Jared Padalecki

Jared Padalecki (born July 19, 1982) is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and rose to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as such films as New York Minute and House of Wax. Jared is best known for his role as Sam Winchester on Supernatural.

Early Life
Jared Tristan Padalecki was born on July 19, 1982, in San Antonio, Texas, to Gerald and Sherri Padalecki. His father is of Polish descent, while his mother has German, Scottish, French, and English ancestry.

Education
Jared was a 2000 candidate for the Presidential Scholars Program. In 1998, Jared and his partner, Chris Cardenas won the National Forensic League national championship in Duo Interpretation. Jared won Fox Broadcasting's 1999 "Claim to Fame Contest." He subsequently appeared at the Teen Choice Awards, where he met an agent. After graduating from high school in 2000, he moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career, although he had originally planned to attend the University of Texas.

Career
Jared's first role was a minor role in the 1999 film, A Little Inside. In 2000, he was cast as Dean Forester on the television series Gilmore Girls, a role he played until 2005. Throughout the early 2000s, he appeared in several made-for-television films, including Silent Witness, Close to Home, and the Disney Channel Original Movie, A Ring of Endless Light.

Jared had an uncredited role as a high school bully in 2003's comedy, Cheaper by the Dozen, which he played after being asked by fellow actor and friend Tom Welling, who played Charlie Baker, and the director of the movie, who wanted someone larger than Charlie to pick on him. Jared originally auditioned for Tom's role, but gave it up in order to film a pilot titled Young MacGyver which was never picked up.

In 2004, Jared appeared in the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen comedy, New York Minute as Trey Lipton, a cute boy to whom the Olsen's characteers are attracted. He also landed a short role in the thriller Flight of the Pheonix alongside Dennis Quaid and Hugh Laurie. In 2005, Jared starred opposite Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray and Paris Hilton in House of Wax as Wade. In 2005, he appeared in Cry Wolf, another horror film, as Tom.

The same year, Jared was cast as Sam Winchester on the CW series, Supernatural. Sam and his brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) drive throughout the United States hunting paranormal predators, sometimes with their father John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The ninth season began airing on October 8, 2013 on the CW in Vancouver, British Columbia. He served as the host of MTV's horror reality series, Room 401, which was discontinued after only eight episodes due to poor ratings. He had the lead role in 2008's The Christmas Cottage as Thomas Kinkade. He had the lead role in a remake of Friday the 13th as Clay Miller, a character who heads out to Camp Crystal Like in search of his sister who has gone missing.

Personal Life
Jared married his former Supernatural co-star, Genevieve Cortese, on February 27, 2010 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Jared and Genevieve reside in Vancouver, British Columbia with their two children.