AceShowbiz - Jake Shane began his rise to fame through viral TikTok skits and expanded his reach with the popular podcast Therapuss, where he hosts conversations with stars such as Charli XCX and Selena Gomez. Now, he is transitioning from podcast host to actor, marking his film debut in Wishful Thinking, which premiered at SXSW, and developing a semi-autobiographical comedy series for Hulu.

In a recent episode of Rolling Stone Studio live at South by Southwest, Shane opened up about his evolving career, the challenges of acting, and the anxieties that accompany his newfound visibility. He reflected on his first day filming Wishful Thinking, expressing how nervous he was stepping onto a film set for the first time.

“I was super, super, super nervous,” Shane admitted. His co-star, Maya Hawke, played a supportive role, guiding him through the technical aspects of filming. “My first scene was just me and Maya alone, and I was so scared ... She was so welcoming and so kind,” he said, describing how she patiently explained details like how the crew doesn’t stop moving until the director yells ‘cut.’

Comparing his experience on Wishful Thinking to his guest role on the TV series Hacks, Shane noted a key difference in the atmosphere on set. “On Hacks, everyone had known each other for years and years and years,” he explained. “So you're stepping into a family, whereas when you're shooting a movie, you're kind of maybe creating this new family ... In Hacks, I felt a little more, maybe a little more intimidated ... On Wishful Thinking, I felt like, okay, everyone here is new to this set, kind of.”

Acting has been a long-held passion for Shane, but he admitted that personal obstacles slowed his pursuit. “I was so obsessed with image and being cool and wanting to be perceived a certain way,” he confessed. He also revealed that getting on medication in 2020 was a significant turning point. “I was unmedicated, honestly, which sounds silly, but ... getting on medication really changed my life,” he said.

After enrolling in a theater class in his senior year of college, Shane rediscovered his love for acting. “I was like, fuck, I really miss doing this ... I have my most fun when I do this. Why don't I do this? ... I was trying to be something that didn't come to me naturally. Doing this feels natural.”

Wishful Thinking involved a lot of improvisation, with director Graham Parkes adapting scenes to fit Shane’s style. “What's so beautiful about the way Graham directed it was that he got to know me as we shot,” Shane said. “If the script was already written, right before we would shoot a scene, he'd be like, 'How would you say this? Would you wanna say this differently?' ... So we weren't super married to that. And I think that's what makes it so, so great.”

One of the toughest challenges for Shane in moving into television is learning patience. “TV takes forever, as people say. Even when I film a good podcast episode ... I'm like, 'can we put it out next week?' Even though we have four scheduled ahead of it,” he explained. This impatience stems from a deeper anxiety about impermanence. “I have really bad OCD of everything going away,” he shared. “I like everything to move very fast.”

This fear of loss and disappearance has haunted Shane since childhood. He traced it back to an experience in eighth grade at a Claire's store on the Upper West Side. “It’s where you get your ears pierced if you want an infection,” he joked before recalling a rare moment of happiness. “I was in a Claire's and I was like, 'Oh my God, I feel happy right now. I feel happy.' And then ... I just had such a horrible summer ... And I, in that moment, was like, 'I am never, ever saying that I'm happy again.’”

Shane finds solace in the song “Happy and Sad” by Kacey Musgraves, calling it one of his favorites because it captures the complexity of his emotions.

His fear of abandonment also extends to his followers, whom he views as friends. “I'm so scared of people leaving me,” he confessed. “Because I feel like the people that follow me, I feel like they're my friends. I've had friends leave me. So I feel like I'm so scared of my friends leaving me. That's what I sit with all the time.”

When discussing his podcast Therapuss, Shane was clear that what he does is not journalism. “I think it is insulting to journalists to say what I do is journalism,” he said firmly. “I'm not a journalist. There are real journalists out there asking real thoughtful, hard questions. What I am having with people is a conversation ... I want to create a comfortable, friendly environment for my guests.”

He acknowledged that some celebrities might use his show to avoid tougher interviews. “Probably! ... I don't care ... I'm just happy to have them,” he said.

Shane also respects his guests’ boundaries, always allowing them to cut anything they want from the show. “There'll always be another one,” he said. “And I think it's really selfish to not honor someone's discomfort with something that they've said.”

As he embarks on this new journey in film and television, Jake Shane balances excitement with vulnerability, embracing the challenges and the unknown with a refreshing honesty that resonates deeply with his fans and colleagues alike.