Jake Cannavale Dishes on Working with Father Bobby Cannavale onNurse Jackieand UpcomingKay ScarpettaSeries (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

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With his latest role on FX’s newest anthology,American Sports Story, Jake Cannavale is continuing to carve out a space for himself on screen, especially following roles on the streaming series,The MandalorianandThe Offer, as well as in this summer’s indie crime thriller,Inside Man.

“We were on set a lot, we had a lot of scenes together,” Jake recalls to PEOPLE while discussinghis supporting role as Chris, Aaron Hernandez’s love interest onAmerican Sports Story, which is now airing on FX and streaming on Hulu. “That was the easiest job I ever had because I had no idea what I was doing. To this day, Nurse Jackie is probably the top three coolest sets I’ve ever been on in terms of people. Everyone was super dope.”

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Only 15 or 16 when he filmed his episodes, the actor recalls how fun it was getting to skip class to be in front of the camera. “I was getting paid to ditch two days of school a week and go act cool,” Jake says. “It was easy and everyone was cool. There was no actor on that set whose head was up their own ass. Everyone was just dope.”

“Edie Falco’s an absolute hero. I couldn’t have asked for a better actor to make my debut with. Zero complaints, it was awesome,” he adds of his time working on the series.

And in that time since, the actor says his father, 54, has been a sounding board for him, offering advice as needed on various roles or how to act on set. “Whenever we talk about stuff like that, it’s mostly just a reiteration of doing your job, so to speak,” he says of making sure “everyone gets the same amount of professionalism from me,” whether it’s an independent project or high profile series fromRyan Murphy, who executive producedAmerican Sports Storyand served as co-creator, writer and director ofThe Watcher, which starred his father.

Not only that, but Jake says his father “makes himself available” whenever he needs a second take on projects. “I’ve asked him a few times for his opinion on things and for his advice on things,” the actor says, noting that his dad is “very, very respectful of my autonomy.”

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He adds, “I’d be a fool not to use that resource.”

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UnlikeNurse Jackie, they won’t be in any scenes together. “I’m working with my father in a different way,” Jake says, while noting that he’s “very excited for this different kind” of experience.

“We’re never gonna be on set at the same time because we never have any scenes together. But what is interesting and what I think is raising the stakes acting-wise is that we both have to figure out this character together,” he says, explaining, “I can’t just wing it and do my interpretation because he could do something completely different.”

The actor adds, “So, it’s really cool. We’ve already started actually doing so much work off camera, which is where all our work on this character will be — like, going over the script and being like, ‘How is he feeling in this moment? What do you think his backstory is? What’s his relationship like with so and so?’ "

source: people.com