The brothers' relationship is 'the constant that you rely on' says Jensen Ackles Of 'Supernatural'

Any "Supernatural" fan can tell you the first half of Season 6 felt drastically different than the show they had come to know and love over the past five years. Not a bad different, but different nonetheless.

The relationship between Sam and Dean, the core of the show, changed radically with Sam coming back from hell minus his soul; The revelation sent Dean into crusade-mode, tirelessly fighting to bring his brother back.

Zap2it was On the Scene at the Creation Entertainment Salute to Supernatural Event in Los Angeles where Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki talked openly about the challenges they both faced in the first half of the season.

"This season has been surprisingly out of my comfort zone, so to speak, because the character was written so differently," Ackles says, adding that all of the "little nuances and idiosyncrasies that he has established with Dean were "wiped away."

What affected Ackles the most, however, were the changes to the brothers' relationship, something he had always utilized as an actor. "There was a big giant wall put up between that for the first half of the season, so that was very difficult," he explains. "It was like a split up. The constant that you know and kind of rely on was gone."

Ackles sums up the first half of the season as "tough, but challenging, so good nonetheless, I guess."

For Padalecki, this year has proved to be more of a challenge than previous seasons, a challenge that he welcomes. "It has been a challenge. Our show really had a five-season arc that we did in the five seasons, so this year we kind of got started on a new foot, but still in the same direction," he says. "Still the same characters, still the same journey, but it did change."

It seemed as if the brothers had reversed roles in the first ten episodes: Dean had become the more somber and emotional brother, while Sam slept around and spit out one-liners he would have once rolled his eyes at if Dean had said them.

"We were flip-flopped, so that was definitely challenging, but a lot of fun," Padalecki says. "We're kind of finding our groove again and carrying on, so it's been great."