Worcester’s Jacob Head Gives Hollywood What-for
By Robert Newton

“The reason I’ve been able to stay out here in Hollywood for so long,” explains 32-year-old Worcester native Jacob “Jake” Head, “is that I learned to let rejection roll off my back; if you’re going into acting for validation, you’re in the wrong business.”

The former athlete, whose basketball coach at one time was Massachusetts’ Lt. Governor and former Worcester Mayor Tim Murray, graduated from Doherty High, and also attended the Forest Grove and Tatnuck Schools. Despite having been acting in movies and TV in Hollywood since after college, he is no occasional visitor to Worcester.

“I get back at least 4 or 5 times a year,” Head says, “and every time I come back to the city, it looks better and better. It gets cleaner, better built, and it’s just great to see. Being away from it, you appreciate it more, like you do the change of seasons.”

While Head is the first to admit that he is not a household name, his versatility, background and good looks keep him working regularly on shows like “Grounded For Life” and “Passions,” and in movies as diverse as the romantic comedy The Holiday and the sports drama Finishing The Game. He’s been directed by the famously irreverent Farrelly Brothers and in films with Cameron Diaz, Shannon Elizabeth, and Ron Jeremy.

“Believe it or not, the roles I still get offered the most of are high school jocks and athletes,” Head says. “I’ve been blessed with great genes, I guess.”

The other roles Head gets offered a lot of are, as he puts it, “tough guys and thugs.” This has a lot to do with his size ~ he is a very toned 6’2” ~ and not only his experience playing college football, but also his military background, both of which Head claims have helped him prepare for this highly competitive career.

“I went to [the military school] Norwich University in Vermont, and at one time, considered a career in the military,” he says. “I was an officer in the signal corps, but back then, they really weren’t guaranteeing a slot doing what you wanted to do after graduation. It was after the Cold War had ended, and the military was doing a lot of restructuring, and almost went all-Reserves. It’s hard for me to think about, because I think they cut it too much.”

As unguarded with his atypically Hollywood beliefs as this hard-working, self-described “journeyman” is, he is far from a harsh critic of the military, considering his deeply rooted respect for it, as well as how many friends he has fighting overseas right now.

“I don’t have a lot of the pressure that other actors deal with,” Head notes confidently, “because I know what a lot of my college buddies in Afghanistan and Iraq are dealing with every day — that’s what real stress is. I give them all the credit in the world, and I pray for them all the time.”

Open Door, in which Head plays a high school football player, and The Green Movie, in which he plays a college quarterback, are scheduled for release right around the very beginning of August. Principal photography for Lay It Down 2 will begin at that time as well.