Walker star Jared Padalecki is saying goodbye to the reboot of the classic Chuck Norris TV show. The actor is also disappearing from TV screens after more than two decades on the air.
Speaking with TV Line, Padalecki said he has no plans to act in another long-form TV show. After working for decades without much of a break, the actor said he wants to focus on his family instead. While he won't rule out smaller roles or roles in film, he's leaving behind his bread and butter.
He said, "I don't think so. I don't mind long TV, but I've heard it said many times, and I agree, that hour-long episodic television is the hardest job in the industry. If you're Elijah Wood in Lord of the Rings, and it's three three-hour-long movies or whatever, it's still like 18 months, you know? There's an end in sight. With TV shows, sometimes it lasts 15 years, and sometimes they say, 'Hey, where do you live? OK, we're shooting in Vancouver.' You say, 'But my family, my wife and kids are in Austin.' Like, 'Well, good for them. They can come move up here. Here's a thousand bucks to fly them out.'"
Jared Padalecki Wants A Break
Padalecki said that he sacrificed a lot for his career, and it's not something that he wants to continue to do.
The actor said, "It's not for the weak-spirited. Like, you really have to sacrifice a lot, and I've sacrificed everything I have to sacrifice for many, many years, and I think I'm at a point in my life where I want to spend more time with my wife and kids. If a job on a TV show comes up, like I've talked to Kripke about The Boys stuff, like, "Yeah, I'll come play with you for a month. Yeah, I'll come play with you for two months, for six weeks, or whatever," or, "Yeah, I'll come pop in a week out of every month for the next three months."
For one, Padalecki wants to focus on his family. He wants to be there for his children.
He said, "But a classic TV contract is a six-year contract. My oldest son is 12, my middle son is 10, my daughter is seven. So if I sign a six-year contract, and they're filming in Alaska, then I miss my son getting a driver's license, I miss him graduating high school, I miss his first girlfriend or boyfriend, his first heartbreak, his basketball games, I miss my other son's driving test, I miss my daughter turning into a teenager, and then I'm leaving [my wife] Gen, too. It's a big commitment. So I don't foresee myself doing that unless, again, it was in Austin, and I was the executive producer that could be involved in knowing the show and making sure the cast and crew all did it in as efficient a way as possible."
