Last but not least, our final actor spotlight will focus on Jake House, who plays resident ad-man Juror #12. Be sure to catch Jake’s entertaining performance – as well as the rest of the cast – in their last show of the run tonight at 8pm.
Juror #12 is a slick, bright advertising agent who thinks of humans in terms of percentages, graphs and polls, and has no real understanding of people. He is a bit of a superficial snob, but trying to be a good person. Read on to learn more about Jake, his character, and the “unique” reason he auditioned for the show.
- Can you tell me a bit about why you auditioned to be a part of 12 Angry Jurors?
I auditioned for this show because I saw a movie a while ago called Jury Duty starring the one and only Pauly Shore. The movie goes like this: Pauly Shore gets called for jury duty and he tries his best to prolong the trial so he can stay in the hotel room instead of at home. Partway through the movie, a fellow juror calls Pauly Shore to ask him what he’s doing prolonging the trial when he’s the only person who’s voting not guilty. To all the other jurors, it’s an open and shut case. Well, during that phone call, unbeknownst to the girl, Pauly Shore is watching 12 Angry Men. He then starts to say lines from the show to try to convince her that there’s a method to his madness. Why did I audition for this show? Well, the few seconds of that movie that played in Pauly Shore’s Jury Duty seemed very compelling. And until they make a stage version of a Pauly Shore movie (my favorite is Encino Man, which would make a great live show, in my opinion) this’ll have to do. - Tell us a little about the character you play. Do you relate to him at all?
I play Juror #12. He is a man who very much enjoys his job in advertising. He exudes an air of advertising. He likes to talk about his advertising job a lot. There are several lines in the show about how he is in advertising. There’s is also one line about how he golfs sometimes, which we all know is the game of choice for the corporate elites. Especially those in advertising and sales. I relate to him on some level because he is, arguably, the most laid back of all the jurors. However, for the most part I don’t see too much of myself in the role. I’m not really a golf guy. I’m more of a putt-putt man. And I don’t really like advertisements – I DVR most things I watch so I can skip the commercials. Plus, my aversion to “The Man” makes me highly unlikely to find myself at home in the corporate world. I guess in the sense that we both tend to talk about things that make most of the people in the room roll their eyes we are similar, but not very. - Tell us about your life outside theater. Do you have any hobbies?
I have several hobbies outside of theater. One could argue I have too many hobbies. I watch a lot of television and movies. I play several instruments including piano, guitar, and the melodica (which of course is like a harmonica, but there’s piano keys on it. So you can form chords and it’s powered by blowing into it like a harmonica). I’m also an avid fan of any show where somebody can be eliminated. So shows like Survivor, Ink Master, Big Brother, VH1 dating shows, really anything where someone gets eliminated every week is up my alley. I also for fun like to solve Rubik’s cubes. I’d say I have around 30ish lying around somewhere. - Why do you think audiences should come see 12 Angry Jurors?
You should come see our show because it has everyone’s favorite things: trials, arguing, courtroom terminology, and advertisement. Just like an episode of Law & Order: SVU. If you like Law & Order: SVU, you’ll like this show.12 Angry Jurors will play at the Michigan School for the Arts in Pontiac March 24th, 25th, 31st, and April 1st. All shows begin at 8pm. Tickets are $12 and available here or at the door. More information on our Facebook event here!