Before he was decapitating vampires or getting scorched by a superhero’s blast, Jensen Ackles was just a kid in Salem with a camera and a lot of family drama. Seriously. Most people know him as Dean Winchester, the gravelly-voiced, Impala-driving hunter who saved the world more times than we can count. But if you rewind back to the late 90s, the vibe was totally different.
Jensen Ackles on Days of Our Lives was actually the foundation of everything he’s built since. He played Eric Brady, a character who was basically the moral compass of a town where people were regularly possessed by the devil or coming back from the dead. Honestly, it’s kinda wild to look back at clips now. You see this young, fresh-faced guy—barely out of his teens—delivering these heavy, emotional monologues that most actors his age would have fumbled.
The Era of the Good Brother
When Jensen showed up in Salem in 1997, the show was in the middle of a massive shift. They had just "SORAS’d" Eric Brady (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome—the classic trope where a kid goes to upstairs to play and comes back five years older). Suddenly, Eric wasn't a child anymore; he was a brooding, sensitive twin brother to the legendary Sami Brady.
While Alison Sweeney’s Sami was out there blackmailing people and causing absolute chaos, Jensen’s Eric was the "good one." He was a photographer. He was soulful. He wore a lot of those oversized, slightly questionable 90s sweaters.
What really stood out, though, was the chemistry. Whether he was dealing with his mother Marlena being possessed (standard Tuesday in Salem) or his complicated romance with Greta Von Amberg, Jensen had this groundedness. It wasn’t just "soap acting." You could tell he was doing something more.
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Making History in the Daytime World
It wasn't long before the industry took notice. You don't just show up on a soap and get nominated for three Daytime Emmys in a row by accident. Between 1998 and 2000, he was a staple in the Outstanding Younger Actor category. He also walked away with a Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Male Newcomer in '98.
The most impressive part? He was doing this while the show was undergoing some of its most "out there" storylines. To keep a character feeling human when the plot involves princess conspiracies and secret laboratories is a legitimate skill.
Leaving Salem: The Departure That Broke Hearts
By the time 2000 rolled around, it was pretty obvious Jensen was outgrowing daytime. He had this "it" factor that screamed primetime. He officially left the show in August 2000 to pursue a development deal with ABC.
- Final Air Date: August 23, 2000
- Total Episodes: Roughly 469
- Reason for Leaving: Pursuing broader opportunities in film and primetime TV
A lot of fans were devastated. The show actually struggled to fill that void. Instead of immediately recasting Eric, they decided to age up another character—Brady Black—to take over the "young hero" mantle. It took over a decade before the character of Eric Brady actually returned to the screen, eventually played by Greg Vaughan.
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The Supernatural Connection You Probably Missed
If you’re a die-hard fan of the Winchester brothers, you might remember a Season 6 episode called "The French Mistake." It’s the one where Sam and Dean get sent to an alternate reality where they are actors named Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles.
In that episode, Sam (played by Jared) finds an old clip of Jensen Ackles on Days of Our Lives. Dean’s reaction is priceless—he’s horrified and slams the laptop shut immediately. It was a hilarious nod to Jensen’s real-world history, but it also showed how much respect he still has for his roots. He’s often mentioned in interviews that the "grind" of soaps—learning 30 pages of dialogue a day—is what gave him the stamina to lead a show like Supernatural for 15 seasons.
Why We’re Still Talking About Eric Brady in 2026
It’s been over 25 years since Jensen left Salem, but his impact hasn't faded. Recently, while promoting his role in The Boys and his guest appearances on Tracker, Jensen mentioned that fans still occasionally recognize him as Eric.
On a flight not too long ago, a flight attendant apparently did a double-take, not because of Dean Winchester, but because she remembered him pining after Nicole Walker. It’s a testament to how deeply those daytime characters settle into the public consciousness.
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Even now, as rumors swirl about potential returns to various universes, the "Days" fandom keeps a candle lit. While Greg Vaughan has since made the role his own for over a decade, there’s always that "what if" whenever a veteran actor returns for a cameo.
Lessons from the Soap Trenches
If you're an aspiring actor or just a fan of the craft, looking at Jensen's trajectory is actually pretty educational. He didn't treat the soap like a "lesser" job. He used it as a boot camp.
- Work Ethic: He treated the high-volume production like a training ground.
- Character Loyalty: He never trashed his soap origins, even when he became a global star.
- Range: He proved he could play the "nice guy" long before he became the "tough guy."
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors
If you want to revisit this era, you’re in luck. While full episodes from the 90s can be hard to track down legally, many of Jensen's key scenes are archived on YouTube and fan sites. If you’re a collector, looking for the 1998-2000 issues of Soap Opera Digest is your best bet for behind-the-scenes interviews from that specific time. For those watching the current iteration of the show on Peacock, pay attention to the mentions of Eric's past—many of the character beats established by Jensen in the late 90s still dictate how the character is written today.
Check out his award-winning performances in the "Greta’s Garden" storyline or the fallout of the "Marlena’s Possession" aftermath to see exactly why he was destined for stardom.