This weekend, Creation Entertainment gathers over a dozen Supernatural favorites for the latest stop in the Creation “The Road So Far” Tour in Nashville, TN. Stars from the series such as Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins and more will be present for the event, and if you’ve been to a Creation Tour before, you know it’s full of experiences made to be enjoyed by the fandom.
Tickets to the event are still available… and to promote this weekend’s festivities, KSiteTV’s Craig Byrne spoke with Supernatural’s “Young John Winchester” himself, Matt Cohen, who discussed the convention, many other upcoming projects involving Supernatural favorites, and his special “Balancing Act” discussion in which he shares his experience and tips for physical and mental fitness.
Beyond Supernatural, Matt Cohen could be seen for several years on General Hospital and even directed the Supernatural Season 15 episode “Gimme Shelter.” He’s been a frequent and well-liked staple of the Creation Tours and also hosts his own podcast, M.C. on the Mic, which features members of his family as well as some of his Supernatural family. Additionally, Matt’s charisma and talent served him well on Entertainment Tonight where he had been a correspondent for several years. And it all started with John Winchester…
KSITETV: When you landed the role of young John Winchester in Season 4, did you expect that Supernatural would still be a part of your life over 15 years later?
MATT COHEN: Dude, I could not have predicted another episode at the time! I’ll tell you, I went into that office, and I didn’t know about Supernatural, other than it was a show that had a couple seasons under its belt and that I was supposed to look like a younger Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
I went in that office, and the casting director, Robert Ulrich, who’s a fantastic dude… he holds my headshot up kind in front of my face and lowers it cinematically just enough where I could see his eyes peek over the top of the 8×10. He looks at me, and he goes, “all right, just please don’t suck.”
I remember thinking, “oh boy, that is quite a note to start with,” and I did the scene. I don’t think I did anything special with it; I tried to keep it as honest and as real as possible. And I looked enough like Jeffrey, I would say. More than anything, I’m lucky enough to look like that handsome S.O.B., just enough to get on the damn show and get this opportunity. And then, once you get on Supernatural and you’re not an a-hole, the writers see the potential to give you the chance to be multiple characters, and that is truly a gift.
As a guest star actor, you only dream of having one character to play that’s decent, let alone two. And so I did the one episode, and they end up bringing me back the next time… and I got lucky and I got to play Michael and introduce that character. At the same moment, you get invited to a convention, and you go to a convention not knowing what the heck is going on. It was my first time ever, and I was very shy, and I was very introverted… but then you get another one, and you get a third or fourth convention… and now you’ve done two episodes of the show, and so you’ve got something to say, because you played these characters, and then in that moment, you realize that what the Supernatural fandom is, what the show has created, and the community and how important it is to so many people, and once you witness it, once you open your heart to it, you can’t just be the actor that shows up at the convention. Now you’re a man of the people or a woman of the people. You go out there, and you’re part of this special, special thing that not everybody understands. There’s a lot of conventions, but not a lot of people understand how blurry the line is between celebrity and fan at a Supernatural event, and the stories that are shared and the hope that is given. It’s tremendous.
I had no concept of what I was getting involved with from the beginning. It was a one episode guest star, I was hoping to make a paycheck to pay my rent. That was it. What it’s turned into is a movement, a movement which I am one of, in my opinion, one of the front men for, and a movement that is a home for so many people that don’t have a home somewhere else. Come to us. Come to Supernatural. We are a wild, crazy circus of animals, and we will take you into our circus, and you can come on our tour, and we will be there for you to share hugs, stories, tears and laughs. And once that exists, it’s only built. The people involved in the regular Supernatural convention circuit know that what they have is special, and we nurture it. It’s not just going out, collecting a check, and signing an autograph, It’s going out and coming back emotionally filled up, with a sense of community that you belong to, and that’s not exchangeable for any amount of money in the world. And again, to get back to your original point, I had no clue that I was going to be a part of something so special. I feel nothing but gratitude. I really do.
During the Creation tour, you host a special session called “Balancing Act” where you discuss and teach about mental health and fitness. Can you talk about that and the response you’ve gotten to it so far?
MATT: It’s something wildly passionate about. I’ve always teetered on the on the line of [where] I don’t ever want to be somebody’s “guru” type of person that hey look to for whatever; I like to give people the power to figure it out themselves, with gaining information.
Coming into the pandemic and out of the pandemic, I saw so many people struggling in so many different ways, not just from the virus itself, but from the seclusion and from the lack of interaction, obviously, to the health parts of it. I never heard anybody in the news talk one time about how we can just make ourselves a little stronger to deal with this, God forbid it happens again. And you know, as much as I’m knocking on wood right now, and I hate to say it… if it happened once, it can happen again, and that’s a damn unfortunate truth, and if we can roll into the next situation… hopefully it never happens… but if we can be a little healthier mentally and a little healthier physically, maybe we survive a little better. So I kind of wanted to hit this thing with Creation. I do it very early in the morning Saturday. It’s been a little bit of a slow sell coming off my late night Friday karaoke party into an 8:00 session with me talking about health, fitness and mental balance, but we’re trying. And I can tell you, the responses from many of the people I’ve had that have reached out to me personally is all I need. If I can affect one person… one mother and one son, or just whoever decides “hey, let’s go on a health journey together” and see “man, if we cut out some sugar, and we do this, we cut out a couple things, do we really feel better?”
Recently, there’s been a lot of science coming out about the brain-gut connection, and what you put into your body heavily decides how your mental balance is, whether it be depression, or anxiety, and various different things, and so I read a bunch of books from leading neuro people, Dr Rhonda Patrick and Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia – these fascinating people. I read their books, and I figured out some stuff, and I said “wow, we’re really killing ourselves with what we put in our body every day.” We don’t have to get it right… we don’t have to nail every day 24 hours, and be like, “man, I’m living this perfect life. I am just my the peak presence of everything that I could ever be. No… you’ve got to win a couple of things a day. So if you have three meals a day, let’s try to do one or even two of them pretty healthy. I’m not saying they’ve got to be just a salad and a piece of fish and a glass of water, but if you eat a donut and bacon for breakfast, then maybe eat a salad a piece of fish for lunch. If you eat a cheeseburger for lunch, well, eat something lighter for dinner.
My whole thing was, if we could give ourselves the ability to win a couple of times a day, you’ll feel significantly better. Let’s allow ourselves to get the sleep we need. Let’s shut off the stupid f*cking phones. Let’s stop being on social media for a second. It feels good. The change in technology has made it more difficult for us to find the time to be bored with our own thoughts. I want to help people with some basic ideas. So with my class at Creation, I really just go over so a couple of things that you can do in a 24 hour period that would significantly, with 20 to 30 years of science backing it, will help you feel better. Then maybe you don’t have to go have four cups of coffee that day, and maybe you don’t need that candy bar for that sugar rush. Let’s figure out how to be a more robust people so we could show up for each other, rather than have to call each other and be like, “oh my god, I’m so sick. I can’t help anybody.” Is there a way that we can build each other up, just by slightly changing our day to day? I do think it’s possible, and I think human beings were consumers of convenience and opportunity. We like it to be easy. We want the bed to be warm. We want the sweater to fit us, but to do a little something that makes you uncomfortable, you immediately prove to yourself that you’re capable, and you’re powerful, and you can overcome a moment of difficulty. I just want to give people that. I’ve struggled with depression my whole entire life. I come from a really messed up upbringing, and I’m grateful, because if I didn’t have all that, I wouldn’t be this guy talking to Craig right now on the phone in this moment. If I can take anything that I’ve learned through my years of my nutrition journey and my trying to not be on antidepressants, to be happy, and all these different things, and I can share it with somebody… I feel like that’s the meaning of life, for me to get on a phone call or get on a stage and tell somebody the thing that I learned and hopefully help them.
Not everybody has to take my advice. I get it. I’m a bro doctor. I’m not a scientist. I totally get it, but proof is in the pudding. I’m a 42 year old lab rat of nutrition. I went to college for nutrition. I’ve worked through all these things real time. I’ve been in many different kinds of therapy. I’ve really tried a lot… so if I can read the book and give you the Cliff Notes, great. I’m happy about that. I’m at least passing you off the information that maybe you don’t have the will to go learn. But hey, if I’ll give you the Cliff Notes, and you just take the good parts… that makes me feel like I’m in service to somebody, and I’m of value to somebody. Not just my family, you know, my wife and kid…. I can tell them, “hey, this would be better for you,” but now I’m extending out into the community.
At the end of the day, we’re so divided, because, let’s say our political or religious… whatever your belief is, but at the end of the day, it’s not the politician or your God that’s going to call you when you’re in a hardship. It’s your neighbor on your block that’s going to come over and knock on your door and say, “I haven’t seen you in five days. How come you haven’t come out the house?” So my advice to you, Craig, and to everybody, and if I could summarize this in one sentence, be the hero on your own block. Don’t look for heroes somewhere else. You are the hero of the people in your community, the people around you, the people next to you on this phone call the people in arms reach. Let’s have a sense of community for each other, and let’s be the heroes for each other. And guess what? The power will be in the hands of us to decide what our life’s like and not hoping that the political figure, the leader, the elite person you look up to, is going to make taxes less or food cheaper. Let’s work on each other, work on ourselves, and we’ll be the greatest kind of world we can be. We just we want to fight for others rather than fighting for the common people, and I think we need to look back to the common people. That’s where the power is.
The feeling that you get when you take care of yourself and feel good, you would bottle it up, right? Like if on your day, on your best day, where you had nothing but you ate right, and you slept right, and you drank water or whatever, and you woke up and you felt that good, you would bottle it up. In my class, I try to tell people that I say, “hey, if I could give you a drug right now, a synthetic pill to feel happy and good, you would take it. So why not put yourself in a circumstance where you don’t need that pill, but you can feel that way?”
Begin in your community. A lot of it starts in the Supernatural fandom for a lot of these people. Take care of yourself. And you know what? We get to decide how we feel and when we feel it. We’ve got to make a decision for the better.
Does it help that this message comes from someone the fans enjoy watching on TV?
I want to stay accessible. I want the fan base to be able to grab my hand as I walk through a convention and go, “hey, man, my mom died, I’m sick,” and give me a hug. F- yeah, I’m gonna give you a hug. That is what I’m here for. I want to be that for everybody, and so if the people are utilizing me and they like these words coming from my mouth, great. I hope it gives them the courage to say, “hey, Matt, your regular guy. Can I tell you a regular thing?” And I’m going to say “yeah, I’m gonna give you a regular response, and I’m trying to lift you up in that moment.” I always want to be that person. If I’m not accessible as a celebrity, this is a wasted job for me.
Doing these conventions, is there any actor you’ve met at a Creation con that you were excited to meet for the first time?
It’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 100% hands down, without a doubt. I had played [him]. I’d always wanted to meet him. I’d been a fan of his work for a long time. I was lucky enough to meet him before the pandemic at a convention in California, I believe, and he was tremendous. I wanted to thank him for being him, because it gave me the ability to have a life and to play this character and do these conventions, which helped me discover who I really am and a person I could actually be proud of, rather than a person that was trying to be an actor or trying to be like the cooler other person, so people would like me. Jeff gave me this seat, and he put me in it. He said, “don’t mess it up, and be a good guy, and you’ll be great, and the world will show up for you, and these people will respond to you.” And he’s right, you know, I don’t talk to Jeff regularly, but when I text him, or I send him a short film [like] Mama Bear… I just wanted his thoughts. He’s a guy I respect in the business, and he got right back to me. He was very complimentary and told me all about it.
Those things exist in this fan base. And when you meet your your star… DJ Qualls, for instance, I grew up on the movie Road Trip. When I first met DJ Qualls, DJ Qualls was an icon. He was the funny guy before I ever even thought about being an actor. I thought DJ Qualls was amazing in that movie. I was just going into college at that time. Now DJ [and I] are thick as thieves. That is what breeds inside this Supernatural world. I know it seems crazy, but if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t be working like this. For so many years, I’ve been on the road with these people, like Rich [Richard Speight] and Rob [Benedict], just to just to be part of this thing. It’s really, really wild. If there’s one word, it’s just gratitude. I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I feel I owe the fans forever, and I’m never gonna stop trying to deliver on that payment to them. I’m gonna be that guy. I’m gonna show up. Call me the People’s Champ. I want to dance and sweat with the fans at karaoke. I don’t want to be stuck on the stage.
Speaking of the Supernatural family of cast, I notice you’re directing and acting with several of them as well as with your wife in a project called Public Domain. Can you tease anything about what that’s about?
So I came up with this fascinating idea… basically, I’ll give it to you as simple as possible: Ten ladies auditioned to be a Little Mermaid. This is the story of the nine others. This kind of gave me the idea of “what happens post-career in Tinseltown if these characters are real people?” What is Cthulhu? What is Sherlock Holmes? Where’s Hercules? Where’s King Kong when they’re not on screen in the movie, and what is it they want in life? So, I put together a bar with this brilliant writer, producer, distributor, friend of mine, Sean Flanagan. He’s a great writer, and I told him this idea. He writes something, and he gives it to me. I go, “dude, we’ve got to make this!”
We brought it to everybody. We brought it to a bunch of places. And they were all like, “we want to own the IP.” This isn’t really original IP, so it was unique, so we go, “okay, we’re going to make this show. We’re going to show you how much a hit of a hit it’s going to be, and then you’re going to want to buy it from us, but we’re going to release it for free.” Our intent is to make a 30 minute episode, which is two 15 minute episodes, release it for free, and in success, go require or request money from some studio to get the whole show made for 100+ episodes.
The pitch is very simple. It’s the public domain. Every few years, a character slides into the public domain, and public domain is as simple as it means: free to use. So characters that have existed 50 to 75 years ago, or the creator of that character has passed on a certain amount of years past, and that character is free to use for anybody. Zeus, all the gods, most of the Disney princesses, Phantom of the Opera, the Knights of the Round Table… there are so many characters. There’s hundreds. So we narrowed them down, we created these versions of our characters. Now they’re like you know them from before, except aged into their 40s and 50s with five o’clock shadows and wrinkles. They’re awaiting their reboot. They’re awaiting their next job, all while dealing with the tumultuous existence of trying to be an actor, trying to be an entertainer. They’re dealing with the relationships in and around the bar with these other characters you don’t know. King Kong could be dating Cthulhu. Little Mermaid could be dating Wendy Darling. You have no idea. What’s really funny is the amount of representation that Sean and I are finding within these characters. I mean, I’m so proud of how much representation we have across the board. You can’t pick a category that isn’t represented in our show, and then voiced by the amazing voices of the Supernatural cast, with the addition of my wife… she pitched a character, so we had to make her a voice. We are gonna have guys like Rob Benedict and Richard Speight Jr. not only voicing iconic characters like, let’s say, Santa Claus, but also other secondary characters, much like the voice actors of The Simpsons do.
I’m going to give what I believe to be the most talented circle of people a platform to exercise their talent in any which direction they want. Because in the world of Public Domain, Sherlock Holmes can have an Australian accent. He could have a British accent. He could have a Haitian accent. There are no rules, because the characters you know in the shows you’ve loved so long were your characters playing characters. We’re gonna peel back the onion and see who they really are, and what’s really going on in their mind. And when they go out back in the bar in the beer garden, and Tarzan lives in the tree, we’re gonna find out just how come Tarzan can’t afford rent at his apartment and has to live in a tree out back of a bar. I think there are interesting stories to be told here.
Is it true that fans can help finance this?
We are doing an Indiegogo campaign. We have lots of lovely perks on there. I have made a promise to streak through a convention in a bedazzled shiny mankini G-string if we reach $50,000. I know it sounds absurd, and people are like, “really, Matt, you’re going to rip off all your clothes to do this?” And I’m going to say yes, because this is the state that Hollywood’s in, right? The streamers have kind of made it impossible for anybody to have a job anymore and get paid. So I’m putting together as many projects I can with the people that I want to hire to make sure they have a job and I have a job, and we’re just going to go out and do it.
In addition to Public Domain, which we’re raising money for right now in hopes to animate in February and release by March so everybody can see it, I’m shooting, directing and starring in a movie called Exes, starring alongside Brianna Buckmaster, with cameos by Felicia Day, Adam Rose and some others. We’re shooting this January 6 through the 24th with a delivery date of March 1. So not only are you going to get your next favorite animated sitcom from me early in the year, you’re going to get an action movie that’s an hour and a half car chase with Brianna Buckmaster and Matt Cohen arguing as divorced exes, and they can only depend on each other to survive, but in the same beat, they can’t stand to be within six inches of each other. So, you have this wild action comedy coming out too, with many faces you’ll know and love music, by some of your favorites in this movie. Same thing with Public Domain – music by some of your favorite Supernatural artists. I am incorporating everything I’ve known and loved about Supernatural actors and what the fans want with that I’ve learned over the last 17 years working in those circles, and I’m bringing it to an animated show, and I’m bringing it to an action movie, and in success, that green lights two more action movies in 2025 for larger budgets that also star many of the cast is Supernatural. So in total, I’ll break this down for you, because you’re the first one I’ve really done this for. I’ve got an animated show with the potential of hundreds of episodes, entirely voiced by the Supernatural cast. I’ve got a movie guaranteed to come out before summer, starring five of the Supernatural cast, directed by me, co directed by a super-secret stud, which we’ll release later, and then I have two movies later in the year. One an ensemble piece with 11 roles, all from Supernatural. And one is a single location, single actor movie with one of our favorites that wants to do it. Obviously in success in January, all this news gets rolled out by summer, and I’m able to light the Supernatural fandom on fire in the best way possible of hope and excitement.
You mentioned a car chase. Could a famous Impala make an appearance?
I wish it was, but I will spoil that for you now: It is not the Impala, but I will tell you the Easter eggs within all of my projects run deep into the Kripke universe.
That’s amazing.
I am such a sucker for filmmaking that if I can find a way to make somebody somewhere, rewind it, pause it and go “was that in the background?” I’m gonna do it. So watch carefully.
Can fans look forward to some more news about Public Domain at the December Creation Tour in Nashville?
Oh, yes! More news, more perks. I will be in the vendors’ room talking all about it in Nashville. I’ll be on stage talking all about it. I’m bringing some new perks that are very inexpensive for the holidays, that people could pick up for stocking stuffers and whatnot. I’ll be in the vendors’ room selling the first ever Public Domain koozies and bar openers, and I’ll be offering pictures. I’m the only original character that we created that’s not previously public domain in our show. I play the bar manager, Shep Salazar, and I will be in costume in Nashville, taking pictures, selfies of you getting thrown out of the bar by the bartender. It really, really, really fun in Orlando. So I look forward to that. And look, if we have to do this $1 at a time and it takes longer, so be it, that’s okay. We’re in it to win it, and I’m gonna make that entertainment that the people really want, even if it takes a little extra time to do it our way. We’re gonna do it no matter what.
What can you say to fans about what they can look forward to this weekend in Nashville?
The best of the best of the best of humankind will be in Nashville. It’s the last show of the year. There’s some music festivities happening. There’s the feeling of the beauty in the holidays, and that is showing up and and giving more than you get, and lifting up people more than you get lifted and just showing up for everybody around you. If you’ve ever been in a place that can be defined as a love fest… in Nashville, this final Creation “Road So Far” convention of the year will be indeed a love fest. We will send you into the holidays wholehearted and full of hugs and love, and we hope you pay it forward. We want you to feel good, so that you pay it forward to those around you and those you come in contact with. I assure you a good time and and a safe place to come party and celebrate the things you love.
You can read about the Creation Tour here; as mentioned before, Creation Nashville happens THIS WEEKEND with tickets still available! Our thanks to Matt Cohen for taking the time to do this interview.
DISCLAIMER: Craig Byrne was one of the hosts for Creation’s Salute to Smallville convention earlier this year and has been assisting Creation Entertainment on several of their websites.
