Smallville's Tom Welling Gave Jensen Ackles This Unusual Advice For Supernatural

Tom Welling stressed the need for the "Supernatural" stars to have drivers take them to and from the set. Up until that point, Jenson Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and the rest of the cast had been driving themselves and never thought twice about it. 

The driving force (pun intended) behind this demand was a story from Welling when the actor also had to drive himself home during the early days of "Smallville." After a long day of filming, he had to pull over on his drive home, exhausted, to sleep in his car. The story showed Ackles the danger of not having drivers, especially after grueling days on set that could go on for over 10 hours. It moved him enough to meet with the producers to negotiate it into his and Padalecki's contracts (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet). 

Ackles said that producers initially met the demand with pushback, but the star convinced them after he used Welling's story. "Listen, Tom season 1, he pulled over to the side of the road and slept in his car. This is your number one actor on the show," Ackles said. "This is your quarterback and you're working him so much and making him so tired, he's giving all he can all day long and he gets in a car and behind the wheel and you trust that he's going to make it back to you the next day?" 

Ackles then noted that he and Padalecki were the quarterbacks of "Supernatural," and they needed to be kept safe. The pitch convinced the producers, and the stars never had to worry about driving exhausted again. He did not specify if any other cast members received this contract addition.