Ruth Connell On Finding the Joy in 'Supernatural's Rowena

Tonight sees the return of Rowena (Ruth Connell) to Supernatural, bringing her together on a mission with Sam and Dean and pitting them against a common threat.

In the time since her last appearance on the series, Mark Sheppard -- who played Rowena's son, Crowley -- has declared that he will not return to Supernatural following his season 12 death -- and the actress knows how lucky she is that Rowena has earned enough popularity to continue on without Crowley.

"I think with the 'Regarding Dean' episode, [the audience] saw Rowena in context, on her own, working with the boys and you've seen that at various points," Connell told ComicBook.com. "I always loved filming those one-to-ones with each of them be it Misha or Jared or Jensen. I think there is enough interesting back-and-forth with each of them that there's something there with each of them in the same way Crowely has a relationship with them. I'm interested to see how much we explore that. Actually in this episode, you see more of this Sam/Rowena connection. You see more of what they might have in common."

"It's sad for me [as an actress] that Mark's gone," Connell added, "but I'm just so happy and grateful that the writers are finding ways to keep Rowena relevant and involved. I'm very, very, very lucky."

Few characters on Supernatural are more heightened in their approach to the world than Rowena, who is often seen making pronouncements and almost always glamorous. As season 12 and 13 have been a bit more intimate, and less cosmic, than the seasons that immediately preceded them, she has enjoyed bringing something different to each new episode.

"I love that chewing the scenery. I just saw some of an episode in ADR and there's always a moment where Rowena can chew scenery; she'll always find one at least," Connell laughed. "Towards the end of season 10 and a director said to me, 'I love the naturalness that's coming through.' It's so fun. Supernatural's so fun. You get to do comedy, you get to do pathos, you get to do silly conversations, you get to do epic battles, you get to do everything. It's just so brilliant as an actress to get the chance to at least try out those different levels. They make it look easy, you know? The boys make it look easy. It takes something to do it. I'm so gad I get the chance to try. I'm never afraid of chewing a bit of scenery if it works out. I think that comes with Rowena. Part of the joy."

Supernatural airs on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.