Jake Wood: The Craft of Acting, Eastenders & Overcoming Self Doubt (LIVE)
Kevin is speaking with Jake Wood previous competitor on Strictly and known on TV to everyone as Max Branning in East Enders.
His acting career began at 10 and spans 37 years, in this podcast he shares stories and the reality of taking part in Strictly and being in a high profile long-running soap series.
Life is all about trial and error and Jake shares the great highs and the lows that he has experienced in a career that spans decades. This is a highly entertaining episode, listen in now and enjoy.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The best actors take something from all the different techniques, it all takes time. As an actor, you are always trying to do your best. The only way to learn it is to do it but this is the same for professional dancers.Being on Strictly
The celebrities on Strictly are only doing an impression of the dance. There are skill sets that are similar between what dancers and actors do. There are transferable skills such as self-discipline, work ethic and being able to perform on a stage in front of an audience Being an actor meant I was confident about doing a performance. Having previously completed work at the National theatre I had a skill set that helped me on Strictly being in front of a live audience. When I sat in the recording studio I realised this was going to be no fun, it was going to be high pressured scary stuff and I’d better be prepared. Before I came out and danced for the first time I didn’t know what I was going to be in the series – the clown , the serious contender. If I didn’t have the skills that I had as an actor it would have been much more difficult. My approach was to do my best, regroup and then get ready for the next battle.Being an actor
I was involved in acting from a young age and enjoyed improvisation classes very early on. I started at 10 and have been acting for 37 years, It’s about understanding emotions and learning about people. You need to understand a character to be able to be authentic and the best actors draw from themselves. You have to want to understand people and what drives their behaviour. Acting is a bubble and the important part is what you do when you come out at the other end. I love what I do but you have to get a balance because it can be a crazy life. It plays into all your insecurities and everyone makes mistakes. The most important is the dedication to be an actor, the process and loving it.
BEST MOMENTS
‘He’s announcing me dancing the Samba and I’m thinking is it the left foot or the right foot?’
‘I’m playing a rock star which is very far removed from me as a person’
‘I’ll give you 100% and do whatever you tell me but I haven’t got a fucking clue’
‘It’s a funny show because you are not really on a level playing field’
ABOUT THE HOST
Kevin Clifton is a professional dancer who has been
performing & competing at the highest level for over a decade. Kevin has
worked on shows like 'Burn the floor' & 'Rock of Ages' to 'Strictly Come
Dancing' one of the biggest TV shows in the UK which Kevin won in 2018.
CONTACT METHOD
