Supernatural
Interviews

Supernatural fans know Jim Beaver as Bobby.

But the veteran actor has appeared on a slew of well-reviewed, popular shows, from classics such as The West Wing to current hits such as Big Love.

In an exclusive interview with TV Fanatic, the affable actor talked about his long career, while hyping an upcoming episode of Supernatural he describes as "one of the most memorable we've ever had..."

TV Fanatic: Talk about the evolution of Bobby as a character on Supernatural.
Beaver: When I first shot the finale of season one, nobody said anything about this being a recurring character. But I was very pleased to come back for a second episode - Deadwood was coming to an end and I was concerned about my next job - and, by the third episode, we all began thinking Bobby could be an integral part of the show.

TV Fanatic: You have a long, impressive resume. Is there any role that stands out that Supernatural fans might not be aware of?
Beaver: Deadwood was a high point in my career in several ways, but most fans know about that. My first series was actually a sitcom called Thunder Alley. It aired for a couple years and I played the village idiot... a major departure from Bobby.

TV Fanatic: We loved Harper's Island and have to ask: Did the cast know who was getting killed off each week?
Beaver: We knew when we got each script, which was three or four days before shooting an episode. More than that, though, none of us knew if we were guilty or innocent, which was weird to play. It was a lot of fun, but there's a fine line to acting for a role when you have no idea if you're a killer.

TV Fanatic: Back to Supernatural. What's it like working with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles?
Beaver: Who?!? [Laughs.] They are just lovely guys to work with. There's a warm feeling every time I show up on the set. They're fun, funny... have good hearts.
It's really not always the case where you have two young, handsome leads that turn out to be great guys, too.

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In his latest spoiler column for Entertainment Weekly, columnist Michael Ausiello introduces a new game: Ask Eric Kripke!

The Supernatural creator responded to a number of viewer questions, including inquiries related to Ruby's knife and other topics. Here's what he had to say...

On Ruby's knife: “I don’t think I’ll ever give up the back story of how that knife got its powers. I like to leave some things mysterious. And that’s likely to remain mysterious.”

On the Colt pistol: “The Colt pistol is making a comeback. I was actually in the [writers] room today breaking episode 10 and the cult pistol is in episode 10. And it also pops up a little bit earlier as well. The cult emerges as the boys’ best strategy to shooting the devil in the face.”

On the return of Jeffrey Dean Morgan: “I would love to have him back. But he is an in-demand actor. It’s all about scheduling. It’s [in the hands] of men who wear ties.”

The creator of Supernatural has billed season five as "the war everyone's been waiting for."

What does that mean for Jim Beaver's character of Bobby?

A major twist, the actor told E! News. He said:

"There's something pretty big that happens with Bobby in the first episodes. Really big. It's going to have a huge impact on his relationship with the boys—but I don't know what that impact is, because I've only seen the first three scripts."

Supernatural returns for season five on September 10. It will follow the series premiere of The Vampire Diaries.

Neither Jared Padalecki nor Jensen Ackles could make it for the Supernatural panel at Comic-Con last week.

But executive producers and writers Eric Kripke, Ben Edlund and Sera Gamble satisfied fans' cravings for season five scoop by dishing on a number of topics. Below, we've excerpted pieces of what each show runner had to say about events to come...

Kripke on Castiel: Castiel's totally, totally screwed in season five. Things didn't end well with him and the archangel that came down. I can say that throughout episode one he is dead and exploded into gorey smithereens. He's on the run, he's fallen, they're hunting him down, he's cut off from where he was, he's lost, alone and scared with the guys.

Everyone's totally boned as they are trying to stop the apocalypse from happening. There's basically about four good guys against the universe, trying to stop the apocalypse.

Edlund on Dean's storyline: We've been working on the notion that both of them have these massive responsibilities that they're going to step into. Dean's role has moved on from being the guy driving the car. He's gone from chauffeur of destiny to a sad participant in destiny. He's going to have important things to do—that's one of the areas I was supposed to be pretty coy about, though. Try another angle! Let's see if we can get at it!

Gamble on Lucifer's role: He's definitely the big bad of the season. I would compare it to Lilith in that you saw her sometimes, you heard about her a lot, you met her minions, you met her right-hand man. You might actually see Lucifer a little more than you saw Lilith, the last couple of seasons.

And we have a great actor cast, Mark Pellegrino, and I don't think Lucifer wants to go back to hell. I think that's the last place he wants to go, but he's walking the earth and causing trouble throughout the season.