Jake Shane is on a roll. Just months after appearing on HBO’s “Hacks,” the podcaster-turned-actor has achieved what most social media stars hoping to break into Hollywood could only dream of: his own show.
The TikToker will star in and executive produce a half-hour comedy at Hulu, written by “Hacks” co-creator Genevieve Aniello, that will center on Shane and his friends as they “navigate the chaotic new world of online fame,” per the official logline. As Shane enters into the realm of traditional TV and film, it only feels right to take his social media and online presence with him.
“There’s no me without the social media that I came [from] — I’m still there,” Shane told TheWrap. “We’re entering this space where digital talent and traditional talent is merging in this really cool way, and I don’t know how it’s gonna look, but I know that it has to happen based on how younger generations are consuming media.”
It’s a merging that’s already happening across the industry as creators make their mark on Hollywood, with Shane pointing to Emma Chamberlain, who will soon make her feature film debut in “Forbidden Fruits,” as well as Alix Earle, who is currently starring on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” and Brittany Broski as social media stars that he looked to as he parlayed his online fan base into film and TV gigs.
Shane’s foray into Hollywood is impressive in its own right, playing a “social media girlie” helping boost the social presence of Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance in her new late night gig. Shane initially auditioned for a different role for “Hacks’” fourth installment and didn’t get it, but he didn’t let that stop him.
“I was posting a bunch of skits on that weekend, just hoping it got to them — I knew they were in the writers’ room,” Shane said. “I think it did get to them, and they were able to fit me into the season somehow … I remember getting the call, and it was just the best moment of my life.”
The experience lived up to his hopes, too, with Shane noting that Smart would sit with him between takes and tell him stories from her time in Hollywood. “Hannah [Einbinder] and Jean were just lovely. The entire cast was lovely, and it was just amazing. I would do it a million times again,” Shane said.
He kept the momentum going, appearing in a social media roundup on Lena Dunham’s Netflix series “Too Much,” and has since filmed the Graham Parkes relationship comedy “Wishful Thinking,” in which Shane expands from playing a social media star, with the support of Parkes as well as co-stars Maya Hawke and Lewis Pullman, who welcomed him to the production from Day 1.
“You need to be around people that believe in you, and don’t just see you as that, which is sometimes difficult,” Shane said. “I know I’m in a very lucky position where I get to do what I do, but sometimes it is hard to get people to take you seriously in other facets.”
Shane applauded Hawke for helping him quell his anxieties heading into scenes and providing reassurance regarding his comedic timing. “They made me feel like I was supposed to be there,” he said. “That’s what matters — you have to be around people that make you feel like you’re supposed to be there.”
Now that he’s doing auditions and taking acting classes, Shane said he’ll do “anything that I can get my hands on,” though, in an ideal world, that would be primarily comedy.
Plus, his podcast, “Therapuss,” has done anything but fall to the wayside as his acting career progresses, with Shane welcoming on guests like Hilary Duff, Kerry Washington, Rachel Sennott and Dylan O’Brien for Season 2, which concluded this week and will be on hiatus until early 2026.
“I felt like the same thing happened with Season 1, where by the end of it, I was like, ‘How did that happen?’” Shane shared. “I feel like so much has changed in my life between now and then, and I’ve done so many things I could have only ever dreamed of, and it is all due to the podcast … I felt the same exact way at the end of Season 1 — I just feel tenfold again in Season 2.”
Like media critics have been hypothesizing, Shane noted that podcasting is entering “the space of what could be the new generation of late night television,” adding that he would love to take “Therapuss” into the late night sector in some capacity. “Late night is such a staple of American culture, and to see it go away would be horrible,” he said, noting that bringing the younger generation into late night would infuse the sector with some new life.
In terms of the longevity for the podcast, Shane reiterated his commitment to platform diversification, saying, “There’s no me without the visuals … I think a lot of my comedy is physical, and the faces I make and the way move my body, so I always knew that if I was doing a podcast, it had to be visual as well.”
As Shane takes a hiatus on “Therapuss,” he’s already brainstorming some new segments for Season 3. “I always want to make the show more 360,” he said. “I was able to get so much deeper with the guests in Season 2 as opposed to Season 1, and I think I want keep going deeper [and] find that balance with keeping it deep and funny all at the same time.”
And, of course, if Shane’s dream guest Taylor Swift could stop by, even better.
