Born July 19, 1982 in San Antonio, Texas ( USA) in the family of Gerald Padalecki, a tax accountant, and Sharon Kemmer, teacher. I have Polish roots, as my paternal grandfather was Polish . I have an older brother, Jeff, and a younger sister Megan . At age 12, began taking acting lessons . He went to school at James Madison in San Antonio . In 1999 he won the competition «Claim To Fame», whereby had the opportunity to hand over the award at a ceremony Teen Choice Award, where he met his agent . After graduation in 2000 he moved to Los Angeles (CA), to pursue an acting career, although originally planned to enroll in the University of Texas . career  Participated in the audition for the role of Anakin Skywalker for the film "Star Wars ." First acting job was a recurring role in a feature film in 1999 «A Little Inside». In 2000 I got the role of Dean Forester in the successful television series " Gilmore Girls " and starred in it until 2005. In the period from 2000 to 2003 played roles in films such as " Silent Witness " ( 2000), " Closer to home " (2001), "The Ring of infinite light " (2002) and "Young MacGyver " (2003) . In 2003, played a small role in the comedy " Cheaper by the Dozen ", although in the credits has not been specified . In 2004 he performed the role of Trey Lipton comedy Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's " New York Minute " and also starred in the thriller " Flight of the Phoenix ." In 2005, starred in two movies - " Cry Wolf " and " House of Wax ", which was also attended by Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray and Paris Hilton . In the same year was cast as Sam Winchester in the television series of Warner Brothers « Supernatural ."