Jensen prepared for the Men of Days photo shoot by working out a bit with Austin Peck and receiving upper body makeup from the crew.

The "Men of Days" poster was a big seller during 1999. Pictured: (back row, l to r) Jensen Ackles {Eric}, Austin Peck {Austin}, Bryan Datillo {Lucas}, (front row) Victor Webster {Nicholas} and Matt Cedeno {Brandon}.

The "Men of Days" calendar was another big seller during 1999. The photos for it were done in the same photo shoot that produced the poster.

Photographer John Paschal works to get some perfect shots of Jensen.

Jensen was featured alone in February and May.

Jensen says his favorite perk of being on Days is that his family gets to see him on TV each day.

Labor Day 1999 was a weekend of celebration for the Days cast. Bryan Dattilo had a post-wedding BBQ and invited all of his Days friends. Jensen brought his family and also spent some time hanging out with Bryan. {photography by Tammie Arroyo}

All the men of Salem gather for one last photo of the century. From left to right, top row: Will Utay {Rolf}, Victor Webster {Nicholas}, Kevin Spirtas {Craig}, Matt Cedeno {Brandon}, Matthew Mahaney {Kurt}, second row: Frank Parker {Shawn}, Jason Cook {Shawn-D}, Brandon Tyler {Phillip}, Bryan Datillo {Lucas}, James Reynolds {Abe}, Bill Hayes {Doug}, Jensen Ackles {Eric}. Third row: Shawn Carpenter {Will}, Josh Taylor {Roman}, John Aniston {Victor}, Austin Peck {Austin}, Drake Hogestyn {John}, John Clarke {Mickey}, Peter Reckell {Bo}, Joe Mascolo {Stefano} and Taylor Carpenter {Will}. {photography by Jeff Katz}

Jensen was included in the last photo of all the men in Salem. SOU quoted some of the guys about what they wanted for the following year. Jensen: "I hope it will be an even better year than last year. There's always room for improvement!" For Eric: "I want him to get Nicole out of his mind and move on with Greta." {photography by Jeff Katz}

Jensen and his two leading ladies: Arianne Zuker and Julianne Morris.

The "Terror in the Sky" storyline is one of the last major stories for Jensen on Days. He's announced that he'll leave the show this summer and head to primetime. {Photos courtesy Soap City}

There was no doubt the day Jensen first appeared on Days that he'd move on to bigger things. A number of networks have been eyeing him for the last few years. During that time, he's had to pass up roles in films and on shows like Dawson's Creek because they conflicted with his Days schedule.

Jensen took part in the 2000 softball game against Passions, the other NBC soap.

Jensen signed lots and lots of autographs, as always. {Photos courtesy soapstarworld.com}

Though he may live in LA, Jensen still has Texas in his heart. He wore his John Deere shirt to the game. {Photo on left courtesy soapstarworld.com}