It was a busy day at the Supernatural press room during this year’s Comic Con. Cast mates Misha Collins, Jensen Ackles, and Jared Padalecki provided answers to some intriguing questions, such as how Castiel is coping now that he’s human, and which actors will be directing this season.

I caught up with Collins, who plays the fallen angel Castiel and asked him whether he was excited that Castiel was finally able to explore the aspects of being human.

“There is this film, ‘The Wings of Desire.’ I believe the angel in that is called Cassiel, if I’m not mistaken, but it’s this great film that has Peter Falk and Bruno Ganz in it. It’s about an angel who wears a trench coat who I think his name is Cassiel — I think the writers maybe saw it before they wrote my character. He falls in love with a woman and falls to Earth because he wants to be with her, and he gets to experience all the joys of smelling flowers and sipping coffee for the first time. From the beginning of my tenure on Supernatural, I’ve always wanted to do that with Castiel. We dipped into human territory in season five for moment when he started losing his powers but we never really explored it. I’m really happy now because we’re getting into that full blown and that is a huge part of Cas’ story for season nine.”

Does this mean Castiel is ditching the trench coat next season?

Misha Collins is excited to see Castiel explore the aspects of being human.

“That wardrobe has been the bane of my existence. A brief history of my wardrobe, if we may digress: When I started, I only thought I would do three episodes and I went into the fitting ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, this is fine’ and I had to wear it going on for six years now. It was quite ill-fitting and pleated. I did a very subtle reboot of my wardrobe but at the beginning of last year, I got a better fitting suit without pleats and a shirt that actually wasn’t two sizes too big for me. Yeah, so Cas begins this season in his trademark trench coat, I will tell you that.”

Collins was clearly amused by the topic. As I tried to fish for specifics, he kidded he wasn’t going to answer because he didn’t want to spoil my fun – all in good humor.  But then he pointed out, “It’s always possible Cas could change his clothes. Now, if you think about it, that he’s human, at least change the underwear!”

Given his new situation, it sure sounded like Castiel will have an interesting journey. Executive Producer Robert Singer confirmed we can expect some interesting character development for Castiel.  “He has a real progression through the first half of being really lost. He doesn’t have any money; he can’t teleport. He doesn’t know how to drive. He says at one point to another character ‘Wow, this having to urinate regularly, it’s really kind of a drag.’ He has to feed himself; he has to live as a human. As he goes along, he becomes more adept; he kind of embraces human life but as the war between the angels becomes more heated; he has a real push call.”

Here’s to looking forward to watching Collins in the bathroom and driving scenes!

Its well-known some of the Supernatural actors have directed episodes in the past so I wanted to know if we could expect the same in the upcoming season. Collins already has his episode lined up!  “I can tell you it’s [episode] 917 and I can tell you no one on this God’s green Earth has any idea of what is happening in 17 episodes from now. The writers aren’t that far ahead.”

Ackles is hoping to direct another Supernatural episode this season.

Ackles has also previously directed but I found out he hasn’t had the opportunity to do so yet in the upcoming season. His new dad status can be blamed for this, which is completely understandable. The doting dad explained: “I usually direct the first one that we film. I did not this season because of a little baby girl. So, in an effort to spend more time with her, I kind of passed on doing the first one. They haven’t promised me one yet this year but there are a few slots that are open. Fingers crossed they may toss them my way but it is very difficult, not just for me, for also the writers and producers to give me the time I would need to prep the episode.”

On the other hand, fans shouldn’t expect Padalecki to direct any episodes of Supernatural but he’ll consider directing something else. Padalecki elaborated on the reasons. First, because the Supernatural hiatus is so limited and he wants to prioritize family and friends. “I’m in Austin, hanging out with my kid and my wife and wakeboarding. I think this year, we went back to work July 11th and I think, had I wanted to direct, I would have had to be there like June 28^th—so, God forbid, two weeks prior. My family is in San Antonio and Austin and San Francisco; her family [his wife] is in San Francisco. We have so many friends to see. This is no joke, I used to take my friends out in June before the season started, like all right, ‘Love you guys; call you in April.’”

Collins will be directing episode 917.

Padalecki explained if he had a more flexible schedule where he would be on an episode and then off three, he could work with that. His other reason for not wanting to direct this season was very touching because it’s connected to his deep appreciation of the fans’ commitment to the show. “I love to play Sam. I don’t want to sully it up or distract myself by doing something else.This is a story that people are so passionate about. People have devoted so much of their life to watching the show and getting to know it; I want to deserve it. I want to earn it so I want to take it seriously and give it the thought and the gravity it deserves.”

The actors revealed the task of directing episodes also demands changes from a production standpoint, especially requiring the actors who are directing to have their characters written more lightly.

“The way it works, it’s that, ideally, they write me really lightly in the preceding episode as well because directing — it’s almost as much prep as shooting. So hopefully it will be light for me,” Collins stated. “I’m sure they’ll endeavor to do that. I’m sure they won’t write a Cas-centric episode because that will be foolish.”

For Jensen, it’s a similar scenario. “For the episode that I would be acting in prior to the one I would be directing, it’s really when I would need the time off to go to location casting, casting, and all of that stuff. They would have to write an episode that is very Sam heavy, I guess, so whether or not they’re willing to do that is yet to be seen.”

The commitment to the cast to the show, its storylines and the fans is really commendable and it’s a powerful ingredient contributing to the series’ success. It looks like Season 9 of Supernatural will have exciting surprises and changes in store for us!

Supernatural returns to the CW Network on Tuesday, October 15 in a new time slot (9:00-10:00 p.m. EST).

For more on the show, visit: http://www.cwtv.com/shows/supernatural.

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