The media calls Jake Rory a Shropshire Lad, reflecting the book of poetry by A.E. Housman, who was terrified of acknowledging his love for men:
They mirror true the sight I see,
And there you find your face too clear
And love it and be lost like me.
He grew up in Maesbury, Shropshire, near the Welsh border; his Mum ran the Talbot Pub across the border in Welshpool. After secondary school at The Hammond, he attended ArtsEd, a "world-renowned" drama school in London:
There he Jake appeared in:
The Cherry Orchard (who hasn't?)
Orpheus Descending, by Tennessee Williams. Bi actor Marlon Brando starred in the movie version.
Macbeth
And The Voysey Inheritance: Desire and social obligation, by the heavily closeted Harley Granville-Barker.
He also had a minor role in the short Renters (2024): a lesbian couple in Auckland are looking for a flat. One seems too good to be true, until...
Jake graduated with a B.A. in Acting in 2024, and was immediately cast in a modernized version of Oedipus on the West End (October 2024-January 2025). Mark Strong played Oedipus. Jake was in the ensemble, and understudied the roles of Eteocles, Polyneices, and Lichas (Oedipus' son, brother, and assistant).
In 2025, Jake and Connor Monroe wrote and performed in Mercutio, a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet, at the Camden Fringe Festival. A review mentions an "unexpected romantic subtext," but of course the gay-subtext romance betwween Mercutio and Romeo is well known.
Jake also began television work in 2025. In Episode 1.8 of The Agency, Martian (Michael Fassbinder), a CIA agent working undercover, walks in on his daughter Poppy and her boyfriend Daniel (Jake), both naked. Danny Boy strikes a pose, planning to fight the "intruder"; but upon realizing that it's just Dad, he settles for covering up.
Martian is nonchalant about his daughter getting busy. Later he praises her for growing into a "cool person."
More after the break