As the usual suspects are again trying to gaslight the internet to deny the canonical fact that Cas is very important to Dean and that Dean and Cas are very close, and keep insisting Sam is the only person who lives in Dean's heart, and keep cynically denying Dean his feelings, please enjoy this assemblage of quotes from Jensen Ackles.
This is not about ships. Not today. Nor is the closeness Dean and Cas have up for debate--whatever its nature Dean and Cas are very close.
“And in my mind, I was sitting there thinking that…you know, it was like this flashback—you know they say that when you’re about to die your life flashes before you. In my mind, I was flashing back to Lazarus Rising and seeing him walk through the barn with the sparks flying and all of the sudden all of these clips in my mind of Castiel and walking into the lake, and all of these things that are ingrained in my memory and seeing this now character have to say goodbye”
—Jensen Ackles, SPN Ohio 2024
“I forgot to be Dean because I was all of a sudden transported into Jensen the audience member watching this brilliant performance from a brilliant actor and somebody who I care deeply about, not just the person playing it, the character as well.”
—Jensen Ackles about filming Cas’s goodbye scene in 15.18, AHBL 12, March 10, 2024
“…in that moment when Cas was taken away and Dean was sitting there on the floor and realized that he—he had not only lost a brother-in-arms but had also lost one of his closest—the closest people to him. And—and I—you know I’ve said that when you find your people it doesn’t matter who or what or where or why or when they are, you find your people. And they found each other.”
—Jensen Ackles, Purcon 8, May 26, 2024
“…I lost Cas but also because I didn’t say anything, I didn’t give him anything. And what I had in my head was I should have said ‘I love you, too’ and hugged him….what was in front of me? Was a family member and someone that was a brother in arms and someone that Dean truly loved, much like Sam. And so losing—I mean essentially he lost his brother, in that moment.”
—Jensen Ackles, SPN Vancouver, 2022, on what was going through Dean’s mind after Cas was taken by The Empty
“I think it would have been a huge embrace.”
—Jensen Ackles, SPN Dencver, Oct 2021, on what would have happened if Cas had been there when Dean opened the door in 15.19
“There is an underlying bond, there is a friendship there that supercedes whatever troubles are happening, they’re always going to look out for one another and have each other’s back.”
—Jensen Ackles, JibCon 2013, in response to a question about the conflict between Dean and Cas at the end of S8
“At the end of last season and the beginning of this season we do see that Dean has just like given up, so to speak. So the return of Cas has ignited that fire again...Dean’s a little less questioning and more accepting of ‘I don’t care how it happened, we got our buddy back.’”
—Jensen Ackles, Collider, Nov 16, 2017
“I think the obvious answer is Cas. It’s not a surprise that Dean and Cas have a friendship that’s obviously unique.”
—Jensen Ackles, SPN Vancouver, 2012, on which character do you empathize with more than the character you play
“Dean’s just gobsmacked…he’s probably elated to have his friend back and somebody who he knows he can count on…personally from an actor’s standpoint, I’m just glad to ahve the gang back to together, so to speak…there’s an excitement there because I think he’d lost a lot of hope when Cas went away. That was a really big blow, I think, to his motivation in this fight”—Jensen Ackles, Zap2It, February 10, 2012, on Castiel’s return in Season 7
“It’s a big loss…not just for the storyline and the show and the characters but also for carrying the weight of the show. Misha was family…he’s still family.”
—Jensen Ackles, eonline, about the lack of Cas/Misha in season 7
“I’ve been playing Dean so long I feel like I have a pretty good handle on how he would react to a situation—his relationship with Cas was very deep, there was a deep friendship there, and I discussed it with Guy Bee, and said if he ever comes back, he’s gonna need the trench coat. And there was something like, almost a closure, it was just folding it up, like a flag…I wanted to take care of it, it belonged to somebody who meant a lot to Dean.”
—Jensen Ackles, SPN Nashville 2012, about the decision for Dean to keep Cas’s trenchcoat
