Samantha Ferris

Samantha Ferris plays Ellen Harvelle on Supernatural.

Samantha on her role as Ellen.

This was a real chance to get away from the usual stuff that I do. Due to my strong presence and voice, I usually get the polished, power roles; head FBI, head lawyer, head detective, Chief Surgeon, etc, but this was a nice departure. Still a very powerful role, but in a 'get yer hands dirty' kind of way. Ellen is raw, hard working, hard loving, hard living. As I have called her before she is a 'gun toting, beer drinking, bar owning broad'. Very close to my own personality, actually and thank god, I got to wear jeans and boots instead of high heels and suits. (from interview on release of Season Two DVD release)

Episodes

• 2.02 Everybody Loves a Clown
• 2.03 Bloodlust
• 2.05 Simon Said
• 2.06 No Exit
• 2.10 Hunted
• 2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two
• 5.02 Good God, Y'All
• 5.10 Abandon All Hope...
• 6.17 My Heart Will Go On

Samantha in Fandom

Controversy

In late January of 2021, Chad Lindberg and Ferris began roleplaying on their official Twitter accounts as the Supernatural characters they played previously: Ash and Ellen Harvelle, respectively. Ferris responded to one of Lindberg's tweets celebrating Dean's birthday by writing, "Ok @ChadLindberg... what the what. I’ve been busy as dirt these last few days but I hear some rumblings about our livelihood, and beloved home sweet home, Harvelle’s. What’s shakin, bacon? #SPNFamily #SPN #spn #Supernatural #SPNFamilyForever" The two exchanged a few more in character tweets, prompting fans to respond also in character as attendees of the Roadhouse in Heaven, post episode 15.20 Carry On. Their discussion of Valentine's Day and "wedding season" prompted fans of Destiel to being planning an online event for the fandom's wedding of Dean and Castiel, excitedly replying to both Lindberg and Harvelle's tweets with things like "SAMATHA, DONT LIKE THIS REPLY IF DEANCAS ARE GONNA GET MARRIED IN THE ROADHOUSE WITH DR. BADASS OFFICIATING." The pair did not address the Destiel fans responding to them directly, though some fans interpreted some tweets of theirs as being supportive. Both swiftly gained over 100K followers on Twitter, which Lindberg stated was a milestone he had never hit before. On February 14th, 2021, Lindberg and Ferris RPed a (generic, not related to shipping or a wedding) Valentine's event at the Roadhouse, including an attack by angels that destroyed part of the Roadhouse, while Destiel fans responded to these tweets as themselves attending Dean and Castiel's wedding. During this, the hashtag "#DeanCasWedding" trended up to number 4 internationally with over 45K tweets.

The next day, Ferris posted an image on Twitter of Jensen Ackles as Dean, asking "No Greeting? No hug?" to which Lindberg responded, "He was THERE?!" Destiel fans responded to these tweets with messages like "Damn right he was, he was the groom," which both actors ignored. Ferris went on to respond to a tweet asking "Where is everyone getting this wedding idea from?" by saying in a tweet, "Wedding?! What wedding? No honey...we were just celebrating Valentine’s Day at Harvelle’s," to which Lindberg responded, "The only thing that got married last night was Elvis's fist to Ash's jaw." Destiel fans responded by saying things like "Disappointed but not surprised," accusing Lindberg of hinting at being open to the idea of Destiel wedding event, and explaining that though they didn't expect the actors to participate, they felt hurt that they believed they were led on by Lindberg and invalidated by the denial tweets both made the next day, despite no denials being made prior to the event. The next day, Lindberg went on to tweet a thread explaining that his references to Detiel and a wedding were unintentional, and "As I respect all feelings & views of this Fandom I won't stand for bullying. ... State your views, however I'll be blocking any rude or nastiness today." He continued to engage with fans for the rest of the day, blocking many Destiel fans, and responding to one fan's accusation that the in-character tweets dismissing the wedding were hurtful with, "Nooooooo we did nothing to hurt you. This is your perception. Sorry you feel this way. Take good care." He accused fans of bullying him, including an in character tweet referring to this fan outrage as "the Roadhouse insurrection," phrasing that didn't sit well with some fans given the real-life insurrection by Trump supporters on the US Capitol the previous month. He went on to apologize twice by saying, "My intentions were to never hurt anyone's feelings but to give many people the fun they so deserve. My apologies if any you of thought differently. Many aspects of this Fandom run deep, I understand that. I got NOTHING but love for you all." and "If any of you felt invalidated in any way I'm sorry. I understand there are aspects of this Fandom that I'm still learning. Quite frankly, all I ever want to do is validate your precious hearts & souls. That's why I respond so much. You're worth it. Cheers." However, he did not unblock any Destiel fan accounts he had previously blocked prior to these messages, and both his and Ferris' follow count on Twitter dropped from over 100K to 97K over the following two days.

Later on the afternoon of February 16th, while Lindberg was still arguing with fans and prior to his apologies, Ferris made her own tweet thread that upset many fans. "As part of the storyline, our role is to uphold the integrity & spirit of the show: it’s a story about family, bonds, and supernatural power struggles. The direction never included sexuality or romance. That was never what it was supposed to be about. So to honour the cast, crew, and creators, we respect their intentions." She accused fans of "shit(ting) all over (Lindberg) like spoiled children." and told them to "Grow up." "We will be sticking by the story that was intended. Family, loyalty, supernatural power. That’s it. Unfollow if that’s not yer jam. Point yer darkness at me." She went on to tweet "I don’t read the negative stuff and I ain’t losing sleep over it." She did not respond to any of the replies, though she did "like" two response tweets, one of which denied Castiel's love confession to Dean in [15x18 Despair], and the other of which accused, "all this "Destial" is homophobic as fuck."

Upset that Ferris did not apologize as Lindberg had, Destiel fans went through old tweets of hers on twitter and found many controversial opinions that Ferris had posted to twitter over the last fifteen years, including:

• tweeting hate at Lindsey Lohan in 2014 regarding a miscarriage
  
• tweeting an image that medication needed for mental health is "shit" in 2016
  
• stereotyping gay men and objectifying both gay and straight men from 2010-2014, including objectifying Jensen (and Dean), Jared('s... child?), and Misha
  
• Asking black followers what their preferred descriptor is in reference to sighting a black-colored squirrel, and then calling one black woman "you beautiful negro" after she had responded that she wanted to be called "American."
  

As a result of these unearthed tweets, angry Supernatural fans banned together to trend "SamanthaFerrisIsOverParty" on Twitter. Ferris continued to ignore fans responses to her and did not issue an apology. Her only response was to double down on her hatred of Lindsey Lohan and mockery of the fans providing old tweets of hers.

Convention Appearances

• Salute to Supernatural Chicago 2007
• EyeCon April 2008
• Asylum 2 2008
• Rising Con Spain 2010
• Roadhouse 2010
• Asylum Europe: No Rest for the Wicked 2010
• All Hell Breaks Loose 2 Sydney/Melbourne 2010
• Dragon*Con

Links

• Samatha Ferris on twitter
• Samantha Ferris on IMDB
• Samantha Ferris on Wikipedia
• Samantha's Blog
• Samantha Ferris fansite

Clips, Articles and Interviews

• Interview by Mary Borsellino at Sequential Tart November 2006
• Interview at Winchester Journals May 26 2007
• Samantha talks about the Season 2 DVD release
• Interview with Winchester World March 12, 2008
• Interview with Sam Ferris by hunters addict Jan 2010