Wishing a Tres Fab Birthday to Jared Padalecki

American actor Jared Padalecki turns 29-years-old today. Born in San Antonio, Texas, Padalecki is of Polish ancestry on his father's side. Jared was only twelve years old when he started studying acting. He took to the stage all throughout school at James Madison High, competing on his school's speech team and appearing in school plays. In 1999, the then 17-year-old won Fox's "Claim to Fame" contest and had the chance to appear at the Teen Choice Awards. The opportunity led to the young actor signing up with an agent and beginning his professional career. Padalecki's first credit was a minor role in the 1999 film A Little Inside. In 2000, he was cast as Dean Forester on the television series The Gilmore Girls, a role he played until 2005. Last month, when asked if he would ever consider making a Gilmore Girls movie, Jared said: ""One hundred percent. I would truly love to. It was so fun. I have nothing but fond memories of that show. I came to it straight out of high school, I grew up on the show, and I'd love to go revisit that character."

Later in 2005, Jared was cast as Sam Winchester on the television series, Supernatural, a role for which he is now best known. Sam and his brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) drive through the United States hunting paranormal predators. Or, as Jared succcinctly puts it, "It's a spooky show, with tons of archetypes and tons of mythology. We'll also discover that things that go bump in the night aren't the only reasons to be afraid in this world." The sixth season of the show, created by Eric Kripke and filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, will begin airing later this year. Over course over his time in television Jared has also had a number of movie roles including A Ring of Endless Light, Flight of the Phoenix, Cheaper by the Dozen, New York Minute, House of Wax, Cry Wolf, The Christmas Cottage and most recently Friday the 13th.

Although he and his Supernatural co-star Jesen Ackles were once voted "Sexiest Ghostbusters" by People Magazine, the hunky actor is nonetheless surprisingly body conscious: "I'm a little self-conscious about my body. I love to wear hoodies because you can get cosy and eat some food and your belly doesn't show." Not that fans of the show having trouble with either of the pair getting sexy and shirtless. In fact, even in the fanfic world, they have inspired a whole genre called 'Wincest' - works of fiction that depict or assume a romantic or sexual relationship between Winchester brothers. And with that, we'll let Jared have the last word on love. For those looking, "Just be yourself and the right guy will come along, whether it be today, tomorrow or the next year. It'll happen!" And then there's this - "Don't place expectations on someone. Enjoy the time you have together, and let it go where it goes.