Samantha Smith‘s Mary Winchester, the boys’ badass hunter mother, has been a fixture on Supernatural for the reason that very starting. Within the pilot, the younger mother is killed by the demon Azazel in a horrifying scene the place the nightgown-clad Mary pinned to the ceiling of child Sam’s nursery and set on hearth. Nonetheless, she was by no means forgotten by her boys. A lot later, within the Season 11 finale, Mary is resurrected by God’s sister Amara (Emily Swallow), surprising her now-adult sons, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles).
Mary struggles together with her restored humanity, and he or she doesn’t at all times make the appropriate selections throughout her second probability at life, however this imperfect mama bear grew to become a pivotal a part of the collection and introduced a powerful feminine vitality the present at all times wanted extra of. Ultimately, although, she dies a second time in Season 14’s “Recreation Evening,” on the hand of nephilim Jack (Alexander Calvert) — by chance — just some episodes after she skilled a candy household reunion together with her late husband John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Nonetheless, Mary’s legacy on Supernatural carries on, and the character was even celebrated with the prequel spinoff The Winchesters, which explored Mary’s life earlier than her sons.
TV Insider caught up with Smith to debate her complicated character in Might at a Creation Leisure conference in New Jersey for TV Information Journal’s Supernatural Afterlife: twentieth Anniversary Particular. Beneath, she discusses her favourite episode, con recollections, and why she thinks some followers by no means fairly linked together with her Mary.
I simply noticed you down on the ground signing autographs not even 5 minutes in the past — what’s it like doing these conventions for Supernatural?
Samantha Smith: Numerous operating. [Laughs] And it’s busy, which is a blessing since you don’t wish to be sitting there with time to kill. It’s a flood of individuals, a flood of faces. Fixed enter about how the present has modified folks’s lives, what it’s meant to them, how they watch it with their households. And to me, what I at all times wish to say is that it’s an honor that I’ve gotten to be part of one thing which means a lot to them. So, I spend a variety of time simply reflecting gratitude. And in addition, the forged is my family and friends, you recognize? So, I get to see them and spend time with them, which is such an added bonus.
What do you hear essentially the most from followers once you meet them?
The fandom is somewhat break up on Mary. Some folks love her, some folks don’t. I hear rather a lot, “I like you, I hate Mary. Sorry.” After which I say, “Give me two minutes, I’ll change your thoughts.” And I normally do. We simply have somewhat dialog about what their notion was, and why.
I feel that some folks have been purists. They wished the present to be about simply the boys. And so, Mary got here again — and he or she had been a canonized good mother — however when she got here again, she was a fully-rounded human. I feel that was onerous for some folks, particularly when a few episodes in, she takes the journal and bounces as a result of she wanted to determine some stuff out. She’d been useless for over 30 years. Her children have been grown, her husband was useless. Like, perhaps she wanted a minute. [Laughs]
Diyah Pera/The CW
After which, she was working with the British Males of Letters, and everybody says, you recognize, they tried to kill Sam. However that was only one rogue agent. Mary was simply making an attempt to do what was proper, not what the boys wished. She was making an attempt to rid the world of monsters, and he or she made them unhappy for a minute whereas doing that. I at all times level out: A Winchester takes it upon themselves to do one thing type of secretive, however for the higher good whereas selflessly probably sacrificing themselves and their relationship for the higher good for the wellbeing of the folks they love. Have you learnt anybody else who’s ever executed one thing like that each week?
Honest level, certainly. Wanting again, do you might have a favourite con reminiscence?
In Vegas, we obtained all 4 Winchesters onstage, and that was only a second. It had an enormous crowd. Jared and Jensen have been onstage with Jeff, and I simply wandered out and so they’re like, “The place did you come from?” [Laughs]
But additionally, there have been instances the place you join with one specific fan and you’ve got a second the place you notice that you simply’re connecting as folks, not as a fan and an actor — one thing that type of transcends the present. I like that.
What about your favourite recollections from capturing the collection?
There’s so many for thus many alternative causes. My final episode, and simply the data whereas I used to be filming all that, that I used to be executed. However [also] within the very starting of Season 12, I started working with Kim Rhodes [who played Sheriff Jody Mills], who’s been considered one of my closest buddies since earlier than Supernatural began — to be on set together with her and have our set chairs subsequent to one another was nice.
After which there was an episode on the finish of Season 13, within the alternate universe, and everybody was there. It was actually 15 actors, and we have been all strolling down a mud street. It was dusty and muddy and filthy — we’re all lined in dust. It felt like we have been on a household journey.
Is there a selected episode that stands out to you?
I actually liked “Child” [Season 11, Episode 4]. We heard concerning the automobile being the primary character, and I assumed, “How good may this be?’ I had no thought.
If Supernatural returned, the place do you see Mary?
I feel that her and John [in Heaven] have repossessed the Impala from the boys and so they’re on adventures. And I’ve a sense that she’s making an attempt to determine a solution to get again and assist some extra.
What’s your Supernatural secret?
My nightgown within the pilot is definitely pink, not white! It’s been pink with white lace your entire time. [Laughs]
For a deep-dive into 20 years of Supernatural, from behind-the-scenes scoop to unique forged interviews, images, and fan tales, decide up a duplicate of TV Information Journal’s Supernatural Afterlife: twentieth Anniversary Particular challenge, accessible on newsstands and for order on-line at Supernatural.TVGM2025.com.