What did you learn about acting or the “biz” when you were a teenager on Degrassi?

That show was the first time that I realized the power of bringing yourself to a character. I slowly realized how interested the writers and producers were in us actors, as people. For instance, I loved music and always brought my guitar to set, and all of a sudden my character was in a band. I would talk to the producer about things going on in school around me, and suddenly I was acting out those situations out on the show. I was really proud of a lot of the work I did on that show, and I think a lot of that was due to the fact that the character become so personal to me.

What was your favourite experience or class at NTS?

I still think about our clown class with Leah Cherniak all the time. It was terrifying when I started and I was SO BAD. The sole purpose of 'clown' is to be funny, and if you went up in front of the class, and bombed, it was like a soul sucking nightmare! Leah talked to me about exploiting myself... the truth is what's funny. So I started bringing in parts of myself to my clown (my clown became a sort of rabbi, reggae, dance-instructor!). I ended up making a lot of people laugh and loved every second of that class.

Toronto’s Jake Epstein, is flying high living out every young boy’s dream of being Spider-Man! The 25-year-old actor, who’s best known for playing Craig Manning on Degrassi: The Next Generation, is now raking in over $1 million a week on Broadway in Spider-Man:Turn Off The Dark.

We catch up with Jake for a personal behind-the-scenes tour, where he reveals the path to landing the role was as nerve-racking as you would expect: “It was like any other audition I’ve ever been to with the exception of, after doing all the acting, we went to the Foxwoods Theatre and had a harness and flying rehearsal.”

Something else that set the audition apart was how he had to win over one of the biggest names in music, Bono, who co-wrote the musical’s lyrics with his U2 bandmate, The Edge. “When I auditioned, he actually wasn’t available to be there but there was a camera there and they told me, ‘That’s Bono [pointing to the camera]. He’s going to get that tape,’” explains Jake. “So when I was doing my audition, I would sneak glances over at the camera to Bono.”

The tactic obviously worked: “I found out that Bono had approved me which I thought was the coolest thing in the world.”

It isn’t easy making your mark on a role that’s been played recently by two Hollywood heavyweights. Although, Jake makes a point to put his own spin on the character, he channels more of Tobey Maguire’s version of Spidey than Andrew Garfield’s. “I really like them both for different reasons,” he says. “Toby was so unbelievably awkward I kind of loved it. He was the last person in the world you would think of playing Spider-Man. Andrew was kind of cool, he was like a hipster Spider-Man, so I was like, he’d never get picked on.”

For more from Jake’s tour of the show, tune-in to ET Canada tonight!

Jake Epstein is flying high these days, literally as well as figuratively.

The Toronto actor best remembered for his stint on Degrassi: The Next Generation as well as local appearances in Ross Petty’s Beauty and the Beast and the touring production of American Idiot, is soaring through the air of the Foxwoods Theatre in the title role of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

Yes, Spider-Man, the show that nobody thought would ever open, is heading toward its third anniversary in November, grossing more than a million dollars a week and confounding the doubters.

“Everyone wrote it off, but we’re still going strong,” says Epstein, tearing into an energy-building bowl of pasta after a recent matinee performance. He wasn’t around during the initial sturm und drang that marked the show’s creation, ending with the departure of director Julie Taymor, but “I love to talk to the cast who were around then,” adds Epstein. “And they love to tell their war stories.”

Epstein can trace his involvement with this show to another hit musical he worked on, only in the touring version.

“It was my opening night of Spring Awakening in Milwaukee and our musical director, Kim Grigsby, just looked at me backstage and said ‘Peter Parker.’

“I laughed it off, but I remembered it and she kept saying it.”

Fast forward a few years when Grigsby was the musical director of Spider-Man and they were looking for someone to replace Matthew James Thomas (who was going into the title role of Pippin) as the alternate to Reeve Carney on Broadway.

“She told the director I was a huge nerd and I’d be perfect for the part,” laughs Epstein.

He auditioned and impressed everyone enough to go on to the next step, which included getting the approval of both Marvel Comics, which originated the character, and Bono, who had written the show’s score.

Epstein aced all the bases and, as he recalls, “I collapsed on the floor when I finally got the call telling me I had the part. If you’d ever told me that my Broadway debut would be playing Spider-Man, I would have laughed in your face.”

The heavy-duty rock score was one thing for Epstein to master (“I just fake it till I make it”), but the flying was something else.

It’s no secret that a lot of the flying in the show is done by doubles, but the climactic final battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, where the two of them keep swooping over the audience, reveals Epstein with his mask off, clearly doing his own aerial dynamics.

“I was a bit scared at first, but it was very safe and I never really got nervous until there was an audience.”

And those nerves were mainly due to the presence of his parents in the house.

“They sat in the flying circle where I land, but I didn’t know that. I was looking around the house for my parents and then, right at the end, I land in front of them. My mom is sobbing uncontrollably, my dad is laughing like crazy.”

Keeping in shape for the show also takes a major effort and Epstein says that, “I do this special program they invented for guys who fly in the show. It’s called ‘Revolution in Motion,’ but I call it ‘Ninja Training.’

“I thought I’d wind up with killer abs, but no, it’s all about your ankles and your core muscles. I’ve got an ankle six-pack.”

Epstein loves every part of the game, including signing autographs after the show. “The kids all literally think I’m Spider-Man and they ask me how I shoot my webs. It’s flattering and crazy, but it’s Spider-Man they’re in awe of, not Jake Epstein.”

In his spare time, he’s been doing workshops and readings of upcoming Broadway shows, including Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, where he played the role of Gerry Goffin in the workshop.

“The dream is to originate a role in a show on Broadway,” admits Epstein. “That’s the ultimate goal.”

But right now, he’s committed to weaving his webs until the end of August. After that, he plans to stay in New York for a while, giving his all to whatever project he winds up connected to.

“I take it pretty seriously, no matter what it is,” says Epstein, which is only right. After all, with great power comes great responsibility.

I can't believe Epstein got married.

What? He didn't?

Oh.

Carry on.

Jake Epstein is going to make beautiful music on Broadway this fall.

The Toronto-born actor, most recently seen in New York in the title role of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, has been cast as Gerry Goffin in the new musical biography of singer-songwriter Carole King, Beautiful, which starts previews at the Steven Sondheim Theatre on Nov. 21.

Epstein first came to prominence as bipolar musician Craig Manning on Degrassi: The Next Generation, so it’s only fitting he now tackles the role of Goffin, who suffered from the same disorder and was King’s husband during the period when they wrote songs like “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”

“It’s not like I’m new to playing troubled characters,” joked Epstein on his way to a rehearsal in Manhattan. He’s also played the tortured Melchior in the national tour of Spring Awakening, as well as the conflicted Will in the national tour of American Idiot.

“It’s also going to be strange to play a real person, one who’s still alive and whose music I play and listen to,” added Epstein. “You also get to originate the role and be a part of the initial creative process. That’s exciting.”

Epstein admits that, “I’m both fascinated and apprehensive about playing Goffin. He’s still a troubled guy who continues to get electroshock therapy once a month. A lot of people aren’t going to like my character.”

Goffin and King divorced in 1968 and she went on to an iconic career as a singer-songwriter, with her 1971 album Tapestry selling 25 million albums with songs like “It’s Too Late” and “You’ve Got a Friend.”

King will be played by Jessie Mueller, who most recently starred opposite Matthew Broderick in Nice Work If You Can Get It.

Beautiful is written by Oscar-nominated Douglas McGrath and directed by Marc Bruni. Its pre-Broadway tryout will take place in San Francisco’s Curran Theatre, starting Sept. 24.

And what’s Epstein looking forward to the most?

“Getting to sing ‘Up on the Roof,’ which has always been one of my favourite songs.”