Bothered

[oselle]

strangemuses linked me to this article after she said she'd read an interview where Jensen expressed dismay about how Dean was being portrayed in Season 6. I always say I'm going to stop reading interviews with any of the people behind the show, but I think I keep doing it because it always just gobsmacks me to hear the opinions of the actors and especially of the writers -- who often seem to sound as if whatever show they're talking about isn't the one that's actually on the air.

But the following interview bothered me for...more reasons than I can go into, so I'll just let you have at it. I'm going to cut and paste the whole thing here in case the link ever goes dead. There's a link to the actual page at the end of the quote.

Zap2it visited the show's Vancouver set while the stars were filming Episode 8, "All Dogs Go To Heaven," and we had to ask whose tour of hell was worse - Sam's or Dean's.

"I'd say mine, I think," Padalecki says, explaining that not only was Sam in hell, but he was in "Lucifer's cage with an archangel battle."

"Crowley (Mark Sheppard) says, 'I can't imagine what it's like in the cage, and I can imagine so many things,'" Padalecki continues, "So we get the idea that Sam was in the bad part of hell. He wasn't like, in the penthouse. He was slumming down there.'"

The experience has changed Sam significantly. "I come back much less lovey-dovey, and more like 'All right. I've been to Hell a couple times. I've been to Heaven. I've died; I've come back, I've done this, and I've done that; so I think Sam's kind of more no-bulls***."

In the scene we observed on set, Sam and Dean pose as experts at a crime scene. "We go up to this dead body, and my line is 'Yeah, we're specialists. We answer the questions of mouth-breathing d*** monkeys.' Stone-faced. 'You're going to tell us what's going on?'" Padalecki says.

Ackles chimes in, "He's come so far!"

Meanwhile, Dean has the added pressure of a girlfriend and a child to worry about. The more nurturing side of Dean doesn't necessarily sit well with Ackles.

"There was a big shift in Dean's character, actually, much to my chagrin," admits Jensen. "I was not happy with it. Dean was really kind of being written soft. We spent five years with this guy being a tough, shoot-first-ask-questions-later kind of guy, and now all of a sudden he's lived one year in more of a domesticated life and he's gone soft on us."

Ackles feels for the fans who might be missing "old Dean" as Season 6 begins. "As a fan of the show myself, that kind of made me upset, but I did my best to kind of curve that in the acting. It read pretty soft on the page, but I think I toughened it. I'm like 'Look, if I've got anything to do with it, I'm gonna beat this guy up a little bit.'"

Padalecki jumps to his co-star's defense, explaining that Ackles wasn't going against the writers' wishes - he was just doing his job as an actor. "You kept it true to the character," he says. "It wasn't like you were just not doing what the writers were writing for. It was like 'How can I work this in to where I don't completely lose Dean?'"

The changes have made playing Dean come less naturally to Ackles. "I had no idea what the hell I was doing," Ackles laughs. "Even the dialogue, the way it was written, being so soft and affected. I was like, 'This is not the guy I'm used to playing.' I would kind of skew the dialogue a little bit to make it work in his favor. But it was definitely different. It was an odd situation for Dean to be in."

"After five seasons of playing this guy, now I actually have to think harder about how to play this guy correctly than I have before. I'm like, what happened to the gravy boat here?"

"We talked to [Smallville's Tom Welling], and he's like, yeah, Season 6, it's easy from there on out," Padalecki says. "We're like, it got harder!"

Though Sam and Dean have definitely grown apart, they are working on rebuilding their bond -- though they may be going about it in different ways.

"I think the common denominator is also that Sam and Dean both want it to be better," Padalecki says. "In their own way, albeit; but they at least both want the same things. Maybe they work differently, but it's no longer Sam going 'Alright, I've got this demon... you do whatever you want; we'll meet up later.' I think we're just wording differently what we want. We're trying to work together and let it flesh itself out."

Of course, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and before things get better, they will get worse. Dean is upset with his brother from the get-go. "When Sam shows back up unexpectedly, obviously there's surprise, but then there's also anger. 'How long has he been around, and why hasn't he told me?' That's the first bit of friction," Ackles says.

It only gets messier from there. "In the trailer, there's a shot of me hitting him, and that wasn't edited to look as though it was; that actually happened," Ackles promises. "There are physical confrontations. There are verbal confrontations between the others. But they do have their common denominator, and that is that they're both hunters, so they get back on the right track eventually. There is still a strain in the relationship that has yet to be worked out [by episode 8]."

Will there be more physical fighting between the brothers? "I hope so!" Padalecki laughs. "It's fun.

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Comments

[tskterata.livejournal.com]

I only skimmed the article under pretense of not being spoiled, but holy cow - have they ever watched their own show?

When was Sam in Hell twice? Excuse me, the BAD part of Hell. Is Padalecki saying that Dean was in the Penthouse of Hell? Sam's five minutes was worse than Dean's forty years? WTF?

How is Dean being a family man 'going soft'? He's all about family.

Actors are stoopid sometimes.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

What I took away is that Jensen himself was questioning the writers' idea that Dean had gone soft after only a year out of the game. It doesn't seem to make sense to him any more than it does to some of us. I suspect that what he saw in those scripts was probably worse than what finally made it onscreen -- a Dean who really had gone soft. I'm glad that Jensen is still devoted enough to the character to put some actual thought into his work. I'm beginning to feel like he's the only one left who is.

And I have no idea what Jared's talking about. I didn't realize there were cushy parts of hell.

[tskterata.livejournal.com]

That makes more sense and I hope you're right. I've always credited Jensen with giving Dean's character depth. I think he took the small character bits that the writers gave him and really worked them. His acting fed into the writers' process and Dean started to become the Dean we love.

I also think Sam's character may be a hot mess because Jared Padalecki is no Jensen Ackles.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I've never doubted that Dean wouldn't be Dean without Jensen Ackles. I think Sam's a hot mess for a whole lot of reasons but Jared's apparent willingness to go along with whatever the writers say probably doesn't help.

[ariadnes-string.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to touch Jared's comments with a Padalecki-sized pole, but I was actually thinking of this interview when I commented on your review. I thought it was striking to hear Jensen say out loud what is obviously often true: that he's working really hard to give what's on the page some emotional resonance and character continuity (and, unsaid, that his acting is what's holding the episode together) It was particularly obvious in 6.01.

It's obvious when they have someone else playing Dean what a difference JA's reaction shots have on the way we understand the show.

/rant

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I thought it was striking to hear Jensen say out loud what is obviously often true

I think it's striking to hear Jensen himself say something (albeit more tactfully) that we nutty "Deangirls" have been saying for a really long time -- that it's often left up to him to make this shit work. I'm not implying that he was being full of himself, far from it, but you can tell from his comments that he was really dismayed by what the writers were doing with Dean and he took the initiative to salvage it, for the audience as much as for himself. I can't recall any other time I've heard Jensen criticize the show's creative direction and I think he must have been very pissed off to talk about it as openly as he did in that interview -- to talk about it at all, frankly. I'm kind of glad to hear that he was upset -- at least it means that someone still gives a shit about the show's quality. Jared, on the other hand, just seems to swallow whatever the writers hand him. All that crap about "lovey dovey" Sam and "the worst part of hell" sounds like pure Sera Gamble if you ask me.

[dangerous-puff.livejournal.com]

Honestly? When I read that interview all I could think is how I was looking forward to reading your reaction, because you have an almost alarming way of articulating flawlessly what I would say were I not flailing angrily in the corner. As always the same goes for your socio-political posts, but those topics leave me completely incoherent in the corner.

Thank you again for your ability to rationally elucidate the things that just PISS ME RIGHT THE F**K OFF.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I didn't even know this interview existed until a couple of days ago! When I read there was an interview in which Jensen said he was upset about where Dean's character was going, I thought That can't be right, that just doesn't sound like Jensen. So I had to see it for myself and whoa. The blather about "the worst part of hell" and "lovey dovey" Sam was just icing on the cake.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Seriously, the whole "worst part of hell" thing makes me think of fanfic. You know, where they get jealous of whatever thing a character went through in canon so they make the character they identify with or their self-insert go them one-better just to start with? Like sure Frodo carried the ring to Mount Doom but this character is carrying an even more horrible artifact!

That's what I feel like with the idea that Dean took a season where they wrote fallout from his time in hell, a season that included Dean getting called weak and feeling unsure and basically showing actual signs of trauma. But Sam traveled to the even worse part of hell and came back after lunch and now he's just even more badass. No PTSD for him except the kind that looks strong. Even though it's actually hard to imagine how it's supposed to get worse than what Dean described. The man was flayed to the bone every day for decades, and then did it to other people. What was worse in Sam's part of hell? A worse view?

[oselle.livejournal.com]

What was worse in Sam's part of hell? A worse view?

It's just so ridiculous. They've let Sam's character flail for season after season and now they want to rewrite him as a badass over his 20 minutes in hell. And frankly I'm not even buying that Sam's hell was worse than Dean's -- Sam went down there with an archangel inside him and got to kick ass and fight his way out (or however the hell he got out). Dean went down there defenseless and was turned over to guys like Alistair whose marching orders were to work him over until he broke -- which he did, after 30 years. So I don't see how that could somehow be a walk in the park compared to what Sam went through, but that seems to be what they're implying. It's all part of the strategy to make Sam look like a hero by making Dean look like a pussy.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, honestly, even from what we know Sam's experience would obviously be a lot better it seems to me. He as basically possessed by Lucifer for a short while, while Lucifer was battling Michael. It's a cage, okay, but all of hell is pretty much a cage. The very fact that they're starting out the season with "Who's experience was worse?" with Sam being there for 5 minutes shows what the real agenda here is. Once again it's not about Sam having a coherent experience, it's about what mysterious, ineffable thing is happening with Sam now that Dean will have to puzzle about.

And then they wonder why Dean naturally becomes the focal point and the pov character. Of course he's the one we sympathize with or identify with. So it's not exactly satisfying when Sam starts yelling at him or looking down on him--again.

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

OMG do not get me started on any of this.

OK too late.

I don't know if you ever watch con videos but there's often lots of joking about how Jared doesn't actually watch the show or has only seen season 1. I used to believe that it was just good-natured ribbing but now I'm starting to believe it's true. Which is fine, but then STOP TALKING. Forget about what's going on with his own character, he seems to be clueless about the plot as well.

As far as Jensen's comments, I too was shocked. The guy is the best PR machine they've got and always spins their shit into gold on and off screen. So for him to openly comment on his dissatisfaction with the writing of his character, suggests that it's far worse than most of us could even imagine.

Anyway, I'm glad Jensen still gives a shit about Dean at least. and I actually felt like he did an excellent job of keeping Dean, Dean in the premiere despite the changed circumstances, etc. If he can manage that, he's worth his wait in uranium to this show and I really wish Sera would recognize that instead trying to constantly make the dead would float at his expense.

We all know Sera is a sam/JP girl (which happens, people have theri preferences) but this interview really made me think that she was approaching the season like a fangirl instead of a professional showrunner especially with all the early talk about making Sam more like Dean etc. It's like this season is basically her fix-it fanfic so that people finally recognize how much more awesome Sam is than Dean or something.

Of course, the most hilarious thing of all is that despite all the "mystery" around Sam and his supposedly increased badassness, what most people are talking about around various boards is Dean's sad little domestic storyline and how most people seem pleasantly surprised at how well they liked that part of th episode. Poor Sera.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Forget about what's going on with his own character, he seems to be clueless about the plot as well.

Jared's comments in this interview reminded me so much of Genevieve Cortese's hilariously inane theories about Ruby that I was practically hearing his words in her voice. I'm starting to get why they hit it off so instantly -- birds of a feather.

Of course, the most hilarious thing of all is that despite all the "mystery" around Sam and his supposedly increased badassness, what most people are talking about around various boards is Dean's sad little domestic storyline and how most people seem pleasantly surprised at how well they liked that part of th episode. Poor Sera.

I feel like Sera's problem is that she just won't put in the work that Sam needs -- instead she's just going for this role reversal bullshit because she thinks it'll turn Sam into some sort of hardcase antihero...but no one's buying it. As far as I'm concerned, it's probably too late to do anything with Sam. They really destroyed his character in Season 4 and made almost no attempt to fix it in Season 5 and now what? We're supposed to ooh and aah over Sam because he spent 20 minutes in hell and then deceived his own brother for a whole year (all for Dean's own good, of course)?

As for Dean's domestic storyline...you know, I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I did NOT hate that but I'm starting to get nervous because if the writers see viewers saying so? They'll just go into their usual overkill mode and and think they're giving us what we want. Those first 10 minutes of the premiere worked because they were deft in the less-is-more tradition. I sure as hell don't want to see 40 minutes of Dean making breakfast and tucking Ben into bed...then again, at this point, that might be better than watching Sera Gamble's Jaredcrush play out onscreen. Shit, just gimme 40 minutes of Dean walking around in his bare feet. I'll take that.

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

Not sure how spoiled you are but Neither Cindy Sampson or Nicholas Elia are listed on IMDB after 602 and they have the casting for the first 7 or 8 epis up already. Of course IMDB could be wrong but my impression is that Dean is back to hunting full time by 603. But from reading Sera's interviews, I suspect we'll get a couple more appearances later in the season and then they will be toast one way or another.

I'm torn on the domestic storyline front. On the one hand, I want badass hunter dean back on the road but on the other hand, if he's just going to be around to watch Sam be badass and rescue him every other episode and make the token "be nice to monsters" speech while the Campbells mock him for being soft, then thanks but no thanks. I'd rather watch Dean walking around barefoot at night or snuggling with Lisa and playing golf with Ben. (Well OK nobody wants to watch golf so maybe baseball or shirtless soccer or something.)

The problem for me right now is that the domestic storyline is really the only one that Dean has this season since, once again, all of the big mystery is around Sam and his most-traumatic-ever Hell experiences.

If Lisa and Ben are gone within the next epi or so, what else is Dean going to do besides ring his hands over Sam's wrongness. There isn't even a hint that he's involved in anything else, including Cas' upcoming storyline which saddens me greatly. Because damn, I'm missing my Dean/Cas more than ever.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

If Lisa and Ben are gone within the next epi or so, what else is Dean going to do besides ring his hands over Sam's wrongness.

And it's not even worth wringing hands over because it's just going to fizzle out to nothing. We spent Season 4 wondering what was wrong with Sam only to find out that what was wrong with Sam was that Dean was so judgmental and mean to his baby bro that baby bro was driven into the arms of a bad-influence girlfriend. Or something. Frankly I still don't know what happened there.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

There isn't even a hint that he's involved in anything else, including Cas' upcoming storyline which saddens me greatly. Because damn, I'm missing my Dean/Cas more than ever.

Do you think they'll try to "give" Cas to Sam more this season? I only wonder because I really thought the Dean/Cas dynamic was obviously something special they weren't expecting. I did laugh at Sam's "He's not answering my prayers." I don't think Sam/Cas would ever really be as resonant, for the same reasons Sam keeps flailing as a character.

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

Well it occurred to me that Cas ignored Sam's prayers for a year but as soon as dean is back in the hunt, Castiel shows up.

But I guess it depends on who calls him on 603. Sera says vaguely that one of the brothers keeps calling him and he finally answers. So really, it's anyone's guess how this will play out.

But it certainly wouldn't surprise me if they handed Cas off to Sam too even though any relationship between would still feel completely unearned at this point IMO. I mean, I still don't get how they went from Cas telling Sam he made all the wrong choices at the end of the anti-Christ epi to he's my BFF in the time-travel episode.

Like Oselle has said, they just aren't willing to put the work in for Sam when it comes to showing rather than telling.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Do you think they'll try to "give" Cas to Sam more this season?

Yes, I absolutely do. The Dean-Castiel chemistry was unexpected, as was the way most of the audience embraced it. But that sort of thing is a sort of magic that just develops on its own. It can't be forced -- and that's something the writers on this show tend not to understand. No, they'll think that if the audience embraced Dean and Castiel, they'll be just as enamored of Sam and Castiel. They think the magic is transferable...but it's not. They're doing the exact same thing with the whole "role reversal," ignoring the multitude of factors that made Dean so popular and thinking that if Sam is just "more like Dean" their job is done -- they don't have to be bothered with making Sam into a compelling character in his own right.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

So sad. Because it really comes down to the same thing: Dean was a really defined character. And then Castiel was too. And they clicked. You don't get that so much with Sam because the character isn't as defined. That's half a relationship that's not really there.

I would so watch a Dean/Castiel spin off.

I suspect Misha Collins might be a lot like JA if they tried to do this. I mean, I feel like he would wind up trying to act in the Dean/Castiel simply because he knows how much Dean means to Cas.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I would so watch a Dean/Castiel spin off.

I would too but only if no one from SPN had anything to do with it because they'd only know how to do Dean wisecracking and Cas not getting it for 40 minutes every week.

Of course, the spinoff I really want to see is Dean Winchester Walks Around Barefoot. I'm thinking every week he can just walk around barefoot on a different type of carpet. Then we can do like...sand and grass and linoleum for variety. I'm writing up a pilot treatment right now.

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

Did you see this?

http://mangokulfi.livejournal.com/13274.html

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

OMG, I SAW THAT THIS AFTERNOON AND I'VE BEEN GRINNING EVER SINCE!

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

Cas &hearts Dean. \o/

[ann-tara.livejournal.com]

It's like this season is basically her fix-it fanfic so that people finally recognize how much more awesome Sam is than Dean or something.

*sigh* You know, after the CC interviews when so many of us had to stop watching Jared's interviews because he was causing us to contemplate bodily harm, I remember talking to an LJ'er about how we were getting this sinking feeling that the sole purpose of the sixth season for Sera (and Kripke too, since his finale didn't exactly go over like gangbusters) was to force Sam to become the more popular character, finally, after six years. And that was it, that was going to be the sum total of the plot.

But that's crazy talk, right - we were just getting worked up over an actor who sometimes suffers from foot-in-mouth disease ... right?

Yet, when calm, cool, collected, always on board Jensen finally breaks down and can't hide the fact that he feels like his character is being taken away from him - to the press, two days before the premiere, when he's supposed to be pimping the show - that nagging feeling I was getting became a rock-hard pit in my stomach, because I think there's probably little doubt now that fix-it fan fiction is exactly what Sera has in mind.

And I'm gobsmacked, because why would any showrunner in his or her right mind want to sabotage a popular actor and character, the break-out character, just because that guy wasn't originally intended to be that? Most producer-creators/showrunners BEG for a break-out character, because that's the kind of thing that insures audience viewership and renewal.

I know Jensen will do everything he can to keep Dean true to his nature - after all, IMO, he's been acting against the writing and showrunner intentions for five years. Why stop now? But it concerns me that for as hard as we know he works, he's more frustrated than not and willing to come right out and say that.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Yet, when calm, cool, collected, always on board Jensen finally breaks down and can't hide the fact that he feels like his character is being taken away from him...

Like I said upthread...I had to see this interview for myself before I could believe it existed. It just sounded so out of character for Jensen. What also gets me is that Jared sort of reins him in, at least that's the way it seems when he hastily insists that Jensen wasn't "going against the wishes of the writers." Heaven forbid he do that! And then Jensen gets a hold of himself and turns it all into a joke about how his job isn't "easy" anymore. Oh, Jensen.

And I'm gobsmacked, because why would any showrunner in his or her right mind want to sabotage a popular actor and character, the break-out character, just because that guy wasn't originally intended to be that?

Jared's always had top billing on this show but Dean became the breakout character and I think they keep trying to "fix" that -- and Jared himself may very well have a hand in that. I know that he and Jensen are tight and I don't think there's any professional rivalry between them but I'm sure Jared's aware that his top billing status isn't always reflected in the role he plays on the show. But they can't make a neglected or ill-served character look good just by tearing down the more popular one, especially when they're doing it as clumsily as they are, and especially not when they've let Sam's character languish for so long.

But it concerns me that for as hard as we know he works, he's more frustrated than not and willing to come right out and say that.

Well, I also recently heard him say that he'd be on board with a seventh season so...maybe things are looking up over there. Or maybe they've just promised him so much money that he's willing to stay in the game for another year, come what may.

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

IIRC comments about the 7th season came out during the summer at various conventions before they had seen any scripts for this year. This interview is much more recent (two days before the premiere) so I have to wonder if he's still on board for a 7th season now that he has a better idea of what is being done to Dean.

The thing is, in previous seasons Dean did generally get the better writing even if the plot made little sense. Back then I could understand Jensen being willing to stick around since his character was pretty well-served even without being directly involved in the mytharc, and he had plenty of meaty stuff in terms of acting challenges. But if he sees the writing for his character going south, I wonder if he would still be as enthusiastic to sign on for a 7th season. Of course, it's too late now because the ink is already dry. But then again, a fat pay check can do wonders for job dissatisfaction. *shrug*

[salty-catfish.livejournal.com]

Oh my god that interview pissed me of so much, I don't even have words. I just hope the "who's time in hell was worse" pissing contest is not going to happen on the show. I'd have to write a five page rant then, but I'm not going there yet. I'm really fucking grateful JA is putting in some effort, he did a great job working around the shitty script of 6.01.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I just hope the "who's time in hell was worse" pissing contest is not going to happen on the show.

Oh, sweet Jesus. I hope not. As it is I think we're already being asked to believe that Sam coped with hell better than Dean did -- after all, Sam's time in hell made him one tough motherfucker whereas Dean's time in hell gave him nightmares and a drinking problem. IOW...Dean's a pussy.

[muffaletta.livejournal.com]

It's just mind boggling that, after all this time, Sera (or Kripke, for that matter) still think the way to make Sam sympathetic is to steal Dean's qualities/storylines. Yeah, fans will really love Sam for that one. And that, instead of capitolizing on Dean's immense popularity and Jensen's charismatic appeal, they'd rather keep shoving Sam down our throats. How is this smart business? How does it make sense for Sam's character to have everything catered to him while fans have to be concerned about whether Dean, who is supposed to be an equal lead and such a ratings draw, will have a decent storyline once the season gets going (as opposed to being relegated to the wind beneath Sam's wings yet again?) Or -even more concerning- whether Dean'll even retain the core qualities that make him such an iconic character? It's freaking absurd.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I think it all goes back to the laziness I keep talking about. They've just NEVER invested time into building Sam up as a character and in fact, they did exactly the opposite -- making him more and more reprehensible while repeatedly telling the audience that everything he did was either justifed, forgivable, or simply not his fault. I'm still blown away by that "we're hard on him" lecture from Bobby that was not only senseless but was also such an obvious attempt to drum up sympathy and respect for Sam. In fiction as in real life, things like sympathy and respect have to be earned, and these writers can't be bothered to earn it for Sam.

[the0neru.livejournal.com]

All that crap about "lovey dovey" Sam and "the worst part of hell" sounds like pure Sera Gamble if you ask me. - EXACTLY. I was half-dreading the S6 premiere just because I am, frankly, terrified of exactly what Sera In Charge is going to mean for the show. I'm not sure whether she and the other Powers That Be think the viewers are so stupid that we haven't noticed the discrepancy in the development of Sam's character as opposed to Dean's, or if they just don't care.

CATTY REMARK WARNING
Maybe prolonged exposure to Genevieve is giving Jared cumulative brain damage?
/CATTY REMARK

I've been a Sam girl from the start, even though I haven't approved of SO many things his character has done; also I stay enough on the fringes of fandom that I haven't seen all the interviews, etc etc, so I'm happy in my "Jared and Jensen are Nice Southern Boys" bubble (yes, it's sticking my head in the sand, but - to rehash one of your earlier entries - I don't know any of these people and never will, so it's pointless to get all worked up about their personal lives); but the S6 premiere actually yanked me out of the story to wonder if Sam was coming across so weird because Jared's too distracted by his Real Life - and while I didn't much care for the "kinder, gentler Dean", I never for an instant saw *Jensen* onscreen, just Dean.

That said, am I the only one who wondered if Dean's line "Do I look "out" to you?" was a "subtle" dig at fandom?

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Maybe prolonged exposure to Genevieve is giving Jared cumulative brain damage?

LOL, I think life imitates art and, much like Ruby, Genevieve was a bad influence. I think she has a wildly inflated opinion of herself which made her all defensive about her performance in Season 4. I think her scorn for the audience rubbed off on Jared and made him feel like he had to take "her side," and I think their whole rapid-fire romance and marriage just fucked with his head. I never heard of him having trouble on set until she was in the picture, and I never heard him saying such dumb shit in interviews like he did in this one.

That said, am I the only one who wondered if Dean's line "Do I look "out" to you?" was a "subtle" dig at fandom?

I don't think so...but the stuff about Dean's "delicate features" definitely was. Jeez, that line could have been cut and pasted right out of my own LJ.