“In the House” with

Jake and Jason

by Lynn B

Cute, dark-haired Jake Thomas plays nerdy, dressed-for-success Jason Stickler on the Disney Channel series “Cory in the House” ( Friday nights, 8:30/7:30 central time). When we saw him at an all-star party for ABC and Disney TV, the actor looked totally unlike his character, wearing a cute hat and a much more casual outfit. Jake and his co-star and pal Jason Dolley who plays surfer dude Newt Livingston, were hitting the buffet when we grabbed a brief chat. Tall, blonde Jason is adorable and really doesn’t speak with surferboy lingo in person and both actors were very friendly and ready to spill all on their fun show; a spin-off of the popular “That’s So Raven”.

AGW: Can you tell us about the show? (Jake decides to talk in a New York hood accent so I can tell the two guys apart as I try to transcribe the interview later…)

Jake: I’m tryin’ to say on the show.. this guy comes from San Francisco and he’s movin’ to Washington D.C. He’s got a dad who is a chef see (okay, enough with the tuff guy New York accent) My character Jason is the son of the head of the CIA so he’s the nemesis in the show. I cause trouble. I’m trying to get the Kyle Massey character out of the picture because I’ve got the hots for some girl that he’s got the hots for.. (Maiara Walsh. She plays Meena). I get to play with all these CIA gadgets and gizmos and spoil his plans. I made my character a combo of Jim Carrey and Mr. Smith from The Matrix. We’re shooting our last episode of the season 21 episodes.

AGW: And Jason, talk about your character Newt.

Jason: I’m Newt Livingston; short for Newton. I’m an heir to a political dynasty. My parents are in politics. My mom is a Supreme Court Justice. I’m opposed to be in the family business but I’m into rock and roll and play the guitar. I’m a rebel from my family. I’m Meena’s best friend and I don’t want Jake to date her. Newt doesn’t like her like Jake’s character does. They’re best friends. He makes friends with Cory and they form a band called D.C. Three and Newt plays guitar. He’s a rocker with the brains of a surfer. Everything goes whoosh, over his head but he’s a lot of fun to play.

AGW: How did you guys get your parts?

Jake : I auditioned a bunch of times and they called me back.

Jason: It was something like a four month audition process. We started back in April and, at first it was like ‘we’re going to go older’. I went on a Disney cruise and then they said ‘you know, when you come back, come in again’.

Jake: We’d like to make it more interesting by saying that Disney found us starving in the desert somewhere. But I did “Lizzie McGuire” for a couple of years a while back, done a couple of movies in between, A.I. and Monster Night, keepin’ busy.

AGW: Who would you guys die to have guest star on the show?

Jake: [with no hesitation] George Lucas.

AGW: You mean play himself and do a cameo appearance on your show?

Jake: Yes. I want George to come on the show and play my best friend. I have an entire film-accurate Tie fighter pilot costume. Star Wars is definitely one of the reasons I’m applying to USC film school this year. I have to try to find the balance of it all. [school and acting].

AGW: So how old are you guys really?

Jake: I’m a couple of days away from 17. I’m through with high school.

Jason: I’m fifteen. I’m still going to school. (we tell him he looks older. He grins)… I get that a lot.

AGW: Do you talk to the show runners about what you would like your character to do?

Jake: Yeah but it’s kind of difficult because this is a four camera show with a live audience. There are so many changes it goes through. What will fly? What won’t? if we’re lucky, one of our ideas will go through.

AGW: Do the producers ever have you saying dorky or out of date things since they aren’t teens themselves?

Jake: Well they did a hundred episodes of “That’s So Raven” so they’re pretty cool.

AGW: What character would you want to play in movies if you were suddenly able to do that?

Jake: I want to be James Bond. He’s always gonna get the girl and beat the bad guy in the way only Bond can.

Jason: I would love to do a drama. I watched The Departed last night. I was like ‘oh, I want to do a movie like that now!’

AGW: Whose career would you like to see yours parallel?

Jake: I’ve always followed the work of Jim Carrey. He’s one of my favorites. He’s doing Number 23. I read for the part of his son in it. Oh well…

AGW: Hey, but you’ve got a series now.

Jake: [excited] Yeah! It happens all the time.

Jason: I hate to go back to James Bond but Pierce Brosnan. I think he’s the best Bond that I’ve ever seen.

Jake: Sean Connery is an awesome Bond too.

Jason: Pierce Brosnan or Liam Neeson. He’s one of my favorite actors.

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