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

, 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'', ''

'', '' 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 ...

'', ''

'', '' 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 ''

'' 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 ''

'' 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

soap opera ''

'', 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 ''

''. 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

, ''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