With roles on three hit shows on three networks – demon-hunting John Winchester on the WB’s “Supernatural,” heart patient Denny Duquette on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and the deceased Judah Botwin on Showtime’s “Weeds” – journeyman actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan is having a good year.
“I am a busy man,” he says. “I lucked out. It’s just good karma.”
After going from toiling in the trenches to the center of attention, Morgan says, “It’s a complete switch, I’ll tell you that. I’ve been kicking around this business for a long time. Persistence pays off.”
On “Supernatural,” John is the elusive father of brothers Sam and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki). They have taken up the family business – begun when demonic forces killed the mother in the family – working from their dad’s journal of bizarre happenings and creatures.
On “Grey’s,” marine biologist Denny is the love interest of beautiful intern Isobel “Izzie” Stevens (Katherine Heigl).
In real life, Ackles and Heigl are the same age, which either makes John a very young father or Denny a dirty old man.
“OK,” Morgan says, “let’s look at WB casting for a second, because there’s no way I could be the father of Jensen unless I was a dad at 12. That’s just WB. That’s how they cast stuff.
“I’m 12 years older than Jensen in reality, but I’m like 25 years older than him in intelligence, so it works out. I’m not that old, dang it.”
Morgan did only a few episodes of “Weeds,” so most of his time has been spent shuttling back and forth between Los Angeles, where “Grey’s” films, and Vancouver, British Columbia, for “Supernatural.” Even for the Seattle native, this past winter in Vancouver has been too wet.
“Shooting all day in the rain is not where you want to be,” Morgan says. “You’re working 16-, 17-hour days, because there’s no such day as a short day on ‘Supernatural.’ And I’m flying back and forth doing two shows at once.
“There were two months there where I think the most I slept was four hours. If I had a day off, I was traveling.” At least he gets to spend his “Grey’s” days tucked in a hospital bed.
“That’s true,” he says. “It’s warm, and I get to look at Katie Heigl all day. As much as I love Jensen and Jared, they’re not Katie Heigl.” And being bedridden has turned out to be handy.
“I have my water under the blanket,” says Morgan, 40. “And I’ll put my sides (daily script pages) under there if I have a huge piece of dialogue, and I’ll look at it between setups. I might have a book under there. I have my phone under there, so I can text people and figure out my flight to get up to Canada for ‘Supernatural.”‘
