Guys seem to hit that maturity bump somewhere between 25 and 30. They hum along looking all post-adolescent and "youth" until suddenly they look "man." You could tell a big change in Ackles from the pilot to Dead in the Water, and by Dead Man's Blood he looked 3 or 4 years older. He even moved differently than he had in earlier shows.

Padalecki went through a lot of change during Season 1; his features hardened, he lost a lot of the androgynous weedy look he'd had since Gilmore Girls. Because of the wardrobe, the hair, and the way we were used to perceiving Sam, it went pretty much unnoticed until...Hunted? CSPWDT? He was still in disguise as boy!Sam in IMToD and ELaC. After that, though, he suddenly seemed very adult.

I'm not saying the rigors of the show aren't adding wear and tear. I'm just saying that a 26 year old could still pass as a high school student in some lights. That same guy at 27 couldn't. The aging process of physical appearance is a mysterious thing.

David B. had the same problem in Angel. Season five of AtS it would have been kinda icky if he had been hanging out at the high school.

Dude, mortality sucks.

My son was describing someone for me and said, "he was old. Not old old. Just your age old." Thanks kid.

My son was describing someone for me and said, "he was old. Not old old. Just your age old." Thanks kid.

Ah, youth.

I don't see much difference in JA, myself, but the change in JP is remarkable. You're right, Bev -- even in IMToD, that was boy!Sam for sure. Now, no way.

Also, YUM.

I don't see much difference in JA, myself

I wasn't conscious of it until a few months ago, seeing a Dark Angel he was in, and other various clips. I can't believe how much my view of the world changed along with him. Until that moment, I couldn't have described how Dean looked any different than Eric Brady. Now? OMG.

the change in JP is remarkable

It really is. Bev hit the nail on the head. When the series started, I almost resented screen time that JP took away from JA. Gilmore Girls Dean and Rory were cute, but that was it. No big thing. Then the latter part of this season aired and it was more when-did-you-join-us-at-the-grown-up-table Sammy? I second Amy's YUM.

In the pilot, when Sam says,"Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?"and Dean says, "I'm 26, dude!" you believe him. JA today couldn't say that line and be believed.

If you look, you see much of Alec from DA in Dean in the pilot, in Wendigo, even in the moments with Lucas in Dead in the Water. But by mid-season, the resemblence is faint at best. I think it's one of the reasons they went with a younger actor for Sam. No way could JA have played a 22-24 year old grad student aged guy.

What interests me is how similar in clothes and hair choices the two actors are at the same age. At 25, JA's hair was long, and he was wearing sort of JP clothes. At 29, he seems to have a different outlook, and dresses to reflect that. Or that could be moonshine on my part. The hair part is right, though.

Dean says, "I'm 26, dude!" you believe him. JA today couldn't say that line and be believed.

agree, totally.

At 29, he seems to have a different outlook, and dresses to reflect that.

Because he comes from the world of fashion, I bet this is a conscious decision. For one he has to have us believe he's more than a couple years older than JP. On the show if they let JP age, that shoots JA ahead in time. I think JA's look now suits him and I'm not sure longer hair would at this stage. I think he was wise to let go of what worked for him in the past and adapt rather than fight getting older.

Although, this summer in AFGM, his appearance was younger with the longer hair. Enough so that I took note. So who knows.

Although, this summer in AFGM, his appearance was younger with the longer hair. Enough so that I took note. So who knows.

AFGM?

I think JA looks different off-set, a little sweeter, possibly a little younger, when he's doing the almost-beard and baseball cap thing. (Which is a look I ADORE, for the record.) It's amazing how clearly he's *not* Dean off-camera.

Dean says, "I'm 26, dude!" you believe him.

To be fair, what with the pilot being shot about a year before the series actually aired, this wasn't far from true at the time. (Personally I always find it more remarkable when actors play their own ages, because they so often don't. I wouldn't ascribe any overarching forward-thinking in re actors' ages to the Supernatural crowd, because they turned around and cast somebody who had to have had his first son at the age of twelve.)

Not but ten years ago, a 30 y.o. actor on a highschool show would have been totally normal! Not even counting poor, benighted 90210; Dawson's Crick had its fair share! I mean, that doesn't make a 30 y.o. magically regain a 17 y.o. body and face, and it's a little irritating to see teenagers in the full flower of their snotty years without the concomitant coltishness, but it wasn't all that weird pretty recently.

I was thinking about that watching Grease last week. (What?!) Stockard Channing was, like, thirty-something. Yet, when I was ten, and seeing it once a week (what?!), it never occurred to me that they didn't look *right* because at that age, any over the age of about seventeen looks *old*. Or at least, grown-up.

They shot the pilot that much earlier? I didn't know that.

AFGM?

A Few Good Men, yes?

Yeah, shaving strips JA of probably at least a year. The slicked-back hair made him appear younger as well.

Looking back, I see a difference in JA. His face was much thinner, and Dean was wearing his hair a bit longer than he does now. I think there's even some difference by the end of S1. JP's transformation was more dramatic, though.

But frankly, JA's just lost some of his "jailbait pretty boy" factor. (I'm thinking specifically of "Pollo Loco" from Dark Angel, where he... oh, I'm just going to say it, he kinda looks like a rentboy.) I'm not complaining, because I think age is being very kind to him. Lucky bastard.