Jim Beaver

Jim Beaver plays Bobby Singer on Supernatural.

• Jim also did (uncredited) stunt work on 2.15 Tall Tales and 3.04 Sin City

• Jim Beaver and Jensen Ackles both worked on 'Days of Our Lives' during the same time period between 1997 and 2000, although they never appeared together. Beaver's character was Father Jansen and Ackles played Eric Brady.

• Jim on playing Bobby:

It's the sort of character I enjoy playing and one I seem to connect with. He's funny and charming and tough and loving and skeptical and straightforward, and those are great things for an actor to portray, especially opposite Jared and Jensen, whose personalities really generate great sparks, on- and off-camera, with old Bobby and me. (from interview on DVD release)

• As explained on his MySpace page, Bobby speaking Japanese in 4.06 Yellow Fever was Jim Beaver's idea, as Jim is fluent in Japanese.

Episodes

• 1.22 Devil's Trap
• 2.01 In My Time Of Dying
• 2.14 Born Under a Bad Sign
• 2.15 Tall Tales
• 2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One
• 2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two
• 3.01 The Magnificent Seven
• 3.03 Bad Day At Black Rock
• 3.04 Sin City
• 3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas
• 3.10 Dream a Little Dream of Me
• 3.11 Mystery Spot
• 3.15 Time Is On My Side
• 3.16 No Rest For The Wicked
• 4.01 Lazarus Rising
• 4.02 Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester

Interviews

• June 14, 2007 winchester-journals.net

Interview with Jim Beaver

• September 19, 2007

Interview on the release of the S2 DVDs contains S3 Spoilers

• October 3, 2007

Interview on the eve of Season premier with Pensacola News article at link contains S3 spoilers

• November, 2007

Interview with German fan site

• February 6, 2008

Interview with Buddy Tv before airing of 3.10

• March 8, 2008

Transcript of interview on Winchester Radio

• 14 September, 2008

Interview with sfuniverse

• 22 September, 2008

Interview with collider.com

• 4 February, 2009

25 random things about Jim Beaver in the New York Times.

extract from the Pensacola News interview:
One "Supernatural" addition that has been universally embraced by the fandom is Singer's namesake, Bobby Singer, a gruff but good-natured hunter played by character actor Jim Beaver (Ellsworth on HBO's "Deadwood").

Beaver sees the character, introduced at the end of season one, as a "good ol' boy."

"Bobby ran a wrecking yard, and it was clear he was going to be sort of rural. Of course, when I get through with a part, they all are," joked Beaver, a California resident who, like Ackles and Padalecki, grew up in Texas.

He said he never expected blue-collar Bobby to become a series regular or fan favorite.

"When I got there (Vancouver) to work, the crew told me how fortunate I was in that they very rarely have guest stars that live. When I completed the first episode without dying, I took that as a good sign,' he said.

And Beaver, who said he sometimes lurks at online fan sites, has been pleasantly surprised, "by some of the affection this old boy has received."

"Having been married to a 'Star Trek' actress (the late Cecily Adams), I had a sense of what it was like to be part of something that had a rabid fan base, but I saw it from one step removed. Now I'm there and it's amazing to have that kind of passionate support," he said.

Beaver revealed that it wasn't the show's special effects or paranormal plots that appealed to him, but its humanity.

"It's not just demons and ghost hunting. It's regular people in extraordinary circumstances," he said.

Regular people who just happen to be extraordinarily attractive, he conceded.

"I call it, 'Buff Guys the Vampire Slayers.'"

So what's it like to work with the show's wildly popular young stars?

"Frustrating," said Beaver, who once worked on the daytime soap "Days of Our Lives" with Ackles. "Every time I come to the set, there's some incredibly attractive guest star woman hanging on one of them. Honestly, though, Jensen and Jared are so funny, charming and irreverent. Despite the fact that there's quite a number of years between us, we're like the Three Musketeers."

Beaver sees Bobby as a surrogate father to the trouble-prone Winchester brothers.

"Bobby kind of falls into that slot in the sense that these two boys are really strong and determined, but they don't have the worldly wisdom that someone who has been around a little longer can provide," he said. "It's a lot of fun to see them get into and out of scrapes, but every once in a while, they need advice or someone to call them up short. I'm just happy it's me."

Going to the 'dark side'

One of his favorite scenes took place in the final episode of the second season, when Bobby angrily confronts Dean about the demonic deal which saved Sam but left Dean with one year to live.

"It was a chance for Jensen and I to explore some real emotion. We played that scene with every bit of the attempt at artistic excellence brought to something like 'Hamlet,' Beaver said. "For an actor to get to work his chops that good with another actor on a TV show about demons, of all things, was incredible."

But is Beaver concerned that his character, like other "Supernatural" characters before him, could go "dark side"?

"I don't care what they do to him, as long as Bobby stays alive. Evil would be a fun turn to take - I do a pretty good evil - but I don't know how much the fans would put up with that," he said.

Singer said that the show's third season will find the brothers fighting an army of new demons as Sam struggles to reverse Dean's deadly deal - an action-packed premise he hopes will draw in new viewers.

"I think we're different enough from these other shows that people will want to watch," he said.

The fate of the Winchesters, as well as "Supernatural," may be uncertain, but Beaver knows how Bobby would spend his last day on earth.

"If it all goes south, he might stop being such a gentleman with the guest stars," he said, laughing. "But most likely, Bobby would crack open a holy water beer, put his feet up on the back porch and watch the world end."

~ * ~

• In the non-supernatural world, Jim Beaver's book, "Life's That Way," is available on April 16, 2009. This memoir tells the story of his wife, Cecily's tragic battle with cancer, and his own journey as a single parent, compiled from the nightly emails through which he chronicled events to family and friends. If ever you have loved someone, this is a story to touch your heart.

Fans can purchase "Life's That Way" at its website: http://www.lifesthatway.com/