Tall and athletic with a winning smile, this Texas native came to Hollywood after winning a nationwide contest to be a presenter on the 1999 Teen Choice Awards. The very next year, he landed a role on Gilmore Girls as Rory's on-again, off-again beau and instantly became a sex symbol. Feature films followed, including a part in Cry Wolf, during which he hooked up with costar Sandra McCoy. But Padalecki returned to TV in 2005 to star on the eerie sci-fi series Supernatural.