A “happy accident” is how Texas native Jon Ecker describes his journey from an aquatic biology major at the University of California at Santa Barbara to an in-demand actor about to leap into his biggest network series role yet on Fox’s new hospital drama “Doc,” premiering Jan 7.
While Ecker’s dad, the Brazilian-born Guy Ecker, might be one of the biggest Spanish-language telenovela actors, the 41-year-old says he had no plan to follow in his footsteps.
“I never once thought about being an actor until I was probably in my mid-20s. My dad, yes, is an actor, but I grew up in a small town in Texas [San Marcos] and he was a Spanish-language telenovela actor. And even though it was my dad, it all seemed so foreign and far away,” said Ecker in a recent interview with The Epoch Times.
“It was never really on my radar to do and I never really had an interest. I’ve always been, despite what my wife [actress Laura James] might say, somewhat shy.”
Now Ecker’s inspiring resume brims with work in popular TV shows, including, “Queen of the South,” “Chicago Fire,” “Firefly Lane” and “Narcos.”
“I worked as a scientific diver for years, and then life threw me a few curves and I ended up with the opportunity to take some acting classes and it went well,” he recounted of his winding career path.
“And then I managed to get jobs and it just kind of kept snowballing. I don’t know how many years later, here we are.”
In “Doc,” Ecker plays the role of Dr. Jake Heller, the love interest of the titular character, Dr. Amy Larsen, the chief of internal medicine. Larsen suffers a brain injury in a car crash that erases the last eight years of her memory, which includes her clandestine relationship with Heller, the dedicated and charming Chief Resident, who loves Larsen, professionally and personally.
“I just thought it was a great premise—how the first episode just starts off, that was very exciting,” Ecker recalled his initial impression of the script.
Life on the Farm
The new year brings not just a professional success story for Ecker, but a personal one as well. He and James are eagerly awaiting the birth of their second daughter.The couple, who married in an outdoor ceremony on the outskirts of Nashville in 2022, also make their home in Tennessee where they enthusiastically prefer their chickens, goats, and cats over the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
“I have a lot of stuff to keep me busy,” said Ecker happily as he described his woodworking passion and chores around their property.
“I’ve never been one of those [types who] sit still and watch a lot of TV or drink too much coffee and meet up and have lunch with friends. It’s my therapy—manual tasks to do.”
It’s also where he and James find their connection.
“My wife grew up in upstate New York on a farm, so she loves it,” he said. “Although she’s been pregnant for the majority of the past two years, she used to take care of all the mowing and a lot of the stuff.”
With his on-screen and off-camera life falling securely into place, Ecker is taking on a new challenge that seems straightforward but may yet be his toughest. His goal: “Learn to slow down—just sit in it and be present because one day you’re going to miss it,” he said about his desire to enjoy the day-to-day life of parenting young children.
As for his acting career, Ecker mused about the potential “fun” in breaking into the movies with a rom-com co-starring his wife.
“We‘d love to do something in the future. It’d be great,” Ecker said. For now, he’s enjoying this moment.
“I have a lot of actor friends. And I know how difficult of an industry it is and how competitive and how much it can beat you down, that I just always feel grateful to have a job and to be working and to be able to pay the bills off doing this,” he said.
“If I can do that, I’m honestly happy. And then when you get to do a show like Doc, that I’m so proud of and is great, and you’re so happy for people to watch it—it just cherries on top.”
