Exclusive Interview: Drake Rodger Talks The Winchesters, the Season Finale Twist, and More

Drake Rodger is an exciting leading man who has quickly caught the attention of audiences around the world with his breakout performance in the CW’s The Winchesters.

Produced by Jensen Ackles, The Winchesters is a Supernatural prequel that focuses on Sam and Dean’s parents, John (Drake Rodger) and Mary (Meg Donnelly). Told from the perspective of narrator Dean Winchester, The Winchesters is an epic, untold love story of how John met Mary, and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world. Drake shines with his grounded and nuanced portrayal, bringing a new depth to this beloved character.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Drake about The Winchesters, bringing his interpretation of this beloved character to the screen, that season finale twist, and more!

PC: You said in previous interviews that as a storyteller and an artist, you have to understand your “why”, and that’s what you’ll turn to during those more challenging times. When did you discover your own “why”, and how has it guided you throughout your career?
Drake: Great question. I feel like your “why” is what motivates you. When everything else falls through, which it will, it’s the only thing that you’ll be left with. I found mine pretty early on, and it was based more on my circumstances and being left with a lot of nothing.

For me, a huge motivator is my family. It helps that a part of my “why” is not selfish in a sense. It’s not just for me. When I am at those lows, I think it’s knowing that I got to work for someone else and that there are other people depending on me. It’s a nice motivation.

PC: Mentorship has been such a cornerstone in your career. Who have been the people in your own life who you’ve turned to and have been on this journey with you?
Drake: Outside of my parents, my first-ever manager, Todd Sheeler. He’s always, always a great shoulder to lean on and an ear to talk into. Then, my current managers, Peter [Kluge] and Terra [Weiler], at Impact. They’re incredible.

PC: You’re one of the stars of The Winchesters. This is such an interesting role in which we’ve seen a future version of this character and who he ultimately becomes. How have you been able to bring your own take to this beloved character while also paying homage to past iterations?
Drake: Robbie [Thompson], Jensen [Ackles], and I talked a lot about trying to do something different than what Jeffrey [Dean Morgan] did, while, like you said, paying homage to what he did. The best way that we did that was we basically developed a multi-season arc around the character where I would start playing the complete opposite end of the spectrum. So, where Jeffrey Dean was Darth Vader, I got to come in and play Anakin. Or, where Jeffrey Dean was Heisenberg, I got to come in and play Walter White and that transition. Inherently, by playing more of the origin story, I got to play a different character while still paying homage to where he’s going and sprinkling in those little dark sides to him.

PC: Throughout the first season, you brought so much nuance to the duality of John’s strength and his vulnerability. As an actor, how did you create the space for yourself to dive into the arc that unfolds?
Drake: Robbie did such a great job. He assembled an amazing cast and everyone’s incredibly supportive. We would all sit there, and we’d go over the scripts together every time that we would get them. It was a really safe space to try and play with things. If things didn’t work, we could turn to each other and bounce off ideas.

PC: You were a fan of Supernatural before joining this cast. Did that add any pressure coming into it?
Drake: Yeah, it did. When I told Jensen that I was a fan, he was like, “Be careful saying that because the fandom for the show is real.” He’s like, “You say that you’re a fan and they’re going to ask you what happened in Season 4, Episode 20, minute two and thirty-seven seconds.” [laughs] He’s like, “If you don’t know those answers, they’re going to call your bluff.”

Fortunately, I was actually a fan of the show. I won’t claim to be a super fan. I know my sh*t, but some of these fans know more than the creators. But yeah, there was definitely a responsibility in saying, “I watched the show. I want to pay homage to it. I want to service my part of the story.” There was definitely a lot of pressure.

PC: Like you were saying earlier, the creative team behind the scenes has made this set so collaborative and often turns to the actors to see what they want to see from their characters. If we’re lucky enough to get a Season 2, what’s something else that you’d like to dive further into?
Drake: I’ve always loved the character John. Jeffrey Dean is my favorite portrayal of the character. He does a flawless job of executing that stage of John’s life. I was always drawn to the fact that he’s a Vietnam veteran. I really, really want to explore a lot more of that. I would love to do at least one full episode in Vietnam because I feel like it’s one thing to hear about the horrors of war and how that affects a person and the effects of that, but it’s another thing to see him actually go through it. It’s another thing to see his expectation and what a soldier who’s going to Vietnam expects versus what they realized it is when they are there. I feel like that would be a really, really beautiful insight into his life. If we’re fortunate to get a Season 2, I’d love to delve more into that.

PC: This series does a beautiful job balancing comedy and drama. For you as an actor, is one more challenging than the other?
Drake: There’s almost a unanimous agreement that comedy is harder than drama because comedy has its inherent beats that you have to hit. If you can’t hear the music, it’s hard to follow the tone. It’s a little bit more structured, but I find comedy is really, really fun. Good drama has good comedy in it. The two help each other out a lot.

PC: This is also the longest that you’ve lived with a character. Has anything surprised you about the overall experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway for you thus far?
Drake: Just how much less intense it is. The longer that you live with the character, the more that character becomes you. The Supernatural guys did it for fifteen years. After speaking with them, you pick up a script and you know exactly what you’re doing. I know what choices I’m going to make. I know how my character would say this. That’s made the whole experience really, really fun in the sense that we’ve gotten to be with these characters now for over a year. So, when we’re reading new scripts, I know what I want to do with this; I know what direction I want to go, but it doesn’t mean that I have to sit there as I would for a movie and write out my intentions, thoughts, or whatever it is to craft that story. It’s like, “Ah, cool. I trust that over the course of eight months, we’re going to form something really special here.”

PC: There’s a major twist that happens in the season finale. How early on did the writers clue you in on the trajectory of the show? How did you make sure that didn’t bleed into your earlier performances?
Drake: With the plot twist, that has been something they discussed really, really early on that, “Hey, this is the most probable way that we’re going with this.” The fortunate part about it is it really doesn’t change anything for us; it doesn’t change any of our performances just because it hasn’t been revealed to us. We don’t know how things are getting altered. It doesn’t really change anything performance-wise. Our characters are the same characters that are in the canon; it’s just one event that’s changed their course. If there’s a straight line that is the canon, ours is barely off that path in my mind—that’s how I see it. Nothing really changes for us as far as performance goes.

PC: This is one of your biggest roles to date. With the first season out now, what was your favorite scene or episode to film? Which was the most challenging?
Drake: My favorite was six. I loved getting to play being possessed. That was a ton of fun. Two had inherent challenges. We had an eight-day film schedule for that. Then, we had a ton of lightning delays while filming in New Orleans and a ton of rain delays. We ended up having to do that episode in five days with a crew that was working together for the first time. That one had its inherent difficulties, but we ended up getting it to work and made our way through.

PC: Like you were saying earlier, the fandom for Supernatural and The Winchesters is unwavering. You’ve gotten to experience that firsthand through conventions around the world, and fans have shared what this character and story has meant to them. What has that experience been like for you?
Drake: It’s incredible. It’s the most unforeseen side of this whole thing that I didn’t realize how much I was going to love. Everyone’s incredibly supportive and the people who go to these things love the show. It’s a massive love fest. It’s basically like you’re going to have people tell you that they enjoy what you do, and that’s a real thing in this industry.

PC: You’re such a dynamic storyteller. While we hope this series goes on for many more seasons, as you look ahead, is there a dream role that you’d love to bring to life?
Drake: James Gunn is redoing the whole DC Universe. Any part of that would be amazing. For the last couple of years, I’ve been obsessed with the character Nightwing. It would be incredible to play something like that.

To keep up with Drake, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Season 1 of The Winchesters on the CW today.

Photo Credit: Emi Morell