Posted in: CBS, TV | Tagged: fire country, Jared Padalecki

Fire Country Star, Showrunner on Jared Padalecki's "Different Energy"

CBS's Fire Country star/EP Max Thieriot and Showrunner/EP Tia Napolitano on bringing Jared Padalecki onto the show for the third season.

By now, fans are more than well aware of the fact that Jared Padalecki has joined the Season 3 cast of series creators and executive producers Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, and Max Thieriot's Fire Country in a recurring role for a three-episode story arc (with rumblings of a spinoff in play). Padalecki's Camden is a SoCal firefighter and maverick with a surfer swagger who is a force to be reckoned with –  and someone who immediately recognizes Bode's (Thieriot) raw talent. Though it's still too early to offer details on what the future might hold, Thierot and showrunner/executive producer Tia Napolitano did have a lot to share with CinemaBlend about Thierot and Padalecki's friendship and interest in working together, how excited the team is to be working with the Supernatural and Walker star (Napolitano: "This was written for Jared. So, if Jared didn't come play with us, we were gonna get our hearts broken"), and much more.

"Jared and I have been friends for a long time. You know, we've never had the opportunity to work together. Our families have spent a lot of time together. We've spent New Years together," Thierot shared about the personal connection he and Padalecki share. Though their respective career paths made it difficult for the two to work together in the past, the unfortunate cancellation of Padalecki's series Walker opened the door to the possibility of the two collaborating. "And finally, we had an opportunity where, you know, unfortunately, his show came to an end, but the silver lining was we got this opportunity to finally try and figure out how to work together. And you know, the folks over at CBS are big fans – [CBS Studios President] David Stapf, and everyone…So it was, in a weird way, kind of easy to say, like, 'Hey, Jared and I are good buddies. Like, what does everybody think?'"

With both Thierot and Napolitano viewing his casting as a "no-brainer," the showrunner shared that they "were so excited to get him" onto the set and onto the show. "He was a name that everyone was just immediately very excited about, and then it's definitely Max and Jared are friends. So Max is saying, 'He's a great guy. I'm so excited about this.' We sat down with him, and, you know, it was just the chemistry. We were so excited to get him over here," Napolitano shared. "He's also a really nice guy, like, just a professional sweetheart, so good, so talented, and he and Max, their chemistry as friends working together and on-screen was just off the charts. So we got very lucky. I was also a huge fan of his all the way back to 'Gilmore Girls.' So it just felt like iconic TV opportunities."

Part of the excitement about Padalecki joining the cast is the "different energy" that Thierot sees him bringing to the show. "He [Padalecki] just brings such a different energy to the show. And his interactions with all the characters are fun. He definitely comes in and makes a big impact. So I'm excited. I'm excited for everybody to see it. I think the arc that he came in and did is really exciting. And, you know, we'll see where it all goes from here. But he certainly adds a lot to the world," the Fire Country star/EP said.

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