It’s about beefcake.

Mr. Padalecki is 6-foot-5, Mr. Ackles is 6 feet, and together they are, as Mr. Padalecki puts it, “400 pounds of dude.” Misha Collins said, “Yeah, I think we would be lying to ourselves if we weren’t admitting that that’s an aspect of this dynamic.”

The Winchesters politely demur. Mr. Padalecki: “As flattering as that is, out of 190 episodes I think I’ve taken my shirt off less than 10 times.” Mr. Ackles: “We probably keep our clothes on more than any other show on this network.”

But what the heck. “If people watch because Jensen’s handsome or they like my hair, and then they say, ‘This is a really cool show, they really put their heart and soul into this and I’ll tune in again,’ fine,” Mr. Padalecki said. “Whatever gets them in the seats, right?”

It’s about the fans.

Whether it’s angels, abs or both, the cast members spend part of every summer break traveling around the world to “Supernatural” fan conventions.

“When we go to São Paulo for a convention and there are 50 people camped out on the hotel doorstep just waiting to get a glimpse of us,” Mr. Collins said, “and when we go into the halls and there are 1,500 or 2,000 people and the screaming will be so deafening we have to cover our ears — it’s like we have this one moment where you can feel like you’re a Beatle. And then you get to go about your normal life the rest of the year.”

Not all fans are content simply to attend conventions. Some of them want to take a hand in the story, and their fan fiction can explore areas mostly untouched on the show, like the latent homoerotic suggestiveness of the Winchesters’ intense relationship. Asked if he reads any of this material, Mr. Ackles said: “I don’t. I know it’s out there, and I’m, I’m — the people that have asked me about it are well aware that I would rather not know about that.”