September 12, 2024 • 51 mins
Jake Puckerman himself is on the pod!
Jack of all trades, Jacob Artist, joins Jenna and Kevin to break down how he got the role of 'Jake,' what Ryan Murphy asked him during his audition process, having instant chemistry with Melissa Benoist, his reaction to comments that he was underutilized on the show, and the hilarious nicknames he gave to everyone on set. Hear them here first!
Plus, Jacob talks about his new single “before (alt version)” and music video, which are both out now!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
And that's what you Really missed with Jenna.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
And Kevin An iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to You and That's what You Really miss podcast
the Guest Edition. This is the one and only the man,
the myth, the legend, the icon, Jacob Artist Jake Puckerman.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Finally, we have been so excited for this. The stars
have aligned. He is here. He's releasing new music and
new music video. It's all happening. And he is one
of our favorite people on the face of the planet
and one of the sweetest, was talented, just good humans,
and we are so excited to have him here.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
We literally had the best time with him shooting he
If you haven't listened to his music, go listen to it.
And then his newest single is Before Alt Version and
that he released in music video I think today hour
and so we're going to talk to you about it
and go check it out. And here's Jacob Jacobarri's congrats
(01:06):
on your new music. You're knew a single before Alt
This is the before Alt Version is what it's called.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I it's so good.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Oh, thank you, Jenna. It's so stupid. You're so stupidly talented. Yeah,
I mean, please, coming from you too. It's about goddamn
time the level of talent that you two have, Like,
give me a break, but thank you so much. No,
it's very nice.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It's awesome.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Though.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
What made you start doing music now? Like this year
putting out music?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
And you know, I think like when we were doing
the show, that was sort of the first kind of
itch of like being in the studio and like that
whole experience. And then I think I just got to
a point where, you know, I wanted to do it
and I wanted to pursue it, and I wanted to
tell stories and kind of like expose myself in that
way and be really vulnerable and hopefully you know, it
(02:01):
connects with people and they can relate to some level
of like emotionality. That is what I was going through,
and it was just exciting and I just wanted to
try it. And like I said, Glee, I think was
the first kind of eye opening moment of like, oh
my god, like this would be so fun because I
had never been i mean in a studio or anything
like that before, right, And so you know, about a
(02:23):
year ago, I just was like, I feel like this
is something that I want to do.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
So you had to get it out.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I had to get it out. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It's therapeutic, isn't it? It is?
Speaker 3 (02:33):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You know, have you before that, like before you put
out your first song, had you been writing songs that
you know weren't released, Like was that something that you
did as like a hobby, as a way to express
yourself or was it more of an intention of I'm
going to start doing this now, like this is the
time I need to These are the stories I want
(02:54):
to tell, and we're going to start from here.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, I mean I think it was. You know, I
did some sessions with producers and writers like right after
we finished the show, and like I was very like
useless in those sessions because I hadn't yet kind of
learned that muscle or wanted to you know, talk about
the things I wanted to talk about, or like I said,
tell the stories that I wanted to tell. So, you know,
(03:20):
after just I mean we wrapped the show what like now,
ten years ago, I think it felt really organic, Like
it just felt like something that was exciting and new,
and you know I kind of just wanted to dive
in and do it. So it wasn't something I always
was doing, like it was something sort of gradually like
over time. You know.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah, I felt like a departure from what we normally
know you to do, which is like dancing and acting.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
And yeah, totally.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
But then we were rewatching the show and like, and
even Darren said, he's like, I remember sitting down and
watching Jacob performance first solo and we were like blown away,
and you're like, this kid can dance, he can act,
and he can sing, which was underutilized on the show.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
We all know something about that.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
But I also listened to Darren's episode and you guys
were very very nice to me, so thank you. I
was like, fab four.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
But it's very exciting and it's really it's different, and
it's uh, it's very you. Like I I feel like
you've come into yourself. And it's been a long time
obviously since the show. We've all kind of grown into
ourselves in other ways, and so this is really cool.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
You also have a music video of it's out now.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Oh yes, okay, so I did a little.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Video, Yes, give us we love it by.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
The water we went to I did it like in
near San Diego. Amazing. It's out right now, but I'm
excited about it. There's a bit of dancing in there,
which is so Yeah, it's I like at school, I
liked that.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
You know what I think is so hard And Jenna's
just Jenna's point just now about like your music that
you're putting out feels like as someone who knows you,
feels like you like an extension of you. And I
feel like so often when people want to start doing music,
you have an idea of what you want to do,
of what you think you want to do, and there's
a disconnect from you know, the music to representing the
(05:29):
real person or the artist. I feel like your music
really encapsulates a specific side of you, and it's such
a skill to be able to do that, to express
it in that way. Was there anything like going into
it with the music videos, with the song itself and
any capacity of like your artistry as a as a
(05:51):
singer now like to make sure that that came across, Like,
was there anything you had to or is it just
showing up and being you and putting your taste in it?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah? I mean I think the showing up was I mean,
you obviously do music and are phenomenal at it, but
I think you know this showing up for me that
was sort of the learned process, like, because the reality
is we all sort of are connected through even if
circumstantially the experience is different, the emotionality is kind of
(06:23):
this like common thread, right, So being able to just
kind of like show up and really dive into your
vulnerabilities and what you want to talk about it just
is the way that it resonates with people. And so
that was like my biggest thing. And in that process
of really like finding that music and the sound and
sort of what instruments I liked and things like that,
(06:43):
like showing up and just kind of, like I said,
digging deep into like, Okay, this is what I wanted
to feel, like this brings me back to that specific moment.
This sort of like nostalgia reminds me of that, And
so just like tapping into all of that and just hopefully,
you know, like executing it accordingly. You did so far,
(07:04):
So good, guys. How has the responsib been from people? Good? Good?
They like it. They it's been good. I mean everyone's
been like really sweet about it, and which is all
you can really ask for, you know, But.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
It's scary, like it's terrifying to yourself into something like
oh ship people actually have to listen to this, yes,
I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
That was the thing too, is like, you know, with acting,
you're kind of like hiding behind somebody else's sort of circus, right,
and like with music, it's like you really are like
gripping your chest open and being like this is who
I am now, this is what's important to me, blah
blah blah. So it was like fucking scary, Like I
was like, oh my god, like this is wild.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
But acting there's people to blame, like if it's not
like well I didn't write it, I didn't direct it
or edit it, or who didn't promote it exactly exactly exactly.
I'm so happy for you. It's so good. Everyone needs
to go watch the video.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Watch the video. So much music is hard these days,
you know, so everybody has to support.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Know what you're also really good at, which is also infuriating,
is TikTok.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
You guys, you're very good. Like last night I was
going to bed and I'm like, you better get that.
Megan the Stallion danced like come on, I'm sorry, I'm
not on TikTok.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
So I don't know this Jacob artist.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
It's like a black hole. Number one. It is like,
but it's it's so perfect for Jacob's sense of humor.
Oh my god, I could like TikTok. I did this
thing with my friend to like the Megan song or whatever,
and like the comments on it are so funny. The
humor on TikTok is like peak and also Kevin, I've
(08:58):
seen all of your like.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
My lazy I do the laziest.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I just like the ranking, like the pop girls, the
Beyonce elbows. I see that it's good. I enjoy it.
I consume it, so it's good.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And not you calling like one of your best friends
by your character always if.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
I haven't called you guys already, and Tina, you know
you know, I'm always like.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
You.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Also something I don't know people know about you, but
you give everyone nicknames like I don't know if you've
always done that, but you showed up on the Glee
set and we're just throwing.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Out, Oh yeah, I love it. I love a good
nickname for sure. One I mean was always Kitty TCC
again I call Evelyn. I don't even know, yes, but it.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Was so right. You're gifted. You are so gifted. It's
very funny.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
It's like my favorite, like a nickname.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I cannot I just to annoint someone I do.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
It's the best, It's my favorite. It makes it so
much more fun. I'm like, I can't.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
It does. It's also so funny. Is you're so calm
about it or it's not like a deal. It's just
all of a sudden, like he says it.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Oh yeah, no, I wake up one day and I'm like.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That's her name. Yeah, yeah, it comes to you.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Now we have to talk about Glee, Yes, that whole thing.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
That's why we're here.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
It is why we're I mean, we're here for you
and for your music, but we're also here because a
lot of people want to hear the Jacob artist story.
I guess we have to start at the beginning. You
were accepted into Juilliard. That's what we had heard about you.
We're like this dancer who was accepted into Juilliard. He's amazing,
He's coming into play the bad Boy on a scooter,
(11:05):
and we've got to know, like, how did you get
the role?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
What was happening in the.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Juilliard story or your dance story at the time. Did
you have a dance audition?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Also, is what I want to know.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
I did not have a dance audition initially. First of all,
Like I mean, okay, I'm gonna start from the beginning.
I'll give like the long, long, detailed version. Great. Yeah,
so I got I got accepted to Juilliard. But at
that time, I was like, you know, I really want
to move to LA. I think I want to try
acting blah blah blah. So I didn't go.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And when I moved to La, No, but back up,
not just everybody gets accepted to Juilliard. No no, no,
no no, that's like not like a you just throw
that away, Like yeah I did, but like whatever.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I mean, it was wild. It was Yeah, it was
a crazy moment for sure.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So like you grew up. You got accepted to Juilliard
for dance, and like that was your plan initially, Like
what like how was your audition process like for Juilliard?
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Oh, I mean that was like I mean we were there,
we had to be there, I think like a full
week and then there was probably like five cuts. But
when I was auditioning for Juilliard, I kind of already
was at a space of like I think I want
to try acting in LA, Like I do want to,
So it wasn't like I got in and then I
made a decision, like it was kind of like bubbling
(12:26):
already at that point, and so I was like, I
was in LA And I remember I was driving in
the valley with a friend of mine who was an actress,
and we passed Robert's Robert Alrich's office as a casting director,
as you guys know, and she was like, Oh, they're
looking for like a new girl and like a new
guy for Glee. You know, have you gone in for
(12:47):
it yet? And I was like, no, I haven't, Like
that sounds amazing. And then a week later I got
an email and it was like typical Ryan Murphy fashion
where there was like no details, like it was like
it was like boy one and it was like sixteen
in high school, and I had like no idea what
it was. And I know, you remember Roberts. He had
(13:09):
that crazy office where the waiting room shared a wall
with the audition room, so you can hear everything. You
can hear them like singing, you can hear them like
hitting these notes, like and I'm just like, oh my god,
like I can't believe I'm about to do this. So
I go in and like it was super quick, and
it was like in and out and it was just
singing at this point, like there was no acting.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Yet, and then really so there was. Yes, it was
just singing.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yeah, initially it was just singing. There was no acting.
And then maybe like a week later, it was like, Okay,
you're going back in, but this time you're going to
do sides. And at this point I think I knew
that it was like Tuck's brother and the scenes were
Puck and like Ashley think like old scenes, like the
two of them got it. So I went in again
and it was like again very quick, like in and out.
(13:57):
And then maybe like four days later, my agents and
manager called me and they were like, you're testing for Glee.
And I was like, this is crazy.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So we never met an audition that you could not book.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Look at you, I mean you guys. I was like, listen.
I was not I was not like a gleek per se.
But you have to understand, and I know you both
know this Glee was like the biggest show in the world,
you know what I mean, Like everybody watched it, everybody
loved it. Everybody, you know, it was connected to it, kids, teenagers,
(14:29):
young adults, boys, girls, parents, families, everybody. I remember watching
the show like in my living room with my parents,
with my grandparents and being like, oh, this is amazing,
you know. And I remember seeing you guys and being
like that what they're doing, being able to sing and
dance and act like on screen like that would just
be like the dream job. Like I would love to
(14:49):
do something like that. So if there was no Glee,
and I mean this genuinely, like, I don't think I
would have became an actor because the departure would have
been too far from being a dance Because the musical
genre was sort of exploding at this time. I was like, oh,
I know how to dance, Like maybe I can, you know,
learn how to sing and act? Yeah, So it was crazy.
(15:10):
So it was like you're testing for the show and
I was like wait what And it was like we
had we had to bring in like five songs all
transposed because Brad, the piano player, played for the test
and so we had to bring in like literally five songs.
I think I worked with this like American Idol coach
at one point, and we like, you know, she fixed
(15:32):
all the music for me because I had to bring
it in. Oh my gosh, and then we didn't get
the sides, the actual sides until like midnight the night before. Yeah,
and like we were like asking for them and blah
blah blah. Yeah tracks exactly, And so I got the
size the night before. I like went to my acting
coach at the time, Lauren Nadler, and we just like
(15:52):
did the scene like a million times. So then I
of course didn't sleep like I was like, you know, adrenaline.
I was like, oh my god, like this is wild.
We had to be there at eight am to rehearse
with Robert, and then we had to be there, you know,
for the full day. And for people that don't know
back then, and I know, you guys know this testing
was you had to there was a studio and a network.
(16:13):
You had to stand in front of like all of
these executives essentially and kind of be like, Okay, here's
what I got. And then they're like, okay, cool, you
get the party. You don't. So I went at like
eight am rehearse with Robert and then this was like
me and like twelve other boys at this point, and
I remember.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
A lot of people.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
It was a lot of people, and like I talk
about the Black Sheep like literally like they were like
all white guys. Like I was like, okay, like let's
see how this goes. Yeah, and uh, Brad Fuchuk came
in and like Ian came in and you know Ryan
sort of like gliding in like aura.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
And the first test it was very again, it was
like very in and out. We only did one song
and we did the Jake scenes and then that was it.
And then I remember Robert came out and he like
looked to me straight in the eye and then looked
down and I was like it's over. I was like,
you did a really good job, Jacob, like you got
this far, like it's gonna be amazing. And so he
(17:16):
like went to all the other boys and then he
came to me and I was like, Robert, you know,
thank you so much, like I had like the best time.
He was like, are you crazy, Like you're going to
the next thing, and I was like okay, cool, yeah,
And so then it was me and two other guys
and then it was the same thing. We went in
and out. We did one song and the scenes, but
(17:36):
there was no like talking or anything. What song did
you do? Never Say Never by the Fray The song
I did and that. Yeah. Yeah. Also, Jake was not
originally written as like the mixed race dancing guy, like
that was not what the archetype was like at all.
And I think in the original the first episode was
like a Billy Joel song or something. But then after
(17:58):
I got chested, like do you want to sing that song?
And I was like yeah, sure, awesome, So yeah, I
was like yeah, I love that song. Was like and
so then it was me and these two other guys
and it was you know, in and out whatever, and
then Robert opened the door and he was like, Okay,
they want to talk to you, like they want you
to come in here and they just want to talk
to you. And I was like okay, cool. So by
(18:20):
this point, like I'm so sleep deprived and like delirious,
and like we'd been there all day.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
So you had both rounds in the same day.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yes, we need to be there at eight in the morning,
and then the final round was maybe like four o'clock.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
That is wild, Like we tested like I had days, Like, yes,
I had like two days in between. I had a
studio test on one day and the two day later
it was a network test.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Okay, okay, Yeah, they like rounded all the cows together
and they were like yeah. I was like, wow, yeah,
yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Were they testing for any other roles at the same time.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Yes, they were testing for Brodie, for Dean Guyer.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Oh oh my god, that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Yeah yeah yeah. So there were all these guys there
for that one too. Got it okay, and so then yeah,
I was like winding down and Robert was like, Okay,
come in, like they want to talk to you. So
they were, you know, like asking me about Juliard and
they were asking me like dancing and like, you know,
at this point, I'm so like I said, we had
been there all day. I was like my most charming self,
(19:26):
Like they were laughing at my chokes and like I'm
nineteen years old and like there's like an energy and
it was really nice. And they had me sing more
songs as well.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Yeah. So I was in there probably for like maybe
twenty five minutes, and then I remember when I was yeah,
I remember when I was leaving. Ryan was like, you know,
do you just like not get nervous, and I was like,
I'm so nervous. I'm just like hiding it very well.
And so I remember leaving and being like, oh, Wow.
That was good. And so then Robert came out again
and I was waiting for him to like ask the
(19:58):
like other boys to go in or whatever, and they
were like, Okay, that's it, like you guys will find
out tonight. And I was.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Like, oh, do you think at that point you're like
I have to get this.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
I did At that point, I was like, oh my
fucking god, like I think I might have gotten this,
Like I was like, that's crazy. But of course then
it was like you'll find out tonight. We didn't hear anything.
Oh yeah, And then it was like the next day
it was like, oh you hear something tonight, crickets no,
like yeah. So each day that went by, like my confidence.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Was like, of course you started analyzing it, like I
should have done this, I should have ad that, like overthinking.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
It, and I was like every single day they went by,
I was like fuck. So then I was it was
like a week later, no, oh yeah, yeah it was.
It was like a full week later, and I was
did you.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Have to let it go? Yeah? Did you have to
like sort of mourn it? Like I didn't get it,
I have to let it out by now?
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Yeah, Like I was telling myself like, you know, don't
think about it, like you know, you thinking about it
isn't gonna change the outcome like blah blah blah. But
of course I was like like you know what I
can think about. So yeah. So it was like a
full week of suffering miserably, and then I was at
dinner and my agents and managers called me and they
(21:16):
were like you you got it, and I was like holy,
like this is crazy. And I remember my car was
told that day too, and I remember specifically they said
like you can't you know, if you say anything, like
they'll go with your second choice. So I was like, yeah, okay,
Mum's the word. I was like, I'm not saying anything
to anybody until like you know, a certain amount of
(21:37):
time had passed or whatever. Yeah, And my friend was
like are you Like are you okay? Like your car
was told, I was like yeah, you know, like how
much was it? Like I can pay it, like it's fine,
like blah blah blah. And he was like, you're like weirdly, like.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
You didn't even tell your friend that you were with.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
I didn't tell Kevin. I was so scared, like I
was like I was like, if you know what I
mean they said specifically like yes, like they were like,
don't say anything until like they have some sort of
announcement and if they do verbatim, they were like Ryan's
gonna go with the second choice or something. I was like, Okay, that.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Was dangling in the hands of your own face.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Yeah, literally, So it was like I was like, mom
is the word? Yeah? And then and then we started
pretty quickly. Melissa I started doing like chemistryes with the
Marley's too, because they she was like after and then
I remember, like I think our first gallery shoot, she
(22:39):
wasn't even cast yet, and I don't think Becca was either,
because none of them were there. It was just me
with all of you guys. And I was like, I
was like nineteen years old. Do you remember like that
first first galery.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Is that where we first met? Is that the shoot?
Speaker 3 (22:53):
I think? So Kevin, I remember meeting you in Cord.
There was like some Fox like affiliate thing at Soho
House that we went to.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yes, Oh my god, it just yes on the red
carpet or something.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yeah, we were upstairs at Soho House. I remember that's
the first time I met you in Cord and I
remember like Leo was there, and she like flew by
in her sparkly dress. And Jenna, I think it was
the gallery shoot the first time that we met. But
I remember the first time like you and I John
I really like connected, was they were doing Womanizer in
(23:28):
the like twenty two point zero episode and.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
There was at the lockers.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Yes, we were at the lockers and Melissa and Alex
were singing and we were back there and it's like
inherently awkward, sort of like mind conversations to begin with.
And you were just very you and like very cool
and very funny. And I remember you instagram the selfie
of you and I and I looked horrible and I
(23:55):
was like, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I was like, oh you didn't say like, don't post that, Jenny. No.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
I was like, I was like, oh no. And you
were so sweet and you were like you know guys
like Jacob and he's like new and blah blah blah.
But those are my first two memories of meeting the
both of you.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Open Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
First of all, I want to hear about the chemistry
reads with the Marley's if you remember, but also like
going into it, were you also very nervous because I
remember Becca saying she was so nervous that like when
I said hi to her because like we have a
mutual friend Dante. I was like, hey, like we have
friends and she was like, oh that's nice, and like
(24:46):
he was it.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
I was like, wow, all these newbies better watch it.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
She was crazy those first two weeks. I don't know
who that was. Like she was she was like a mute.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
I remember she was shut down.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
He was.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I remember we're talking to Melissa and we're like, she
like homeschool, Like what is her deal? Like she's like
and to.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Know her now.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
So it's a wild but it does make someone since
you've been watching this, like the fact that she had
never auditioned for TV before and came in, didn't know
what a mark was it was doing all this, it
was like, oh she was just killing thrown into the
deep end of course. Like her response was just like.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
All of her energy was on camera and then outside
of it she was completely this person.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Response was like fight or flight. She wasn't speaking. I
was like, but she yeah, she said it was like
her first like TV job and whatever. But I that's
one of my favorite stories is like whoever that girl was?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
For those we don't know who that is.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
We don't know, we don't know who that was.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
She only ever existed for two weeks.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Again, Yeah she what's her name?
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeah, it was crazy because I feel like our experience
with you was very much like what Ryan said. Were
you never seem nervous always? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Yeah, I mean I just I was definitely like nervous
for shore going in, but it felt very easy and
you guys made it very easy, and you know, but
I was, I mean, of course, I mean Glee was
like a rocket ship, you know what I mean, Like
I was like, oh, like I was scared, but it
was always like really fun and really I wasn't like
Becca not speaking, I love that story so much, like
(26:26):
it's my it's my favorite.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
She was also like.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
A little separated and like you and Militia to work
together quite a bit. And so yeah, she joined the
Glee Club for a few episodes, so like story, so
like she was kind of out on the outpt from everybody.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah for sure she was.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
So you had you auditioned for TV before?
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Yeah? I had. I mean I was in a lay
for like a year when I got the show, and
I I did like Nickelodeon stuff and like Melissa and
Joey and I did like a Blue Lagoon two on Lifetime.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
That's right, Okay, yes, so you showed up and you
had you had some like the experience under your bolth though, yes.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
And so then like when you're all of a sudden
you get cast, you haven't even shown up to work yet,
but then you have to do chemistry reads with other
new people. What is that like from that perspective to
be in there. Well, you're now the person who's hired,
You're the guy. Oh my god, it's great. Yeah, the
pressure is off. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
But yeah, they because I got cast pretty like kind
of late in the game from what I understand the
timeline was, and they still hadn't cast like the Marley's yet,
so they were like, you know, can you come do
these chemistry reads with these girls and blah blah blah,
and it was all I mean, it was always very
much her. I mean she, you know, Melissa is great
(27:51):
and we just had this like really amazing, like professional
chemistry from the beginning. I remember her just coming in
and like I just really felt her there with me,
and that's like the best feeling when you're doing chemistry
reads with somebody, you know, yep. And she was very
charismatic and very bright and you know, just had that thing.
So I read with her I think maybe two or
(28:12):
three times, and her final test was in the choir
room actually, and she started working I think like the
next day.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, oh my god.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Yeah, yeah, but she knows.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
She doesn't cease to amaze me, like guys do the
amount of stuff that you guys, you all had to
do immediately. Yeah, and Melissa was doing like two songs
an episode like immediately yea, and having gotten and like
Becca and having done any TV before, and all of
a sudden working with Jane Lynch and doing these insane
(28:46):
monologues you coming in and with all of us and
doing everything all at once. It's it's pretty insane to me,
especially because, like you said, you have been watching the show,
and so when you show up to work, like, what
is that. I don't know that mental space like for
(29:07):
you because obviously we're idiots. You know, people are watching
that show, but yeah, you know how many people what
the show means to you, what it means to other people,
and it's been on for years, it's now Yeah, I
don't know, like foundational to Fox the Fox lineup.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah, I mean totally explosive I was. I mean, like
I said, I had such an awareness of the show
and like loved it so much and respected what you
guys did and wanted that, Like I said, that was
like the dream job. And so you know, now being
thirty one, I take like three steps and I need
a nap, you know what I mean. But like back
(29:41):
then at nineteen, I really felt very fearless about it,
and I didn't want to be anywhere else, and I
was excited to be there and I wanted to be there,
and it was all that I had been like working
for at that point, you know, And so I was,
I was scared, and I was excited immediately because you
guys were so disarming. You made like the atmosphere just
(30:04):
like very easy to be there. And I was absolutely
terrified and then kind of like immediately like wow, these
people are so great and they're so warm, and they're
having so much fun. And we obviously did have so
much fun. But the pressure was on for sure, you know.
I was like I don't you know, yeah, I mean,
Khali was this this jugger not of a cultural phenomenon,
(30:26):
and so many people loved it and enjoyed it and
watched it, and so I was very aware of like
all those mechanics and how you know, how much was
going on with it.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
You know, you guys were just like thrown into the
fire totally in a way though, it was like this
was home for us, and I'm glad we were in
good spirits still at the time that like we were
ready for you guys, you know, to come in and.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Excited for you guys.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Yeah, very blood and.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Like Zach and Brooke had overpot with everybody, and so
like I just imagine that tone being set like okay,
you like you get on board and you do it
or you jump ship, like get off, you know what
I mean, because somebody else will totally totally.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
I mean, you know, like I said, I think just
that age was also really specific. It was kind of
that like undeniable moment in your life that's like college
essentially on steroids totally. So I was really fearless and
like I've had limitless amounts of energy to be there
(31:32):
and to be dancing and singing and acted, you know
what I mean. I mean, I was nineteen.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I was literally there and my baby.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I was the actual youngest, like the you're the youngest
person ever cast I think to ever, Like, well, Chris,
Chris was eighteen, Chris, I think you were. I was nineteen.
I was, Yeah, but it was like, you know, I nineteen,
especially now being thirty one and looking back on that
(32:00):
time and being like you were a child, you know,
you were like so young. But the but the aspect
of that was that it just, like I said it,
I was really like experiencing so many things. For the
first time I was in La. La was kind of fresh,
and so I was like anxiety, like I don't know her,
who is that? You know what I mean? Like it
(32:22):
just didn't it just didn't exist. I was from the
suburbs of Buffalo, and you know, I just wanted to
like show up and do you know this amazing dream
job and you know, have the best time, which we did,
you know, and people felt that and it was really palpable.
And but yeah, it was like a mix of so
many things. Like I said, it was Initially I was like,
(32:42):
holy fuck, this is terrifying and crazy, and then we
just had like a lot of fun and we were
just like in it, you.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Know, it's remarkable that you were nineteen, and like the
way you've always carried yourself was never like a nineteen
Like you were all idiots, right, I mean, like we
are idiots, but when you're working that many hours and
it's hard to maintain a professional level all the time,
that you and all the newbies I think came in
(33:11):
with a sense of the gravity of the situation. And
it were always because like we were the ones that
could probably afford to act up every.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Now and then.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Yeah, and I think poor cord coord was totally like
the test dummy of how we interact with the new
people coming onto the show, and so it's like if
we behaved badly, he might pick up some of those
habits or vice versa. And so there was sort of
this united front and Jenni Craig me, if you have
a different perspective of this, but it felt like you
(33:43):
were all very much on the same page and very
respectful of the show and the process and of the work.
And regardless if you saw one of us acting up
or saying something, it didn't matter, you still maintained your level.
You guys never complained, like you were sort of like steady,
calm quiet professional group the whole time, which is not
(34:05):
what everybody would say about the rest of us. And
it felt like along with the new energy that you
brought to the set, you also sort of checked us
in a way and brought us back into focus of
what we were doing every single day, which was really nice.
And it was especially going back now and looking at it,
(34:28):
I think that's palpable and like we were became such
fans like all of you, Like when Darren was talking
about your version let Me Love You, like we were
not acting in that scene, right, Like we were rooting
for all of you and wanted the world to see
how talented all of you were in such different ways.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Well, it's a hard thing, is a new class, Like
we've seen shows, high school shows that were wildly popular
that then went into college years or summers years or
different casts come in and that is very hard to maintain.
And it's very hard to get people to like you
guys or like a new cast easy. And I'm sure
(35:07):
there's some obviously like opinions about some of that on Glee,
but like they integrated us so well that it was
a mixture that you fall in love with new characters
you have the old You Have New York. It felt
like a different tone of a show somewhat, but like
it still had the heart of what we were doing. Yeah,
(35:30):
and I feel like you guys definitely checked us. Like
we were then the ones that you guys looked to,
and we were the leaders and it was our job
when we were like, oh shit, we've got us at
the EGA, I believe, and though we were a little crazy,
but you guys, I definitely felt like you knew the
stakes of which you were there and what you had
to lose, even though you you acted like you had
(35:52):
nothing to lose in your performances, like you guys all
just had you know, we were all so young, You're
like whatever, But yeah, you guys were so great, and
it just it reinvigorated us. Like Kevin and I always say,
like the memories we had with you guys are actually
some of like the like the revival. It was like
(36:14):
the revival of Lee in a way, because I have
such fond memories of season four and five, even though
there's a shit time of everything else going on, and
you know, on the show, we had a fucking blast.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
We really really did, and like you know, I mean
just a testament to everything that you guys are saying, Like,
I was very much aware of the seniority walking in
and I you know, when we sort of started like
integrating and you know just all sort of like became
friends and like having so much fun, like that was
all wonderful. But I, you know, was very conscious about that.
(36:46):
I mean, even if the show was like halfway as
successful as it was, like still you're going into a
new environment where there's people that helped make this thing
be what it is, and you know, I just wanted to,
you know, go in there and be friends with everybody
and like have a good time and you know, drink
red bullet three in the morning when we're all like
deluge it all.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
That was one of my favorite memories, that is I was.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
Thinking about that before this, Like that is one of
my favorite Like when we're like in the auditorium, like
I don't remember what it.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Was, but we were doing something with our extults. It
was really late at night, and that's when I think
the Fantastic Four was born when we dubbed ourselves that
because we were literally high on red bull. I don't
know how many.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
It was, like was a setup going on and the
four of us stayed in the auditorium seats or something
like that. We were watching Should we Rouge it up?
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Yeah? We were like should we whine not? And by
this point Becca was not that girl from the two
weeks and we were like, we're red bulleting like it was.
It was so funny.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
My other fun memory, Jacob with you was was the
birth of our joke or inside Joke lofts. So there's
an inside Joke Lofts. It doesn't given any justice. Sorry,
you guys won't really get it. It's just very funny
to us. And we were in the library and I
think we were shooting shout.
Speaker 3 (38:20):
Okay, I was gonna ask where that.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
I can't remember which number it was exactly, but it
was one of those numbers where like people join in
in different you know, rooms and different like.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
I I thought it had something to do with your
apartment as that.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Well, okay, so I had just bought my.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Loft, yeah okay, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
And for the record, you guys, Jacob and I lived
in the same building for a while.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
It was really so I.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Moved from Kevin and then I moved in with my
other roommates, which was Jacob and a bunch of other people,
but lofts was there was a large coffee table book
in the McKinley library and we were in between setups
and we were looking at the books and there was
a coffee table book that I picked out, and I
(39:05):
was like, oh my god, loss.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Yes, that was the start of it.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
That was the start of loss.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
And then you made fun of me and you were
like loss, yes, and that was loss. And forever we'll
be dubbed in my mind as one of the greatest
jokes of all.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Time synonymous week Lee, I mean, I can't. And also
this emoji Jesus, Jesus.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
We see each other from across the room and just
do this like a greeting, like hello. This was the
hands in the air emoji, like.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
The yeah, this was our gang sign.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Jacob's impression of Jenna is one of life's greatest things.
I still do it. I do it all the time.
I love weekly.
Speaker 3 (39:47):
I will do it.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Oh that's funny. Oh we had see, we just had
so much fun. We had so much fun. Did you
notice when like ja Jake came on was the bad boy,
which is not really you.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
I R obviously, yeah, of course.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
On his little scooter, but I feel like the bad
boy thing didn't last too long because I also feel
like the writers there was new writers at this point,
like every season we're adding in a couple and it
was growing, and they were hanging around us, and they
were also like getting to know each other and getting
to know you guys, the new people, and it felt
(40:27):
like as they were learning you about all of you,
the character sort of melded how our characters melded into
us in real life and picked out some of our
I don't know better qualities or whatever they wanted to use,
whatever they wanted to exploit in a great way. Did
(40:47):
you feel that or like when you started to get
the scripts, see your character changing and all of a sudden,
like you're dancing more because I can just see Hitchcock
being like, we have to get him dancing more. They
were such fans of you that as the as the
season A, season four got going, there's like a period
in there where every episode like Jake's doing another huge number.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
Yeah, I was always doing something.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
What was that like to be on the receiving end
of like, oh, the writers are maybe not writing to
me Jacob as the human.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
Yeah, I mean I think you know, they Initially the
character of Jake was sort of like written as you know,
one thing, which I think was more closely to UK's
kind of archetype. And then I think, you know, after
I was cast, and I even remember, like in the
audition process, like I was saying, they were asking me
like a lot about the dancing stuff and the Juilliard
(41:43):
and you know, they were like, we want you to
dance with Heather and Harry and I was like, yeah,
I mean, of course that would be so much fun.
And so it did kind of transform to what felt
more like organic to just like me as a person. Yeah,
and you know, that kind of transformation just like was
gradually happening as episode went to episode. Yeah, but it
(42:05):
was nice. I mean, you know, one of the whole
reasons that I wanted to be an actor in the
first place was to be able to have some sort
of dancing aspect involved. And so the fact that they
incorporated that and just made it such like a huge
part of his character was amazing, you know, And none
of that was there initially, and again that was just
sort of like a gradual, you know, gradual development.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Yeah, Yeah, they sort of adjusted as we went and
you know, wanted to utilize all of those things, so
really nature, Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
And then you had Kitty who also was a dancer,
so you guys got.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
To like, yeah, Becca also was a beca. Also was
a dancer, playing the flute upside down in the Trans
Siberian Orchestra or claim to fame.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Yeah, we do a lot of the fans. We're gonna
do a que with you later. A lot of fans
wrote in a lot of really good questions they there's
a resounding feeling that you were under utilized on the show.
I'm curious what you felt based on like what you
how you've been talking about the show and your experience
on it so far, Like what your perspective is on that.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
I mean, maybe I'm delusional. I didn't totally feel that way.
I mean, like when we when they sort of moved
the whole show to New York and our sort of
like new group was kind of being like released. I
could have I mean I could have done Glee for
forever just because of like who I am as a
(43:42):
person in like dancing and singing and acting, like I
just loved the child. But when we were when we left,
I didn't feel like there was any stones really like
left unturned for me personally, It's great, Like I felt like,
you know, I had opportunities to sing, and I had
some idea ansked.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
A lot, and you know mom on the show.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
We met my mom on the show, because yeah, II
show is like the best. She's like amazing.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
How was it having like it's so cool and like
crazy when you get parents on in a job like that,
having her as your mom, that.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
Was I mean, that was great. She was so great.
We were I was still like kind of relatively new
at this point, so having her be there with me,
it was like really nice. And in that scene it
was like my mom and it was Puck's mom and
Puck and we were all like sitting at breadsticks and
she just is very like charismatic and incredible. So yeah,
(44:40):
so it was it was like it was so good.
And I love that kind of little storyline of like
the mom's meeting, you know as well, especially with like
the history of sort of like what was going on
or whatever. But yeah, she was I mean, she was
like the best. She was so good.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
If anybody can say anyone at ease, it's her.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
It's like, yeah, yeah. She Yeah, she's off, she's wise. Yeah,
she's the best.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Do you have you got?
Speaker 3 (45:04):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
I feel like everybody sort of like got like one
big number to do in the show, like you, I mean,
you had a couple. But I remember seeing you film
Rhythmnation and like catching it in between setups or something,
and it was a full on like it felt like
when Harry and I did Scream Oh, which was so good,
(45:27):
but it was just like a full on music video production,
like gigantic, like the scale of it. But what did
it feel like? And now you like, you know, putting
out your own music, where like when you're the center
of it was an ensemble cast, nobody was the lead.
We were all sharing every scene basically, But when you're
(45:50):
shooting something like Rhythmnation, it feels I imagine it felt different.
You're like, oh, this is like did it feel like daunting?
Like this is a huge thing. Everybody is watching this, Like.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
What was that? Yeah? I mean yeah, I think like
all of the above. I remember, I think Brad was
the first one who told me that we were going
to be doing that song before like I even got
the script, and I was like, I mean, you know,
Jared Jackson is like please, She's legendary. And I remember
when we started rehearsing it and doing it and they
(46:23):
were kind of like telling me what it was going
to be like and where we shot at that I
don't know what that section was called, but all of
those stairs was like a warehouse in Paramount.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
I don't know, it was like the back of a building.
Speaker 3 (46:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was like so half of it
was like in the choir room. Half of it was there,
and they were kind of like, you know, explaining to me,
like what was all going to be going on, And
that was just a moment where it's like okay, like
you're really dancing here, you know what I mean? Like
this is really in a way like you know, you
better do your Juilliard shit or something. Yeah. So yeah,
(46:58):
so I you know, we rehearse that for hours at
the what did where do we dance? What's called the
water Tower? The Powerhouse, Powerhouse, Powerhouse, Yeah, I couldn't think
of the name, but so yeah, we rehearsed it there
with Brooke and stuff, and you know, I remember like
Peacock was like taking videos while we were shooting, and like,
(47:18):
you know, he sent them to me and like I
sent them to my parents and I was like, oh,
like this is incredible, Like this is crazy. But yeah,
that definitely was sort of quintessential like Glee music video dancing,
and I was very I was like, you know, this
is here for it. Yeah. I was like this is
what I always kind of like dreamed about doing, so
to be doing it, I was like, this is this
(47:39):
is pretty special. I was like, wow, nineteen on a scooter,
here we go. We're doing Janet now like I were
doing it. My mind was like blown. It was crazy.
Speaker 2 (47:52):
We should have called you Juilliard, Juliard. That would have
been a good Julia.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
You guys only called what did you call it? Jake
or Jacob. I didn't have a nickname from you guys.
Oh yeah, Jesu. Yeah, Jesa, we had.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
I don't know why you called me Jessa. I called
you Jesus, Jesus?
Speaker 3 (48:10):
Was you Kevin and I were Jessu? And then but
I feel like, China did you call me any? I
think it was just Jacob.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
I think it was just Jacob. I'll take it Jacob
before we let you go. We always ask everybody what
is the feeling that Glee leaves you.
Speaker 3 (48:27):
With nostalgia for everything that you know, we all did
together and how much fun we had. But then I
think also just like a celebration of you know, people
and singing and dancing and acting and the joy that
that can really bring. And you know, I think the
(48:50):
show in many ways is a lot about kind of
celebrating the underdog, and so I think it's like a combination,
a blender of just like all of those things, you know,
And I think there's it's not a mistake the show
was as explosive as it was because there was some
real magic to it that you guys put there. I mean,
(49:13):
obviously I came in like much later in the picture,
but you know what you guys did in those first
two seasons, it was not an accident. There was something
really special about it. It really resonated with people, and
like I said, everybody loved it and enjoyed it. And
it's not even once in a lifetime, maybe like once
every ten lifetimes, just sort of the stars aligning and
(49:37):
it was just really really really special.
Speaker 2 (49:39):
So that well, we were so lucky to have you
like join the show. You made Yeah, you made every
day better. It was like we couldn't say enough good things.
Obviously we're obsessed with you.
Speaker 3 (49:52):
Yeah, but we all love each other, so we do.
Speaker 2 (49:55):
It's gross. I mean, I'm sure you both get ascid
a lot too. But like when people like, oh do
you still keep in touch? Yeah, and shock on everybody's
face when I say it's like, yeah, we all talk,
we all love each I mean we messed.
Speaker 3 (50:09):
Yeah, like we had the best fucking time.
Speaker 1 (50:12):
Like please for really, you know, really really did well.
Thanks for coming on Jacob and sharing our experience with us.
And if you guys didn't get it already, we love
Jacob and we had a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (50:23):
With him, the best time. Thank you, guys. I love
you well.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
Stay tuned for another episode of Jacob. We're gonna do
a Q and a of questions from all of you,
and also Jacob. Tell everyone about your music. Where to
go listen, stream Watch whatever, Oh.
Speaker 3 (50:39):
Yes music it's before the old version in the videos
on YouTube, and the song is on all wherever you
listen to music, Spotify, Apple, Everything. I love you.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 3 (50:51):
I love you both so much. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
You're so welcome and that's what you really missed. Thanks
for listening and follow us on Instagram and that's what
you really miss pod. Make sure to write us a
review and leave us five stars. See you next time.
And that's what you Really missed with Jenna.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
And Kevin An iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to You and That's what You Really miss podcast
the Guest Edition. This is the one and only the man,
the myth, the legend, the icon, Jacob Artist Jake Puckerman.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Finally, we have been so excited for this. The stars
have aligned. He is here. He's releasing new music and
new music video. It's all happening. And he is one
of our favorite people on the face of the planet
and one of the sweetest, was talented, just good humans,
and we are so excited to have him here.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
We literally had the best time with him shooting he
If you haven't listened to his music, go listen to it.
And then his newest single is Before Alt Version and
that he released in music video I think today hour
and so we're going to talk to you about it
and go check it out. And here's Jacob Jacobarri's congrats
(01:06):
on your new music. You're knew a single before Alt
This is the before Alt Version is what it's called.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I it's so good.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Oh, thank you, Jenna. It's so stupid. You're so stupidly talented. Yeah,
I mean, please, coming from you too. It's about goddamn
time the level of talent that you two have, Like,
give me a break, but thank you so much. No,
it's very nice.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It's awesome.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Though.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
What made you start doing music now? Like this year
putting out music?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
And you know, I think like when we were doing
the show, that was sort of the first kind of
itch of like being in the studio and like that
whole experience. And then I think I just got to
a point where, you know, I wanted to do it
and I wanted to pursue it, and I wanted to
tell stories and kind of like expose myself in that
way and be really vulnerable and hopefully you know, it
(02:01):
connects with people and they can relate to some level
of like emotionality. That is what I was going through,
and it was just exciting and I just wanted to
try it. And like I said, Glee, I think was
the first kind of eye opening moment of like, oh
my god, like this would be so fun because I
had never been i mean in a studio or anything
like that before, right, And so you know, about a
(02:23):
year ago, I just was like, I feel like this
is something that I want to do.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
So you had to get it out.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I had to get it out. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It's therapeutic, isn't it? It is?
Speaker 3 (02:33):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You know, have you before that, like before you put
out your first song, had you been writing songs that
you know weren't released, Like was that something that you
did as like a hobby, as a way to express
yourself or was it more of an intention of I'm
going to start doing this now, like this is the
time I need to These are the stories I want
(02:54):
to tell, and we're going to start from here.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, I mean I think it was. You know, I
did some sessions with producers and writers like right after
we finished the show, and like I was very like
useless in those sessions because I hadn't yet kind of
learned that muscle or wanted to you know, talk about
the things I wanted to talk about, or like I said,
tell the stories that I wanted to tell. So, you know,
(03:20):
after just I mean we wrapped the show what like now,
ten years ago, I think it felt really organic, Like
it just felt like something that was exciting and new,
and you know I kind of just wanted to dive
in and do it. So it wasn't something I always
was doing, like it was something sort of gradually like
over time. You know.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah, I felt like a departure from what we normally
know you to do, which is like dancing and acting.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
And yeah, totally.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
But then we were rewatching the show and like, and
even Darren said, he's like, I remember sitting down and
watching Jacob performance first solo and we were like blown away,
and you're like, this kid can dance, he can act,
and he can sing, which was underutilized on the show.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
We all know something about that.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
But I also listened to Darren's episode and you guys
were very very nice to me, so thank you. I
was like, fab four.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
But it's very exciting and it's really it's different, and
it's uh, it's very you. Like I I feel like
you've come into yourself. And it's been a long time
obviously since the show. We've all kind of grown into
ourselves in other ways, and so this is really cool.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
You also have a music video of it's out now.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Oh yes, okay, so I did a little.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Video, Yes, give us we love it by.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
The water we went to I did it like in
near San Diego. Amazing. It's out right now, but I'm
excited about it. There's a bit of dancing in there,
which is so Yeah, it's I like at school, I
liked that.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
You know what I think is so hard And Jenna's
just Jenna's point just now about like your music that
you're putting out feels like as someone who knows you,
feels like you like an extension of you. And I
feel like so often when people want to start doing music,
you have an idea of what you want to do,
of what you think you want to do, and there's
a disconnect from you know, the music to representing the
(05:29):
real person or the artist. I feel like your music
really encapsulates a specific side of you, and it's such
a skill to be able to do that, to express
it in that way. Was there anything like going into
it with the music videos, with the song itself and
any capacity of like your artistry as a as a
(05:51):
singer now like to make sure that that came across, Like,
was there anything you had to or is it just
showing up and being you and putting your taste in it?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah? I mean I think the showing up was I mean,
you obviously do music and are phenomenal at it, but
I think you know this showing up for me that
was sort of the learned process, like, because the reality
is we all sort of are connected through even if
circumstantially the experience is different, the emotionality is kind of
(06:23):
this like common thread, right, So being able to just
kind of like show up and really dive into your
vulnerabilities and what you want to talk about it just
is the way that it resonates with people. And so
that was like my biggest thing. And in that process
of really like finding that music and the sound and
sort of what instruments I liked and things like that,
(06:43):
like showing up and just kind of, like I said,
digging deep into like, Okay, this is what I wanted
to feel, like this brings me back to that specific moment.
This sort of like nostalgia reminds me of that, And
so just like tapping into all of that and just hopefully,
you know, like executing it accordingly. You did so far,
(07:04):
So good, guys. How has the responsib been from people? Good? Good?
They like it. They it's been good. I mean everyone's
been like really sweet about it, and which is all
you can really ask for, you know, But.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
It's scary, like it's terrifying to yourself into something like
oh ship people actually have to listen to this, yes,
I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
That was the thing too, is like, you know, with acting,
you're kind of like hiding behind somebody else's sort of circus, right,
and like with music, it's like you really are like
gripping your chest open and being like this is who
I am now, this is what's important to me, blah
blah blah. So it was like fucking scary, Like I
was like, oh my god, like this is wild.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
But acting there's people to blame, like if it's not
like well I didn't write it, I didn't direct it
or edit it, or who didn't promote it exactly exactly exactly.
I'm so happy for you. It's so good. Everyone needs
to go watch the video.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Watch the video. So much music is hard these days,
you know, so everybody has to support.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Know what you're also really good at, which is also infuriating,
is TikTok.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
You guys, you're very good. Like last night I was
going to bed and I'm like, you better get that.
Megan the Stallion danced like come on, I'm sorry, I'm
not on TikTok.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
So I don't know this Jacob artist.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
It's like a black hole. Number one. It is like,
but it's it's so perfect for Jacob's sense of humor.
Oh my god, I could like TikTok. I did this
thing with my friend to like the Megan song or whatever,
and like the comments on it are so funny. The
humor on TikTok is like peak and also Kevin, I've
(08:58):
seen all of your like.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
My lazy I do the laziest.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I just like the ranking, like the pop girls, the
Beyonce elbows. I see that it's good. I enjoy it.
I consume it, so it's good.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And not you calling like one of your best friends
by your character always if.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
I haven't called you guys already, and Tina, you know
you know, I'm always like.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
You.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Also something I don't know people know about you, but
you give everyone nicknames like I don't know if you've
always done that, but you showed up on the Glee
set and we're just throwing.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Out, Oh yeah, I love it. I love a good
nickname for sure. One I mean was always Kitty TCC
again I call Evelyn. I don't even know, yes, but it.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Was so right. You're gifted. You are so gifted. It's
very funny.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
It's like my favorite, like a nickname.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I cannot I just to annoint someone I do.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
It's the best, It's my favorite. It makes it so
much more fun. I'm like, I can't.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
It does. It's also so funny. Is you're so calm
about it or it's not like a deal. It's just
all of a sudden, like he says it.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Oh yeah, no, I wake up one day and I'm like.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That's her name. Yeah, yeah, it comes to you.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Now we have to talk about Glee, Yes, that whole thing.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
That's why we're here.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
It is why we're I mean, we're here for you
and for your music, but we're also here because a
lot of people want to hear the Jacob artist story.
I guess we have to start at the beginning. You
were accepted into Juilliard. That's what we had heard about you.
We're like this dancer who was accepted into Juilliard. He's amazing,
He's coming into play the bad Boy on a scooter,
(11:05):
and we've got to know, like, how did you get
the role?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
What was happening in the.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Juilliard story or your dance story at the time. Did
you have a dance audition?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Also, is what I want to know.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
I did not have a dance audition initially. First of all,
Like I mean, okay, I'm gonna start from the beginning.
I'll give like the long, long, detailed version. Great. Yeah,
so I got I got accepted to Juilliard. But at
that time, I was like, you know, I really want
to move to LA. I think I want to try
acting blah blah blah. So I didn't go.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And when I moved to La, No, but back up,
not just everybody gets accepted to Juilliard. No no, no,
no no, that's like not like a you just throw
that away, Like yeah I did, but like whatever.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I mean, it was wild. It was Yeah, it was
a crazy moment for sure.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So like you grew up. You got accepted to Juilliard
for dance, and like that was your plan initially, Like
what like how was your audition process like for Juilliard?
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Oh, I mean that was like I mean we were there,
we had to be there, I think like a full
week and then there was probably like five cuts. But
when I was auditioning for Juilliard, I kind of already
was at a space of like I think I want
to try acting in LA, Like I do want to,
So it wasn't like I got in and then I
made a decision, like it was kind of like bubbling
(12:26):
already at that point, and so I was like, I
was in LA And I remember I was driving in
the valley with a friend of mine who was an actress,
and we passed Robert's Robert Alrich's office as a casting director,
as you guys know, and she was like, Oh, they're
looking for like a new girl and like a new
guy for Glee. You know, have you gone in for
(12:47):
it yet? And I was like, no, I haven't, Like
that sounds amazing. And then a week later I got
an email and it was like typical Ryan Murphy fashion
where there was like no details, like it was like
it was like boy one and it was like sixteen
in high school, and I had like no idea what
it was. And I know, you remember Roberts. He had
(13:09):
that crazy office where the waiting room shared a wall
with the audition room, so you can hear everything. You
can hear them like singing, you can hear them like
hitting these notes, like and I'm just like, oh my god,
like I can't believe I'm about to do this. So
I go in and like it was super quick, and
it was like in and out and it was just
singing at this point, like there was no acting.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Yet, and then really so there was. Yes, it was
just singing.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yeah, initially it was just singing. There was no acting.
And then maybe like a week later, it was like, Okay,
you're going back in, but this time you're going to
do sides. And at this point I think I knew
that it was like Tuck's brother and the scenes were
Puck and like Ashley think like old scenes, like the
two of them got it. So I went in again
and it was like again very quick, like in and out.
(13:57):
And then maybe like four days later, my agents and
manager called me and they were like, you're testing for Glee.
And I was like, this is crazy.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So we never met an audition that you could not book.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Look at you, I mean you guys. I was like, listen.
I was not I was not like a gleek per se.
But you have to understand, and I know you both
know this Glee was like the biggest show in the world,
you know what I mean, Like everybody watched it, everybody
loved it. Everybody, you know, it was connected to it, kids, teenagers,
(14:29):
young adults, boys, girls, parents, families, everybody. I remember watching
the show like in my living room with my parents,
with my grandparents and being like, oh, this is amazing,
you know. And I remember seeing you guys and being
like that what they're doing, being able to sing and
dance and act like on screen like that would just
be like the dream job. Like I would love to
(14:49):
do something like that. So if there was no Glee,
and I mean this genuinely, like, I don't think I
would have became an actor because the departure would have
been too far from being a dance Because the musical
genre was sort of exploding at this time. I was like, oh,
I know how to dance, Like maybe I can, you know,
learn how to sing and act? Yeah, So it was crazy.
(15:10):
So it was like you're testing for the show and
I was like wait what And it was like we
had we had to bring in like five songs all
transposed because Brad, the piano player, played for the test
and so we had to bring in like literally five songs.
I think I worked with this like American Idol coach
at one point, and we like, you know, she fixed
(15:32):
all the music for me because I had to bring
it in. Oh my gosh, and then we didn't get
the sides, the actual sides until like midnight the night before. Yeah,
and like we were like asking for them and blah
blah blah. Yeah tracks exactly, And so I got the
size the night before. I like went to my acting
coach at the time, Lauren Nadler, and we just like
(15:52):
did the scene like a million times. So then I
of course didn't sleep like I was like, you know, adrenaline.
I was like, oh my god, like this is wild.
We had to be there at eight am to rehearse
with Robert, and then we had to be there, you know,
for the full day. And for people that don't know
back then, and I know, you guys know this testing
was you had to there was a studio and a network.
(16:13):
You had to stand in front of like all of
these executives essentially and kind of be like, Okay, here's
what I got. And then they're like, okay, cool, you
get the party. You don't. So I went at like
eight am rehearse with Robert and then this was like
me and like twelve other boys at this point, and
I remember.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
A lot of people.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
It was a lot of people, and like I talk
about the Black Sheep like literally like they were like
all white guys. Like I was like, okay, like let's
see how this goes. Yeah, and uh, Brad Fuchuk came
in and like Ian came in and you know Ryan
sort of like gliding in like aura.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
And the first test it was very again, it was
like very in and out. We only did one song
and we did the Jake scenes and then that was it.
And then I remember Robert came out and he like
looked to me straight in the eye and then looked
down and I was like it's over. I was like,
you did a really good job, Jacob, like you got
this far, like it's gonna be amazing. And so he
(17:16):
like went to all the other boys and then he
came to me and I was like, Robert, you know,
thank you so much, like I had like the best time.
He was like, are you crazy, Like you're going to
the next thing, and I was like okay, cool, yeah,
And so then it was me and two other guys
and then it was the same thing. We went in
and out. We did one song and the scenes, but
(17:36):
there was no like talking or anything. What song did
you do? Never Say Never by the Fray The song
I did and that. Yeah. Yeah. Also, Jake was not
originally written as like the mixed race dancing guy, like
that was not what the archetype was like at all.
And I think in the original the first episode was
like a Billy Joel song or something. But then after
(17:58):
I got chested, like do you want to sing that song?
And I was like yeah, sure, awesome, So yeah, I
was like yeah, I love that song. Was like and
so then it was me and these two other guys
and it was you know, in and out whatever, and
then Robert opened the door and he was like, Okay,
they want to talk to you, like they want you
to come in here and they just want to talk
to you. And I was like okay, cool. So by
(18:20):
this point, like I'm so sleep deprived and like delirious,
and like we'd been there all day.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
So you had both rounds in the same day.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yes, we need to be there at eight in the morning,
and then the final round was maybe like four o'clock.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
That is wild, Like we tested like I had days, Like, yes,
I had like two days in between. I had a
studio test on one day and the two day later
it was a network test.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Okay, okay, Yeah, they like rounded all the cows together
and they were like yeah. I was like, wow, yeah,
yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Were they testing for any other roles at the same time.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Yes, they were testing for Brodie, for Dean Guyer.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Oh oh my god, that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Yeah yeah yeah. So there were all these guys there
for that one too. Got it okay, and so then yeah,
I was like winding down and Robert was like, Okay,
come in, like they want to talk to you. So
they were, you know, like asking me about Juliard and
they were asking me like dancing and like, you know,
at this point, I'm so like I said, we had
been there all day. I was like my most charming self,
(19:26):
Like they were laughing at my chokes and like I'm
nineteen years old and like there's like an energy and
it was really nice. And they had me sing more
songs as well.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Yeah. So I was in there probably for like maybe
twenty five minutes, and then I remember when I was yeah,
I remember when I was leaving. Ryan was like, you know,
do you just like not get nervous, and I was like,
I'm so nervous. I'm just like hiding it very well.
And so I remember leaving and being like, oh, Wow.
That was good. And so then Robert came out again
and I was waiting for him to like ask the
(19:58):
like other boys to go in or whatever, and they
were like, Okay, that's it, like you guys will find
out tonight. And I was.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Like, oh, do you think at that point you're like
I have to get this.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
I did At that point, I was like, oh my
fucking god, like I think I might have gotten this,
Like I was like, that's crazy. But of course then
it was like you'll find out tonight. We didn't hear anything.
Oh yeah, And then it was like the next day
it was like, oh you hear something tonight, crickets no,
like yeah. So each day that went by, like my confidence.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Was like, of course you started analyzing it, like I
should have done this, I should have ad that, like overthinking.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
It, and I was like every single day they went by,
I was like fuck. So then I was it was
like a week later, no, oh yeah, yeah it was.
It was like a full week later, and I was
did you.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Have to let it go? Yeah? Did you have to
like sort of mourn it? Like I didn't get it,
I have to let it out by now?
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Yeah, Like I was telling myself like, you know, don't
think about it, like you know, you thinking about it
isn't gonna change the outcome like blah blah blah. But
of course I was like like you know what I
can think about. So yeah. So it was like a
full week of suffering miserably, and then I was at
dinner and my agents and managers called me and they
(21:16):
were like you you got it, and I was like holy,
like this is crazy. And I remember my car was
told that day too, and I remember specifically they said
like you can't you know, if you say anything, like
they'll go with your second choice. So I was like, yeah, okay,
Mum's the word. I was like, I'm not saying anything
to anybody until like you know, a certain amount of
(21:37):
time had passed or whatever. Yeah, And my friend was
like are you Like are you okay? Like your car
was told, I was like yeah, you know, like how
much was it? Like I can pay it, like it's fine,
like blah blah blah. And he was like, you're like weirdly, like.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
You didn't even tell your friend that you were with.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
I didn't tell Kevin. I was so scared, like I
was like I was like, if you know what I
mean they said specifically like yes, like they were like,
don't say anything until like they have some sort of
announcement and if they do verbatim, they were like Ryan's
gonna go with the second choice or something. I was like, Okay, that.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Was dangling in the hands of your own face.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Yeah, literally, So it was like I was like, mom
is the word? Yeah? And then and then we started
pretty quickly. Melissa I started doing like chemistryes with the
Marley's too, because they she was like after and then
I remember, like I think our first gallery shoot, she
(22:39):
wasn't even cast yet, and I don't think Becca was either,
because none of them were there. It was just me
with all of you guys. And I was like, I
was like nineteen years old. Do you remember like that
first first galery.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Is that where we first met? Is that the shoot?
Speaker 3 (22:53):
I think? So Kevin, I remember meeting you in Cord.
There was like some Fox like affiliate thing at Soho
House that we went to.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yes, Oh my god, it just yes on the red
carpet or something.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yeah, we were upstairs at Soho House. I remember that's
the first time I met you in Cord and I
remember like Leo was there, and she like flew by
in her sparkly dress. And Jenna, I think it was
the gallery shoot the first time that we met. But
I remember the first time like you and I John
I really like connected, was they were doing Womanizer in
(23:28):
the like twenty two point zero episode and.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
There was at the lockers.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Yes, we were at the lockers and Melissa and Alex
were singing and we were back there and it's like
inherently awkward, sort of like mind conversations to begin with.
And you were just very you and like very cool
and very funny. And I remember you instagram the selfie
of you and I and I looked horrible and I
(23:55):
was like, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I was like, oh you didn't say like, don't post that, Jenny. No.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
I was like, I was like, oh no. And you
were so sweet and you were like you know guys
like Jacob and he's like new and blah blah blah.
But those are my first two memories of meeting the
both of you.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Open Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
First of all, I want to hear about the chemistry
reads with the Marley's if you remember, but also like
going into it, were you also very nervous because I
remember Becca saying she was so nervous that like when
I said hi to her because like we have a
mutual friend Dante. I was like, hey, like we have
friends and she was like, oh that's nice, and like
(24:46):
he was it.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
I was like, wow, all these newbies better watch it.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
She was crazy those first two weeks. I don't know
who that was. Like she was she was like a mute.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
I remember she was shut down.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
He was.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I remember we're talking to Melissa and we're like, she
like homeschool, Like what is her deal? Like she's like
and to.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Know her now.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
So it's a wild but it does make someone since
you've been watching this, like the fact that she had
never auditioned for TV before and came in, didn't know
what a mark was it was doing all this, it
was like, oh she was just killing thrown into the
deep end of course. Like her response was just like.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
All of her energy was on camera and then outside
of it she was completely this person.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Response was like fight or flight. She wasn't speaking. I
was like, but she yeah, she said it was like
her first like TV job and whatever. But I that's
one of my favorite stories is like whoever that girl was?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
For those we don't know who that is.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
We don't know, we don't know who that was.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
She only ever existed for two weeks.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Again, Yeah she what's her name?
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeah, it was crazy because I feel like our experience
with you was very much like what Ryan said. Were
you never seem nervous always? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Yeah, I mean I just I was definitely like nervous
for shore going in, but it felt very easy and
you guys made it very easy, and you know, but
I was, I mean, of course, I mean Glee was
like a rocket ship, you know what I mean, Like
I was like, oh, like I was scared, but it
was always like really fun and really I wasn't like
Becca not speaking, I love that story so much, like
(26:26):
it's my it's my favorite.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
She was also like.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
A little separated and like you and Militia to work
together quite a bit. And so yeah, she joined the
Glee Club for a few episodes, so like story, so
like she was kind of out on the outpt from everybody.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah for sure she was.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
So you had you auditioned for TV before?
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Yeah? I had. I mean I was in a lay
for like a year when I got the show, and
I I did like Nickelodeon stuff and like Melissa and
Joey and I did like a Blue Lagoon two on Lifetime.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
That's right, Okay, yes, so you showed up and you
had you had some like the experience under your bolth though, yes.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
And so then like when you're all of a sudden
you get cast, you haven't even shown up to work yet,
but then you have to do chemistry reads with other
new people. What is that like from that perspective to
be in there. Well, you're now the person who's hired,
You're the guy. Oh my god, it's great. Yeah, the
pressure is off. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
But yeah, they because I got cast pretty like kind
of late in the game from what I understand the
timeline was, and they still hadn't cast like the Marley's yet,
so they were like, you know, can you come do
these chemistry reads with these girls and blah blah blah,
and it was all I mean, it was always very
much her. I mean she, you know, Melissa is great
(27:51):
and we just had this like really amazing, like professional
chemistry from the beginning. I remember her just coming in
and like I just really felt her there with me,
and that's like the best feeling when you're doing chemistry
reads with somebody, you know, yep. And she was very
charismatic and very bright and you know, just had that thing.
So I read with her I think maybe two or
(28:12):
three times, and her final test was in the choir
room actually, and she started working I think like the
next day.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, oh my god.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Yeah, yeah, but she knows.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
She doesn't cease to amaze me, like guys do the
amount of stuff that you guys, you all had to
do immediately. Yeah, and Melissa was doing like two songs
an episode like immediately yea, and having gotten and like
Becca and having done any TV before, and all of
a sudden working with Jane Lynch and doing these insane
(28:46):
monologues you coming in and with all of us and
doing everything all at once. It's it's pretty insane to me,
especially because, like you said, you have been watching the show,
and so when you show up to work, like, what
is that. I don't know that mental space like for
(29:07):
you because obviously we're idiots. You know, people are watching
that show, but yeah, you know how many people what
the show means to you, what it means to other people,
and it's been on for years, it's now Yeah, I
don't know, like foundational to Fox the Fox lineup.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah, I mean totally explosive I was. I mean, like
I said, I had such an awareness of the show
and like loved it so much and respected what you
guys did and wanted that, Like I said, that was
like the dream job. And so you know, now being
thirty one, I take like three steps and I need
a nap, you know what I mean. But like back
(29:41):
then at nineteen, I really felt very fearless about it,
and I didn't want to be anywhere else, and I
was excited to be there and I wanted to be there,
and it was all that I had been like working
for at that point, you know, And so I was,
I was scared, and I was excited immediately because you
guys were so disarming. You made like the atmosphere just
(30:04):
like very easy to be there. And I was absolutely
terrified and then kind of like immediately like wow, these
people are so great and they're so warm, and they're
having so much fun. And we obviously did have so
much fun. But the pressure was on for sure, you know.
I was like I don't you know, yeah, I mean,
Khali was this this jugger not of a cultural phenomenon,
(30:26):
and so many people loved it and enjoyed it and
watched it, and so I was very aware of like
all those mechanics and how you know, how much was
going on with it.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
You know, you guys were just like thrown into the
fire totally in a way though, it was like this
was home for us, and I'm glad we were in
good spirits still at the time that like we were
ready for you guys, you know, to come in and.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Excited for you guys.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Yeah, very blood and.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Like Zach and Brooke had overpot with everybody, and so
like I just imagine that tone being set like okay,
you like you get on board and you do it
or you jump ship, like get off, you know what
I mean, because somebody else will totally totally.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
I mean, you know, like I said, I think just
that age was also really specific. It was kind of
that like undeniable moment in your life that's like college
essentially on steroids totally. So I was really fearless and
like I've had limitless amounts of energy to be there
(31:32):
and to be dancing and singing and acted, you know
what I mean. I mean, I was nineteen.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I was literally there and my baby.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I was the actual youngest, like the you're the youngest
person ever cast I think to ever, Like, well, Chris,
Chris was eighteen, Chris, I think you were. I was nineteen.
I was, Yeah, but it was like, you know, I nineteen,
especially now being thirty one and looking back on that
(32:00):
time and being like you were a child, you know,
you were like so young. But the but the aspect
of that was that it just, like I said it,
I was really like experiencing so many things. For the
first time I was in La. La was kind of fresh,
and so I was like anxiety, like I don't know her,
who is that? You know what I mean? Like it
(32:22):
just didn't it just didn't exist. I was from the
suburbs of Buffalo, and you know, I just wanted to
like show up and do you know this amazing dream
job and you know, have the best time, which we did,
you know, and people felt that and it was really palpable.
And but yeah, it was like a mix of so
many things. Like I said, it was Initially I was like,
(32:42):
holy fuck, this is terrifying and crazy, and then we
just had like a lot of fun and we were
just like in it, you.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Know, it's remarkable that you were nineteen, and like the
way you've always carried yourself was never like a nineteen
Like you were all idiots, right, I mean, like we
are idiots, but when you're working that many hours and
it's hard to maintain a professional level all the time,
that you and all the newbies I think came in
(33:11):
with a sense of the gravity of the situation. And
it were always because like we were the ones that
could probably afford to act up every.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Now and then.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Yeah, and I think poor cord coord was totally like
the test dummy of how we interact with the new
people coming onto the show, and so it's like if
we behaved badly, he might pick up some of those
habits or vice versa. And so there was sort of
this united front and Jenni Craig me, if you have
a different perspective of this, but it felt like you
(33:43):
were all very much on the same page and very
respectful of the show and the process and of the work.
And regardless if you saw one of us acting up
or saying something, it didn't matter, you still maintained your level.
You guys never complained, like you were sort of like steady,
calm quiet professional group the whole time, which is not
(34:05):
what everybody would say about the rest of us. And
it felt like along with the new energy that you
brought to the set, you also sort of checked us
in a way and brought us back into focus of
what we were doing every single day, which was really nice.
And it was especially going back now and looking at it,
(34:28):
I think that's palpable and like we were became such
fans like all of you, Like when Darren was talking
about your version let Me Love You, like we were
not acting in that scene, right, Like we were rooting
for all of you and wanted the world to see
how talented all of you were in such different ways.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Well, it's a hard thing, is a new class, Like
we've seen shows, high school shows that were wildly popular
that then went into college years or summers years or
different casts come in and that is very hard to maintain.
And it's very hard to get people to like you
guys or like a new cast easy. And I'm sure
(35:07):
there's some obviously like opinions about some of that on Glee,
but like they integrated us so well that it was
a mixture that you fall in love with new characters
you have the old You Have New York. It felt
like a different tone of a show somewhat, but like
it still had the heart of what we were doing. Yeah,
(35:30):
and I feel like you guys definitely checked us. Like
we were then the ones that you guys looked to,
and we were the leaders and it was our job
when we were like, oh shit, we've got us at
the EGA, I believe, and though we were a little crazy,
but you guys, I definitely felt like you knew the
stakes of which you were there and what you had
to lose, even though you you acted like you had
(35:52):
nothing to lose in your performances, like you guys all
just had you know, we were all so young, You're
like whatever, But yeah, you guys were so great, and
it just it reinvigorated us. Like Kevin and I always say,
like the memories we had with you guys are actually
some of like the like the revival. It was like
(36:14):
the revival of Lee in a way, because I have
such fond memories of season four and five, even though
there's a shit time of everything else going on, and
you know, on the show, we had a fucking blast.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
We really really did, and like you know, I mean
just a testament to everything that you guys are saying, Like,
I was very much aware of the seniority walking in
and I you know, when we sort of started like
integrating and you know just all sort of like became
friends and like having so much fun, like that was
all wonderful. But I, you know, was very conscious about that.
(36:46):
I mean, even if the show was like halfway as
successful as it was, like still you're going into a
new environment where there's people that helped make this thing
be what it is, and you know, I just wanted to,
you know, go in there and be friends with everybody
and like have a good time and you know, drink
red bullet three in the morning when we're all like
deluge it all.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
That was one of my favorite memories, that is I was.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
Thinking about that before this, Like that is one of
my favorite Like when we're like in the auditorium, like
I don't remember what it.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Was, but we were doing something with our extults. It
was really late at night, and that's when I think
the Fantastic Four was born when we dubbed ourselves that
because we were literally high on red bull. I don't
know how many.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
It was, like was a setup going on and the
four of us stayed in the auditorium seats or something
like that. We were watching Should we Rouge it up?
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Yeah? We were like should we whine not? And by
this point Becca was not that girl from the two
weeks and we were like, we're red bulleting like it was.
It was so funny.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
My other fun memory, Jacob with you was was the
birth of our joke or inside Joke lofts. So there's
an inside Joke Lofts. It doesn't given any justice. Sorry,
you guys won't really get it. It's just very funny
to us. And we were in the library and I
think we were shooting shout.
Speaker 3 (38:20):
Okay, I was gonna ask where that.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
I can't remember which number it was exactly, but it
was one of those numbers where like people join in
in different you know, rooms and different like.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
I I thought it had something to do with your
apartment as that.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Well, okay, so I had just bought my.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Loft, yeah okay, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
And for the record, you guys, Jacob and I lived
in the same building for a while.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
It was really so I.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Moved from Kevin and then I moved in with my
other roommates, which was Jacob and a bunch of other people,
but lofts was there was a large coffee table book
in the McKinley library and we were in between setups
and we were looking at the books and there was
a coffee table book that I picked out, and I
(39:05):
was like, oh my god, loss.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Yes, that was the start of it.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
That was the start of loss.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
And then you made fun of me and you were
like loss, yes, and that was loss. And forever we'll
be dubbed in my mind as one of the greatest
jokes of all.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Time synonymous week Lee, I mean, I can't. And also
this emoji Jesus, Jesus.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
We see each other from across the room and just
do this like a greeting, like hello. This was the
hands in the air emoji, like.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
The yeah, this was our gang sign.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Jacob's impression of Jenna is one of life's greatest things.
I still do it. I do it all the time.
I love weekly.
Speaker 3 (39:47):
I will do it.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Oh that's funny. Oh we had see, we just had
so much fun. We had so much fun. Did you
notice when like ja Jake came on was the bad boy,
which is not really you.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
I R obviously, yeah, of course.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
On his little scooter, but I feel like the bad
boy thing didn't last too long because I also feel
like the writers there was new writers at this point,
like every season we're adding in a couple and it
was growing, and they were hanging around us, and they
were also like getting to know each other and getting
to know you guys, the new people, and it felt
(40:27):
like as they were learning you about all of you,
the character sort of melded how our characters melded into
us in real life and picked out some of our
I don't know better qualities or whatever they wanted to use,
whatever they wanted to exploit in a great way. Did
(40:47):
you feel that or like when you started to get
the scripts, see your character changing and all of a sudden,
like you're dancing more because I can just see Hitchcock
being like, we have to get him dancing more. They
were such fans of you that as the as the
season A, season four got going, there's like a period
in there where every episode like Jake's doing another huge number.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
Yeah, I was always doing something.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
What was that like to be on the receiving end
of like, oh, the writers are maybe not writing to
me Jacob as the human.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
Yeah, I mean I think you know, they Initially the
character of Jake was sort of like written as you know,
one thing, which I think was more closely to UK's
kind of archetype. And then I think, you know, after
I was cast, and I even remember, like in the
audition process, like I was saying, they were asking me
like a lot about the dancing stuff and the Juilliard
(41:43):
and you know, they were like, we want you to
dance with Heather and Harry and I was like, yeah,
I mean, of course that would be so much fun.
And so it did kind of transform to what felt
more like organic to just like me as a person. Yeah,
and you know, that kind of transformation just like was
gradually happening as episode went to episode. Yeah, but it
(42:05):
was nice. I mean, you know, one of the whole
reasons that I wanted to be an actor in the
first place was to be able to have some sort
of dancing aspect involved. And so the fact that they
incorporated that and just made it such like a huge
part of his character was amazing, you know, And none
of that was there initially, and again that was just
sort of like a gradual, you know, gradual development.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Yeah, Yeah, they sort of adjusted as we went and
you know, wanted to utilize all of those things, so
really nature, Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
And then you had Kitty who also was a dancer,
so you guys got.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
To like, yeah, Becca also was a beca. Also was
a dancer, playing the flute upside down in the Trans
Siberian Orchestra or claim to fame.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Yeah, we do a lot of the fans. We're gonna
do a que with you later. A lot of fans
wrote in a lot of really good questions they there's
a resounding feeling that you were under utilized on the show.
I'm curious what you felt based on like what you
how you've been talking about the show and your experience
on it so far, Like what your perspective is on that.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
I mean, maybe I'm delusional. I didn't totally feel that way.
I mean, like when we when they sort of moved
the whole show to New York and our sort of
like new group was kind of being like released. I
could have I mean I could have done Glee for
forever just because of like who I am as a
(43:42):
person in like dancing and singing and acting, like I
just loved the child. But when we were when we left,
I didn't feel like there was any stones really like
left unturned for me personally, It's great, Like I felt like,
you know, I had opportunities to sing, and I had
some idea ansked.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
A lot, and you know mom on the show.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
We met my mom on the show, because yeah, II
show is like the best. She's like amazing.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
How was it having like it's so cool and like
crazy when you get parents on in a job like that,
having her as your mom, that.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
Was I mean, that was great. She was so great.
We were I was still like kind of relatively new
at this point, so having her be there with me,
it was like really nice. And in that scene it
was like my mom and it was Puck's mom and
Puck and we were all like sitting at breadsticks and
she just is very like charismatic and incredible. So yeah,
(44:40):
so it was it was like it was so good.
And I love that kind of little storyline of like
the mom's meeting, you know as well, especially with like
the history of sort of like what was going on
or whatever. But yeah, she was I mean, she was
like the best. She was so good.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
If anybody can say anyone at ease, it's her.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
It's like, yeah, yeah. She Yeah, she's off, she's wise. Yeah,
she's the best.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Do you have you got?
Speaker 3 (45:04):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
I feel like everybody sort of like got like one
big number to do in the show, like you, I mean,
you had a couple. But I remember seeing you film
Rhythmnation and like catching it in between setups or something,
and it was a full on like it felt like
when Harry and I did Scream Oh, which was so good,
(45:27):
but it was just like a full on music video production,
like gigantic, like the scale of it. But what did
it feel like? And now you like, you know, putting
out your own music, where like when you're the center
of it was an ensemble cast, nobody was the lead.
We were all sharing every scene basically, But when you're
(45:50):
shooting something like Rhythmnation, it feels I imagine it felt different.
You're like, oh, this is like did it feel like daunting?
Like this is a huge thing. Everybody is watching this, Like.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
What was that? Yeah? I mean yeah, I think like
all of the above. I remember, I think Brad was
the first one who told me that we were going
to be doing that song before like I even got
the script, and I was like, I mean, you know,
Jared Jackson is like please, She's legendary. And I remember
when we started rehearsing it and doing it and they
(46:23):
were kind of like telling me what it was going
to be like and where we shot at that I
don't know what that section was called, but all of
those stairs was like a warehouse in Paramount.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
I don't know, it was like the back of a building.
Speaker 3 (46:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was like so half of it
was like in the choir room. Half of it was there,
and they were kind of like, you know, explaining to me,
like what was all going to be going on, And
that was just a moment where it's like okay, like
you're really dancing here, you know what I mean? Like
this is really in a way like you know, you
better do your Juilliard shit or something. Yeah. So yeah,
(46:58):
so I you know, we rehearse that for hours at
the what did where do we dance? What's called the
water Tower? The Powerhouse, Powerhouse, Powerhouse, Yeah, I couldn't think
of the name, but so yeah, we rehearsed it there
with Brooke and stuff, and you know, I remember like
Peacock was like taking videos while we were shooting, and like,
(47:18):
you know, he sent them to me and like I
sent them to my parents and I was like, oh,
like this is incredible, Like this is crazy. But yeah,
that definitely was sort of quintessential like Glee music video dancing,
and I was very I was like, you know, this
is here for it. Yeah. I was like this is
what I always kind of like dreamed about doing, so
to be doing it, I was like, this is this
(47:39):
is pretty special. I was like, wow, nineteen on a scooter,
here we go. We're doing Janet now like I were
doing it. My mind was like blown. It was crazy.
Speaker 2 (47:52):
We should have called you Juilliard, Juliard. That would have
been a good Julia.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
You guys only called what did you call it? Jake
or Jacob. I didn't have a nickname from you guys.
Oh yeah, Jesu. Yeah, Jesa, we had.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
I don't know why you called me Jessa. I called
you Jesus, Jesus?
Speaker 3 (48:10):
Was you Kevin and I were Jessu? And then but
I feel like, China did you call me any? I
think it was just Jacob.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
I think it was just Jacob. I'll take it Jacob
before we let you go. We always ask everybody what
is the feeling that Glee leaves you.
Speaker 3 (48:27):
With nostalgia for everything that you know, we all did
together and how much fun we had. But then I
think also just like a celebration of you know, people
and singing and dancing and acting and the joy that
that can really bring. And you know, I think the
(48:50):
show in many ways is a lot about kind of
celebrating the underdog, and so I think it's like a combination,
a blender of just like all of those things, you know,
And I think there's it's not a mistake the show
was as explosive as it was because there was some
real magic to it that you guys put there. I mean,
(49:13):
obviously I came in like much later in the picture,
but you know what you guys did in those first
two seasons, it was not an accident. There was something
really special about it. It really resonated with people, and
like I said, everybody loved it and enjoyed it. And
it's not even once in a lifetime, maybe like once
every ten lifetimes, just sort of the stars aligning and
(49:37):
it was just really really really special.
Speaker 2 (49:39):
So that well, we were so lucky to have you
like join the show. You made Yeah, you made every
day better. It was like we couldn't say enough good things.
Obviously we're obsessed with you.
Speaker 3 (49:52):
Yeah, but we all love each other, so we do.
Speaker 2 (49:55):
It's gross. I mean, I'm sure you both get ascid
a lot too. But like when people like, oh do
you still keep in touch? Yeah, and shock on everybody's
face when I say it's like, yeah, we all talk,
we all love each I mean we messed.
Speaker 3 (50:09):
Yeah, like we had the best fucking time.
Speaker 1 (50:12):
Like please for really, you know, really really did well.
Thanks for coming on Jacob and sharing our experience with us.
And if you guys didn't get it already, we love
Jacob and we had a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (50:23):
With him, the best time. Thank you, guys. I love
you well.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
Stay tuned for another episode of Jacob. We're gonna do
a Q and a of questions from all of you,
and also Jacob. Tell everyone about your music. Where to
go listen, stream Watch whatever, Oh.
Speaker 3 (50:39):
Yes music it's before the old version in the videos
on YouTube, and the song is on all wherever you
listen to music, Spotify, Apple, Everything. I love you.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 3 (50:51):
I love you both so much. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
You're so welcome and that's what you really missed. Thanks
for listening and follow us on Instagram and that's what
you really miss pod. Make sure to write us a
review and leave us five stars. See you next time.
Host
Jenna Ushkowitz
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!