Jared Padalecki owes a lot to his hit television series Supernatural. Not only has it given him a steady paycheck playing the role of Sam Winchester since 2005, but it's where he was able to meet his current wife and mother of his three children, actress Genevieve Cortese.
Cortese had already been acting for years before she booked a role on the CW show and had even studied at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She had previously starred in the show Wildfire as Kris Furillo, a former convict who gets a job at a horse farm and appeared on the ABC show Flashforward for 10 episodes. When Cortese booked the role of the demon Ruby on the fourth season of Supernatural, she had no idea that her new co-star would one day be her husband.
Jared told a Supernatural panel that the first time he saw her on set, she was in her underwear (undoubtedly for a scene). He really wanted to talk to the attractive new girl but waited until she was reading a book later on...which he thinks annoyed her at first.
"I was very excited to meet her," Padalecki recalled. "Meanwhile, I think she was like, 'Who is this long-haired A-hole who thinks he can come talk to me while I'm reading a book?'"
The two actors got to know each other for about four months before going on their first date together, which is always a solid start to begin a new relationship as friends. From then on, it was clear that they would never be apart. In February 2010, the couple tied the knot in Cortese's hometown of Sun Valley, Idaho. They apparently had a winter-themed wedding that was made even more magical by the falling snow that day.
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Despite Jared's busy career in Hollywood that kept him filming up in Vancouver for months at a time, the couple decided to start a family together in his home state of Texas. Gen welcomed their first child together in 2012, Thomas Colton Padalecki in their new home of Austin. Next came second son Austin Shepherd Padalecki (Shep) followed by their only girl, Odette Elliott.
Though Genevieve Padalecki is still making the occasional acting appearances (including playing her husband's on-screen wife, Emily Walker, in his upcoming adaptation of Walker Texas Ranger), she is largely focused on raising her three kids in Austin while maintaining her lifestyle blog, Now & Gen. In a blog post, she explained that it hasn't been easy dealing with her husband's filming schedule, but they do their best to prioritize each other.
"Jared and I have been together for 11 years and married for nine. Throw three kids in the mix and a career that takes him to Canada most the year, and keeping the romance alive can be hard. As boring as it sounds, we've found that the best way to reconnect is to schedule a date night (or day) as often as possible. Our goal is weekly, but that happens pretty much never. I'm happy if we can reconnect and do something fun together, just us, twice a month."
The couple is incredibly close with Jared's on-screen brother Jensen Ackles (who was a groomsman in their wedding) and his wife Danneel who also opted to raise their family in Austin. They even own a bar together in downtown Austin, San Jac Saloon. Follow both Gen and Jared on social media for inside looks at their sweet relationship and growing family.
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