"I didn’t have to act": Jared Padalecki reveals details from 'grueling' Cordell Walker kidnapping track on Walker Season 3

Walker, the popular reboot of the acclaimed long-running show Walker, Texas Ranger, premieres with a brand new season on October 6, 2022. When fans watch the first episode, they will know that the creators have decided to take them on a dark route, perhaps darker than anything explored in the show before. And this time, it is beyond regular dangers. It is about unknown dangers.

Jared Padalecki, the actor behind Cordell Walker's character, revealed to TV Line that the new episode had him completely drained by the intensity of the scenes. The finale of the previous season left fans on a difficult cliffhanger with the titular character being kidnapped by an unknown enemy. Without any prior knowledge of this threat, fans will be in a highly anticipatory mood. The actor has also hinted that this was one of the more difficult portions of Walker.

Read on for more details about Jared Padalecki's comments about his character in the season premiere.

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"I really did feel beat up": Jared Padalecki on Walker season 3 premiere

It is different for fans to feel exhausted while watching an intense show or film, but for an actor, it is a completely different experience. When performing under a controlled environment, the actors are generally spared physical stress to some extent. But on this occasion, that does not seem to be the case.

First off, Walker's season 2 ended with Cordell Walker in a very compromising position. Padalecki said:

"[His character is] going through the most emotional and physical strife that he’s had to go through since we started the show. He is away from his family and out of sorts, and not being treated well, so to speak, and he doesn’t have anybody to turn to. He can’t even really rely on himself, because he doesn’t have the tools to get out of the situation."

He further explained:

"As has happened in times of real physical or emotional turmoil, he needs to kind of go inward... and get to a place in his head where he can rely on the person he always trusted the most, which brings my real-life wife [Genevieve Padalecki as Cordell’s late wife Emily] back on camera with me to bounce ideas off of."

He also confessed that, for Cordell, Emily brings in equal amounts of pain and comfort. The actor then went on to comment on the physical aspect of shooting the scene. He said:

"When I read the script, I was like, ‘Awesome! I love it! This is going to be so fun!’ And then it was a couple of long days, because the best way to shoot it, just scheduling-wise, is kind of once you’re there, getting it all done. So, it was a couple of grueling days, and I’m just wearing my running gear, shorts, and a really thin shirt. So, for some of the more physical pain parts, I can’t really wear kneepads or elbow pads or anything because they would’ve shown up."

He concluded by saying that he felt "beat up" during the shoot of the episode.

"I didn’t have to act like I felt beat up, because I felt like I was actually beat up. So, hopefully some of that translated on camera."

Walker returns for its newest season on October 6, 2022, on the CW channel.