouraged Jared to pursue acting and Jared was very passionate about that. His parents were very supportive but also knew it was important to have a back up plan. Back in San Antonio, Jared went into his last year in high school and became a candidate for the Presidential Scholars Program. In 2000,  Jared graduated from James Madison High School. Originally he planned to go the the University of Texas, but he changed his ming and decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue his dream to become an actor.

It didn't take him long to land the role of Dean Forrester in the TV show "Gilmore Girls". The show grew out to be a big success and Jared played the role of Dean in 63 episodes from 2000 until 2005. During his time on the show, he played some other roles in movies and series like: and in 2005 his breakthrough came when he was cast as Sam Winchester in The CW's "Supernatural". The show revolves around brothers Sam and Dean (Jensen Ackles), who follow in their father's footsteps as supernatural hunters. The show ran for a whopping 15 seasons from 2005 until 2020 and the bond between Sam and Dean is one of the key aspects of the show. In later interviews Jared talked about their audition and how he immediately bonded with Jensen Ackles. The two had a lot in common, they were both Texas natives and fans of the Dallas Cowboys. But he also talked about how he almost did not get the role, because he wanted to play it cool. After Jared's first audition, showrunner Barry Kripke, was not impressed and did not want him. Kripke was looking for an intelligent type and Jared did not seem intelligent enough to the showrunner. Jared's manager came to the rescue and called Kripke to convince him to give Jared a second chance. He told Kripke about Jared's academic success and high SAT scores. Kripke caved and Jared got a second chance. "Supernatural" changed Jared's life in many ways most of them professionally, but on a personal note Jared met his wife Genevieve on set (she played the role of demon Ruby). The couple married in 2010 and they have three children.

During his time on "Supernatural", Jared also had some roles in other movies and series like: "House of Wax" (2005, as Wade), "Friday the 13th" (2009, as Clay Miller), "Phantom Boy" (2015, as Lt. Alex) and "Gilmore Girls: A Year in The Life" (2016, as Dean Forester). Not long after the end of "Supernatural" it was announced that Jared got the lead role of Cordell Walker in "Walker', the reboot of the 90s series "Walker Texas Ranger" (starring Chuck Norris as Cordell). The show quickly gained a big following and the audiences loved Jared as Walker. After 4 seasons, however, the show was cancelled in 2024 (due to some network changes). Recently he played Camden Casey in "Fire Country". Jared will be joining old castmate (and close friend) Jensen Ackles in the upcoming season of "The Boys". And he won't be the only "Supernatural" star to join the show...

This next guest is back for round 2 of Heroes Dutch Comic Con Summer Edition. A year after his first visit to Utrecht, Misha Collins is back for more... Misha is mostly known for his role as the angel Castiel in 12 seasons of "Supernatural", but that's not all! Besides being a wonderful actor, he is also incredibly funny and his panels are an absolute pleasure to attend. Furthermore Misha is a best selling poet, a scenario writer and much more. Let us tell you everything about Misha Collins...

He was born Dmitri Tippens Krushnic on 20 August, 1974 in Boston, Massachusetts as the second son of Rebecca Tippens and Richard Edward Krushnic. Ever since he was a child, people used to call him by his nickname Misha. His mother Rebecca was an avid fan of all things Russia and in later interviews Misha says she would call him and his big brother (Sasha) her little Russian boys. They ate a lot of Borsch (Russian soup) and there were Matryoshka dolls all around the house, which is strange because Misha's Eastern European roots go back more than 150 years. So, you might think, why the love for Russian things? In interviews, Misha calls his mother a hippie, who wanted to bring communism back to the United States. While his mother was in college, she visited Russia and dated a boy named Mitja (his real name was Dmitri). Much to Misha's father Richard's dismay, she named their second son after that guy she dated back in Russia. So while Misha was born Dmitri Tippens Krushnic, but he changed his name to Misha Collins before he started acting professionally. He chose the name Misha, because everyone was calling him by his nickname anyway. The surname Collins came from his maternal great grandmother

The first time Misha was on stage, was at the age of 4. It was in a play with his mother in the lead role. The family did not have a lot to spend and when Misha was 5 years old, his mother taught him how to steal groceries in the supermarket to get by. The family often led a nomadic life and sometimes they even were homeless. They would sleep in their car or in a tent in the woods, but there were also times that they did not have a car and they used to hitchhike or jump aboard trains. Nowadays Misha describes his childhood as adventurous, but also as lacking the sense of security other children had. The boys grew up surrounded by danger, especially at times they were homeless.

Misha went to elementary school in Greenfield, Massachusetts (Greenfield Center School). After elementary school, he went to high school at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gil, Massachusetts. While in high school, Misha was quite the prankster. He used to pretend that he was a Russian exchange student and he would go into a pizza restaurant and pretend that he never had pizza before. Then the people from the restaurant would invite him in the kitchen and show him how to make an American pizza. Also in high school, Misha met his future wife Victoria Vantoch (married in 2001 and divorced in 2022). He graduated high school in 1992 and in the following year(s), Misha worked a variety of jobs. While he was growing up, Misha's family never owned a TV, but he loved listening to the radio. This came in handy when landed an internship at NPR (National Public Radio). Misha was also an intern at the White House (during the Clinton administration). Besides this he was a carpenter, he worked in construction and he even earned an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) certificate. Misha went on to study Social Theory at the University of Chicago and earned a B. A. with honors. After graduation at the University, Misha and his partner moved to Washington D.C. with and they started a software company.