Why Did Supernatural's Eric Kripke Make Misha Collins Think He's Going To Play a Demon?
It was a very smart plan all along.
When Supernatural just aired back in 2005, Eric Kripke, who was the series’ original creator and showrunner at the time, had absolutely no intention to add angels to the mix of creatures and entities that Dean and Sam Winchesters would encounter. However, as the story went on, more opportunities opened up and made the writer change his mind.
While the idea must’ve felt very exciting for everyone involved, Kripke was really into the idea of making fans of the show surprised, so he made sure to keep everything about the angels top secret. Some things were easier to hide in the depths of the writers’ room, but as for others, they needed to get creative.
As it turns out, not even the actors who were auditioning to portray angel Castiel at the time knew who they were reading for. For the sake of confidentiality, they were given the idea of some demonic entity that was to face the main characters and stay for a short three-episode arc.
By securing himself a role, Misha Collins managed to sabotage these plans as well and stayed as one of the leading characters all the way to the series’ finale in season 15. The actor recalled the confusion at the audition in an interview with MovieWeb back in 2008:
“I went in and I auditioned for Eric Kripke and I gave him a very nasty and snarky performance. He said 'Great work, except, we are trying to hide from the fans that we're introducing an angel to the show, so we sent out the audition material as a demon, so it's actually an angel,'” he said.
Though the performance needed some obvious adjustments to change the tone from nasty and demonic to more angel-appropriate one, Kripke seemed to be impressed with Collins enough to cast him in the show. Little did both men know back then, how significant that decision would be for the whole series.
If you are feeling nostalgic and need a rewatch of your favorite Cas moments, you can go ahead and stream Supernatural on Netflix or MAX.
Source: MovieWeb