~*~JaKe~*~
Jake Dean aka Kevin Sacre
What prompted you to get into acting? Basically I'd had enough of what I was doing; I had my head in book all the time, and I was going to go off to university and do a degree in biochemistry. Then one day I thought no, I've had enough, let's try my hobby. I had a mate that I'd done a lot of theatre work with, which had been a laugh. So I switched schools to do an A Level in Performing Arts, and it sort of snowballed from there. I ended up doing a BA in Performing Arts at Middlesex, which meant that overall I did more or less five years training for this job!
What were your first real experiences of performing? While I was at university I worked at Disneyland Paris during the summer, which was a sort of free holiday. Then once I graduated I did a few weeks as a salesman - which I think a lot of actors have to do initially. But I left to make a go of acting, and two weeks later I got a job with the Royal Shakespeare Company performing The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at Sadler's Wells Theatre. From there I landed the role of Dennis Doyle in Night And Day.
What was it like working on Night And Day? I'll never forget my first scene, which was with Lesley Joseph, and the camera was literally like four inches away from my face. And I don't think I've ever been as nervous in my life, knowing that I was doing this with Dorian from Birds Of A Feather. But I was working with people who had 20 years experience in the industry, and I also learned a lot about how to cope with filming using a single camera - the same as HOLLYOAKS. We did 240 episodes in a year. That didn't really hit home until someone turned round to me and said you realise you've probably got more experience than people who've worked in this business for 10 years!
How did you get the part of Jake Dean? When filming stopped on Night And Day I was out of work for two months. Then I read for the part of Jake and it was one of those dream auditions, everything felt right about it.I wasn't actually expecting to get this job, because I didn't think they'd take someone from another soap. But I found out a couple of days after my second audition that I'd got it. Auditioning for Night And Day took five months, whereas this literally took two and a half weeks.
What were your impressions on joining the programme? It wasn't so much intimidating, it was more daunting because I was worried how they would react to someone coming in from another show. I remember having a conversation with Max Brown (Kristian) who came from Crossroads and saying I was worried how people were going to be about us coming in. But it turned out to be great; on my very first day I bumped into Marcus Patric (Ben) who I'd met years ago and he said, "Ah, I thought I saw your photo, I'm glad you got the part - good on you!" As of that moment I was just dying to get back into filming again.
What's your take on your character? Jake's obviously a lot closer to my age than Dennis Doyle which is good, and it's nice to be playing quite a cool guy. He's got his little quirks as have most characters, but he's got a very distinct persona. He has his outdoor side, then there's the family side, plus his interest in environmental issues. The fact that the whole Dean family juxtaposes the Hunters is great: Dan and Jake are almost complete opposites. I look forward to how he develops, because I know he's quite streetwise and being told that he's a character who can handle himself is always good to hear.