Misha Collins Opens Up About The Harsh Realities Of The Supernatural Fandom
Misha Collins recently talked at length about his time on Supernatural as Castiel and how fans of the show took things very seriously
One of the blessings and curses of a popular franchise is an opinionated fanbase that will most definitely choose sides when it comes to certain characters. Though it can be frustrating arguing these kinds of things and falling into different groups within a fanbase, it’s also a sign that a series has reached something of a critical mass, able to accumulate enough folks in its orbit to have those opinions. Supernatural was most definitely one of those series and star Misha Collins felt the push and pull among the fanbase over the years.
Misha Collins was on the Inside of You podcast with Michael Rosenbaum (via Screenrant) with the ex-Smallville alum often interviewing others who had longer runs on the CW. Rosenbaum has even had other Supernatural folks on before and gotten them to open up about both the series and future plans. With Collins, the two discussed a variety of topics over the course of the hour-long podcast, among them the topic of the latter’s time on Supernatural as Castiel. Misha Collins discussed how the fans of Supernatural had developed competing factions when it came to characters and definitely aligned into teams in this respect. Check out part of what he had to say about it:
“…there are people who consider themselves Sam fans and Dean fans and Jared fans and Misha fans. And a lot of times they butt heads. There are, you know, small but vocal minorities of these of the fandom that like the Jared fans, who hate the Misha fans, or hate that I came on the show at all. But, I think that there are also small but vocal groups that think that we actors don’t get along… or that, you know, there’s some feud going on… And the fact of the matter is, we get along great and when we, you know, hang up or end phone calls with one another, we always say: ‘love you, brother, can’t wait to see you.’”
A disconnect fans of series will often have is associating the on-screen behavior of different actors’ characters with their real-life personas. There’s a tendency to think that if actors and actresses don’t get along on-screen, the same must be for what’s happening off. But often, the opposite is true. Series are able to keep longevity mostly only when everyone gets along off-screen because they have to spend so much time together. The rest is just acting. This is part of what Misha Collins is reinforcing here with Rosenbaum.
Misha Collins played Castiel, an Angel, starting in Season 4 of Supernatural. Though he was only a recurring character to start, that role eventually grew to be a big one over the next 11 seasons. After stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, Collins was the show’s longest-tenured cast member which is saying something considering this was the record-holder for longest-running fantasy series.
Though the original Supernatural wrapped up its pretty epic run in November of 2020 with the series finale, there is now a planned prequel series, The Winchesters which will explore the story of Sam and Dean’s parents. Jensen Ackles is producing the show after helping to create it but Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins aren’t involved, at least at this point.
Next up for Misha Collins will be another series on the CW though, getting into the DC world of things. He’s going to be playing Harvey Dent in the series Gotham Knights. It will involve an alternate timeline in which Bruce Wayne is murdered his adopted child takes over the fight for the city. He’ll have to team with the children of Batman’s other enemies who are all suspected of taking down the Caped Crusader. Collins will be something of the elder statesman here though considering the rest of the cast is focused on teenage crimefighters.
