Jared Padalecki has signed up for a Netflix romantic comedy based on a best-selling novel and co-starring Leighton Meester. Best known for starring in the TV series Walker, Supernatural, and The Gilmore Girls, this is Padalecki’s first role in a Netflix movie, though he did reprise his Gilmore Girls role for Netflix’s Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

The movie is The Bodyguard, an adaptation of Katherine Center’s novel of the same name, directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum from a screenplay by Grant Scharbo, Richard Keith, and Erin Cardillo. The story centers on a movie star (Padalecki) who is assigned a bodyguard (Meester) as he is being stalked. However, when the actor returns to his family’s home for the holidays, he has the bodyguard pretend to be his girlfriend so his family doesn’t worry.

It’s being reported that the movie is switching the book’s location from a ranch in Texas to one in Montana. Filming is set to begin in Canada in December. There’s no info on a release date at this time, or any information on additional cast members for the movie.

Netflix’s The Bodyguard Has No Connection To Kevin Costner’s The Bodyguard

While the titles are the same and the plot bears a bit of a resemblance, Netflix’s The Bodyguard is not connected to the 1992 movie The Bodyguard that starred Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. Though a remake of The Bodyguard is in development.

Center’s The Bodyguard was first published in 2022, becoming a New York Times bestseller and earning a number of other honors from various publications, including being named one of the funniest books of that year by The Washington Post. Conversely, 1992’s The Bodyguard is a drama/thriller.

Netflix would certainly like the movie to be as popular as Costner and Houston’s The Bodyguard, in streaming terms. The 1992 movie made more $411 million worldwide when it was released.

What Else To Know About Netflix’s The Bodyguard

The Padalecki and Meester pairing in The Bodyguard is likely to have several audiences excited. Both have been involved in some popular TV series: the aforementioned Walker and The Gilmore Girls for Padalecki, while Meester starred in Gossip Girl.

In particular, the Netflix movie will mark Padalecki’s first movie role in 16 years. While the Supernatural star did the English dubbing for Phantom Boy, his last physical role was the 2009 horror Friday the 13th. That’s because Padalecki invested most of his time on TV, particularly Supernatural, which ran until 2020. Since then, he starred in Walker for four seasons and is expected to reunite with Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins in The Boys season 5.

As for when fans can potentially expect The Bodyguard to premiere on Netflix, with the movie’s holiday setting, there’s a reasonable chance that this could be part of the streamer’s 2026 holiday lineup. Netflix has featured a number of holiday-themed original movies over the last number of years, and The Bodyguard seems poised to be one in 2026.