Like his "Degrassi: The Next Generation" character Craig Manning, Jake Epstein is a singer. In a 2007 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Epstein explained why he temporarily walked away from "Degrassi." He said, "I left the show for a while because I went to school in Montreal, the National Theatre School. It's like the Juilliard of Canada. It's this really tough program to get into, and after five years of doing 'Degrassi' I wanted to do something else." He added, "I'm really into theater. It was probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever made in my life."
This move paid off for Epstein, who was subsequently cast in a series of musicals, including the national tour for "Spring Awakening" in 2009 and "American Idiot" in 2011. Epstein also performed in "Billy Elliot" in Toronto. In 2012, he made it to Broadway and appeared in the musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." Epstein played Peter Parker.
He spoke about this career-changing moment with TresA Magazine and said, "Making my Broadway debut playing Spider-Man on Broadway was completely surreal! I think what I enjoyed most in the show was finding the comedy and humour in the character." Epstein then appeared in "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" as Gerry Goffin.
The actor told the Toronto Star that Broadway was physically and emotionally exhausting. As a result, he left the theater world.
