Jake Dylan Wood (born 12 July 1972)
is a British actor and podcaster from
Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
, known for his role as
Max Branning in the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
soap opera ''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
''. He has also made guest appearances in series including ''
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
'' and ''
Red Dwarf
A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...
''. In 2014, Wood competed on BBC's ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...
'' alongside professional dancer
Janette Manrara. In the United States, he is known as the voice of the
GEICO gecko in a series of television adverts for the American insurance company
GEICO
The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is an American vehicle insurance company headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland. In addition to auto insurance, GEICO provides motorcycle, ATV, RV, boat, snowmobile, travel, pet, event, hom ...
. In 2018, he began co-hosting ''Pound for Pound'', a boxing
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
with
Spencer Oliver.
Early life
Wood was born in
Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
, London, to an
English father and a
French mother.
He attended
City of London Academy Highbury Grove and trained as an actor at the
Anna Scher Drama School in
Islington
Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
, North London.
Career
His first acting role was in the 1984 television series ''The Gentle Touch''. He has since appeared in several television series including ''
May to December'', ''
Minder'', ''
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
'', ''
Nightingales'', ''
Murder in Mind'', ''
Press Gang'', ''
London's Burning'', ''
Casualty,'' ''
In Deep,'' ''
Sean's Show'', ''
Inspector Morse Driven to Distraction 1989'', ''
One Foot in the Grave
''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour episodes) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late ...
'', ''
Red Dwarf
A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...
'', ''
A Touch of Frost'', ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...
'', ''
Le Café des Rêves'', ''
Sea of Souls'', ''
Doc Martin'' and ''
The Thin Blue Line''. He has appeared in the films ''
Flesh and Blood'' (1985) with
Rutger Hauer
Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.
H ...
and
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). She re ...
, ''
Crimetime'' (1996) with
Stephen Baldwin, ''
Tube Tales'' (1999), ''
The Aryan Couple'' (2004) and ''
The Illusionist'' (2006) opposite
Edward Norton. Wood starred in the 1989
Yellow pages TV Advert, entitled "Party Party" and is the voice of the
GEICO gecko advertisements on American television. Wood also featured alongside Cobent CTO and ex-
''Metal Hammer'' journalist Tony Dillon as part of a team presenting ''Click'', a computer games magazine on video in the early 1990s. In 1989, Wood appeared in ''
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
'' as an assistant for
Rodney Trotter (
Nicholas Lyndhurst
Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst (born 20 April 1961) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and is best known for his role as Rodney Trotter in the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' (1981–2003). He was cast as Professor Alan C ...
), in the episode ''
The Jolly Boys' Outing
"The Jolly Boys' Outing" is the eighth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', first screened on 25 December 1989. Despite being aired as a Christmas special, it is set on a summer bank holiday weekend and sees Del ...
''. In the 8th series of ''
Red Dwarf
A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...
'' he played Kill Crazy, a prison inmate. Wood also played the eldest son, Dougie, in sitcom family ''The Wilsons''.
In early 1990s, Wood portrayed the role of
Jackson in the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
soap opera ''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
'', a minor character who met
Diane Butcher (
Sophie Lawrence) while she was sleeping rough on the streets of London. Wood was later cast to play the regular character
Max Branning from June 2006 to February 2021. In 2014, Wood took part in the
12th series of ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...
''. He was partnered with
Janette Manrara, reaching the semi-final. In May 2015, Wood announced that he would be taking a
year-long break from ''EastEnders''. Wood said "I have been at ''EastEnders'' for nine years and I feel the time is right to give Max a break. It won't be for too long as I shall be back next year to see Max face another chapter of drama."
In January 2018, Wood started hosting a boxing
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
, ''Pound for Pound'', with
Spencer Oliver. In September 2020, it was announced that Wood would be departing from the cast of ''EastEnders'' after fifteen years in the role, with Max being written out as part of an "explosive exit". His departure aired on 19 February 2021. Four years later, in May 2025, it was announced that Wood would reprise the role later in the year.
Personal life
Wood is a fan of
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and took part in the 2007
Great North Run.
He lives in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
with his wife, Alison, whom he married in 2001, and their two children.
In 2019, he ran the
London Marathon
The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...
with some of his ''EastEnders'' co-stars for a
Dementia
Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
campaign in honour of
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. .
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Jake
1972 births
Living people
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English male actors
Actors from the City of Westminster
Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School
British male film actors
British male television actors
British male soap opera actors
English male voice actors
English people of French descent
Male actors from London
People from Westminster