A former child model, this Dallas-born actor burst onto the Hollywood scene at age 19 on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives, playing fresh-faced Eric Brady, twin brother of scheming sis Sami Brady, and netting no less than three Daytime Emmy nominations for the role. After four years he was a ready-for-prime-time player, making the leap to evening television on producer James Cameron's hip sci-fi opus Dark Angel and slipping into recurring bad-boy roles on Dawson's Creek and Smallville. In 2005, the natural teen heartthrob landed his own show, Supernatural, costarring fellow Texas native Jared Padalecki, with whom he shared a strong on-screen chemistry and an off-screen friendship. Away from Hollywood's glare, Ackles enjoys sports and roots for the Dallas Cowboys football team. His romantic life rose in the standings in 2009 when he became engaged to actress and longtime friend Danneel Harris.