UCLA alumnus stars in new UPN show “˜Jake 2.0′

Christopher Gorham has UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and
Television to thank for his marriage. The star of UPN’s new
show “Jake 2.0″ met his wife in an acting class when he
was attending school here about 10 years ago.

“The first day of class we were asked to partner up, so I
picked the prettiest girl in class,” said Gorham. “(We
were) told to stand back to back and ask each other questions, but
your answer had to be a question.”

Every time Gorham would ask a question, his future wife would
respond, “What?”

“This happened three or four times, and I thought this
pretty girl must not be very smart,” Gorham explained.

When the students were asked to turn around, face their partner,
and make a statement, Gorham decided to see what his partner would
do if he told her that he was falling is love with her.

It obviously worked, but not before they had cleared up the fact
that their height difference had made it impossible for her to hear
his questions.

But obstacles like that are not a problem for Gorham, who is
used to making the best of difficult situations. After appearing on
“Felicity,” “Party of Five,”
“CSI,” “Without a Trace,” and “Buffy
the Vampire Slayer,” he now adds “Jake 2.0″ to
his resume, this time as the main protagonist.

The show, which depicts a regular guy who is suddenly endowed
with superpowers and who has to learn with them, was conceived as a
modern day “Six Million Dollar Man.” In “Jake
2.0,” Gorham plays Jake Foley, an awkward computer technician
who is accidentally injected with “nanobots,” which
give him super powers. According to Gorham, what makes the show
different is its storytelling.

“They say there are no original stories,” he said.
“But how you tell it makes all the difference. Jake is not a
military fly-boy. He is a regular guy. He’s just like
millions of other guys who wish they were James Bond.”

Gorham can identify with aspects of Foley’s character, and
brings a lot of himself to the role.

“Jake is more awkward than I am in general,” Gorham
said. “He’s a little less coordinated than I am, but
like me, he’s quick to defend his friends and ideals.
He’s incredibly strong.”

Gorham’s strength will be tested, though. As he continues
his life as leading man, he’s also learning to cope with the
difficulties of a rigorous television shooting schedule.

“(We) shoot in Vancouver, which makes it emotionally
demanding because my wife and son and child on the way are still in
L.A.,” he said.

Whether he does anything after “Jake 2.0,” Gorham
has come a long way from his first role as the Mad Hatter in a play
of “Alice in Wonderland” when he was in the fourth
grade. Gorham won a “Best Actor” award for his
performance and says that was the moment he decided to become an
actor.

“It was an award generally reserved for sixth graders, and
I won it as a fourth grader,” Gorham said. “I had an
incredible crush on the sixth grader who won the best actress
award.”

He didn’t manage to marry her, but one for two isn’t
bad.