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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jarpad.png]]

->'''Sam:''' We landed in some dimension where you're... Creator/JensenAckles, and I'm something called a Jared Padalecki.
->'''Dean:''' Oh, so, what, now you're ''Polish''?
-->-- ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', "The French Mistake"

Jared Tristan Padalecki (b. July 19, 1982) was born in San Antonio, Texas to Gerald and Sherri Padalecki. He is of half [[{{UsefulNotes/Poland}} Polish]] descent on his father's side. He is a rarely well-documented Sasquatch and star of CW show ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', and he portrays the younger, broody, angst ridden Winchester brother, Sam, alongside his real-life friend, Creator/JensenAckles. At 6'4" and change, he towers over pretty much everybody, but is known to be a goofball on set, and extremely friendly, even to his many crazed fangirls. He's known to be a big supporter of animal welfare, and often talks about his rescue dogs, Harley, Sadie, Arlo, and Koda. He has gained the FanNickname "Moose" thanks to a line from the series.

He's also known for playing long time love interest of Rory Gilmore, Dean Forrester, in ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', and his roles in movies such as ''Film/NewYorkMinute'' and the remake ''Film/{{House of Wax|2005}}''. He helped to beat Jason Voorhees in the ''Film/{{Friday the 13th|2009}}'' remake. He is currently starring in The CW reboot of ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'', known simply as ''Series/{{Walker}}''.

In 2010, he married his Supernatural [[RomanceOnTheSet co-star]] Creator/GenevievePadalecki (née Cortese), who played the demonic love interest Ruby to his character Sam on the show. They share three children: Thomas Colton (born in 2012), Austin Shepherd "Shep" (born in 2013) , and Odette Elliott (born in 2017).

In 2013, he went public about his struggles with depression and anxiety, beginning a charity campaign called Always Keep Fighting that contributes to several mental health-related causes.

His [[{{Website/Twitter}} Twitter]] is [[http://twitter.com/jarpad here]].

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!Selected filmography (works with TV Tropes pages)
* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'' (2000-05) as Dean Forrester
* ''Series/{{ER}}'' (2001) as Paul Harris
* ''Film/CheaperByTheDozen2003'' (2003) as Bully
* ''Film/NewYorkMinute'' (2004) as Trey Lipton
* ''Film/{{The Flight of the Phoenix|2004}}'' (2004) as John Davis
* ''Film/{{House of Wax|2005}}'' (2005) as Wade Felton
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' (2005-20) as Samuel "Sam" Winchester
* ''Film/CryWolf'' (2005) as Tom Jordan
* ''Film/{{Friday the 13th|2009}}'' (2009) as Clay Miller
* ''WebVideo/TheHillywoodShow'' (2015) as Dancer
* ''Series/{{Walker}}'' (2021-present) as Cordell Walker
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!Tropes associated with this actor's career:

* CreatorBreakdown: Jared has been struggling with depression since season 3 of ''Supernatural''. This inspired him to launch the "Always Keep Fighting" campaign and raise awareness of mental health.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Given that he's 6'5, pretty much all his onscreen relationships with women fall into this trope with many actresses having to [[ScullyBox wear heels or stand on boxes]] next to him. Creator/AdriannePalicki was one of the few exceptions at 5'11 and even she just came up to his shoulders.
* OldShame
** During an interview, he mentioned that he met a friend of his on the set of ''New York Minute'', "which we will not talk about". It's hard to tell how serious he was, but he has gone on record saying that it's the one role he wishes he could erase from his resume.
** He showed a similar level of potentially-joking dislike for a ''Young [=MacGyver=]'' pilot which was never picked up. He deemed it the worst acting he had ever done at a con in Boston in 2011. When a fan told him that she had watched the movie for him:
--->'''Jared:''' Did you really? I'm so sorry!
* RomanceOnTheSet
** He briefly dated Creator/AlexisBledel during his time on ''Gilmore Girls''.
** He met his ex-fiancée Sandra [=McCoy=] on ''Film/CryWolf''. She also made an appearance on ''Supernatural'' during Season 3, before they'd broken up, where his character proceeds to interrogate her, and then shoot her in the head. Awkward.
** He met his wife Genevieve Cortese on ''Supernatural'' during Season 4. They married a couple years later, making the sex scene they filmed during that season a bit weird to watch. In the commentary for that episode, the director says that when they were shooting the scene, he was thinking, "There's something going on there..."
* StarMakingRole: He got on ''Gilmore Girls'' when he was seventeen as a regular, and it launched his career. Leading ''Supernatural'', however, is what propelled him into near-stardom. To this day, it's a fifty-fifty chance that he'll be recognized in public either as Dean Forrester or Sam Winchester.
* {{Typecasting}}: In the late 2000s Jared was briefly known for starring in horror films, which coincidentally was also around the time that ''Supernatural'' was at its peak of popularity (though the first of these, ''House of Wax'', was made before ''Supernatural'' was greenlit).

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