Jacob Neff, 29, grew up wanting to play for the sports teams in school. Eventually, he got to play football and basketball at Calvary Road Baptist Academy.
However, when he was 14 years old, Neff was hit by a car: An accident that altered the course of his future.
Neff was crossing a street where his mother was waiting for him in his hometown of Monrovia.
“The car came and hit me and took out my knee, I then took out its windshield, did a front flip and landed on 108 degree asphalt,” Neff said.
Neff suffered severe knee damage, four stitches in his lip, six staples in his head, a chipped tooth and road burn on his arm and shoulder. The damage in his knee caused scar tissue to form.
The accident all but ended Neff’s aspirations to continue playing sports, he said.
After the accident, however, Neff moved on to Monrovia High School where he graduated with honors in 2007. He enrolled at Citrus College that fall with the intent of studying to become a teacher.
It was not until a meeting with his school counselor that Neff realized what he actually wanted to pursue.
Since the age of 10, Neff had an interest in performing arts, he said. Neff was pointed in the direction of Cherie Brown’s acting class in 2008. Neff took all of Brown’s classes, as well as Neil Weiss’ classes.
In fall 2010, Neff saw auditions taking place for the Christmas play “Tommy Humbug.”
“I said, ‘Well, I’ve never done it. Let’s see what happens,’” Neff said. “I ended up getting a call back and cast in that first production and I’ve been in eight others since.”
Neff said he first became interested in acting when he was 10 years old, watching Robin Williams as Genie in Aladdin. He saw his first play, The Phantom of the Opera, that same year at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
He said his fascination with how his idol, Williams, could do so many different impersonations is what led Neff to work on doing impersonations of his own from the age of 10 to 17. Neff said he could mimic cartoon characters from Porky Pig, The Tasmanian Devil, Sylvester and Daffy Duck to actors like Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christopher Walken.
After joining an improv group in 2011, Neff said he was given the nickname “The Impersonator,” because of his ability to morph his voice to sound like different characters.
His practice paid off, as he was given the opportunity to do impersonations and interact with children in the audience as an elf for five minutes during one of the theatre’s Christmas productions.
Having seen the growth take place over the years, Brown said Neff “has always been committed to being the best that he could be.” She has seen him grow “as a dedicated student and as a man.”
“His smiling face always lights up the room,” she said.
After reflecting on the accident and his time in the theatre arts program, Neff joked about what a difference that moment made in his life.
“I went from being a jock, to being hit by a car, to falling into theatre and I love theatre,” Neff said. “I have met so many people here.”
Neff described the theatre department as a “big family” and said the program is “definitely up there with some of the four-year universities.”
“We don’t put down each other,” Neff said. “All the actors here support us.”
Citrus theatre alumnus and friend Anthony Garcia still helps with productions at the Little Theatre and has seen the confidence Neff has gained with experience.
“I’ve seen a fire lit under him, allowing him to branch out to improv, stand up and film,” Garcia said. “That is not the same Jacob I knew when he walked through the theatre those years ago.”
Looking towards the future, Neff said he wants to continue acting. Neff also wants to continue screenwriting and is currently working on a screenplay that he hopes will turn into a short film. Neff plans to do stand up comedy, as well as improv.
When he is not in theatre, Neff is on YouTube, watching comedians and impersonators, including Robin Williams.
“I’ve been able to grow and love something the way I used to love basketball,” Neff said.
Neff will continue taking performing arts classes at Citrus College as he works towards his future goals.
