Jensen Ackles Didn't Even Know Game of Thrones Existed Until One Supernatural Episode
Jensen Ackles admitted that after shooting one Supernatural scene, he basically became a huge Game of Thrones fan.
With Game of Thrones being a cultural phenomenon, Supernatural is one of the many shows that had quite a few references to the HBO fantasy series.
It's actually canon that Dean Winchester likes Game of Thrones.
He and his brother even once went as far as calling themselves FBI agents Stark and Martell.
Jensen Ackles, on the other hand, had managed to completely avoid the HBO show for two years until he had to shoot a scene for Supernatural season 9, episode 4 called Slumber Party.
In the scene, Dean, Sam and Charlie sit down to have a Game of Thrones marathon. Viewers only hear the sound of swords and birds, but fans have speculated that the trio were watching episode 9 of season 1, called Baelor, in which Joffrey Baratheon beheads Ned Stark.
After an extra shocking scene (probably the scene of the beheading), Dean turns the TV off and says, "Wow, that Joffrey's a dick." Charlie enthusiastically replies, "Oh, you have no idea. Wait until he..." "Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Spoilers. I haven't read all the books yet," Sam interrupts.
Then a hilarious brotherly exchange happens. "You're gonna read the books?" Dean asks. "Yes, Dean, I like to read books. You know, the ones *without* pictures?" Sam responds.
As well as showing the different reactions of the main characters, perfectly reflecting their personalities, this Supernatural scene became the start of a new passion for Jensen Ackles. The actor admitted that he had never heard of Game of Thrones before shooting the scene.
"I called Robbie Thompson, who wrote the episode, and was like, 'What is this? Is this the show with a bunch of naked guys running around?' He was like, 'No, that's Spartacus.' So he sent me the first two seasons," the actor explained at Supernatural's Comic-Con panel.
Ackles went on to talk about how hooked he was on Game of Thrones after watching the first episode. The actor spent the next week glued to the screen, watching every available season of the show (only two seasons were released at the time). He even introduced his wife to the show and she became a big fan too.