Jake is Captain Benjamin Sisko's son. He doesn't
very much remember life on Earth since he has been aboard four different
starships and stationed on two planets during his father's career. This transient
life style has taught him how to scope out a new terrain and assimilate quickly.
At the same time he has an inner fear of forming new friendships because
he loses them so easily. He dreams of going to live on Earth.
He collects holodeck programs of various places on Earth that he uses to try to fulfill his fantasy. Deep inside he knows that his mom would still be alive if his family didn't live in space, and he has a suppressed bitterness about it. When they arrived on DS9, his father promised there would be other kids on the station. As it turns out, there are only a handful of various alien species. Only one is his age, Nog, a Ferengi teenage boy who was considered bad influence for a time by his father. Besides that, he is close with his dad. For a time O'Brien tried to teach Jake about DS9's engineering systems, but now Jake wants to become a writer.
The young actor feature on DEEP SPACE NINE
is a natural resident of Los Angeles. He became interested in acting when
he was quite young and appeared in elementary school productions, including
one where he played Martin Luther King, Jr. His first professional work was
at age nine in an educational film titled "Agency for Instructional Technology."
He was discovered by a professional photographer who saw the youth playing
in a park with his family.
On television he could have been seen even before DEEP SPACE NINE in TV commercials. The commercials he appeared in were for such products as Kellog's Rice Krispies, Tropicana Orange Juice, as well as for McDonalds. In 1992 Cirroc made his big screen debut in the movie BEETHOVEN in a small role.
"I like being other people," Cirroc told STARLOG. "I'm really an actor all
the time. Before being discovered in the part I was always a comedian and
was so involved in drama. I feel everday living is acting. So I've really
enjoyed it so far because it's still me, but I'm being recognized now."
His initial tryout for the role of Jake Sisko was a mass audition in which two hundred other young male actors turned out. For each callback he got there were fewer and fewer boys until finally it was down to Cirroc and one other young actor. He says that the casting director winked at him after his final test as a silent approval and he knew he had the part.
Cirroc Lofton is a typical teenage boy whose interests include riding his bicycle and playing basketball. While working on the weekly TV series he goes to school on set with a tutor and is required to devote at least three hours a day to his studies. Cirroc feels that his own relationship with his father is very similar to that of Jake and Ben Sisko, who are very close and can talk to each other easily.
Between the end of the first season and the beginning of the second, Lofton
grew a few inches until now he stands a lanky five foot ten, nearly as tall
as Avery Brooks, but he still has the youthful appearance of most 15 year
olds so the height change isn't as noticeable.
Because Avery Brooks is also a teacher of the theatrical arts he has taken Cirroc under his wing and coached him so that the youth has continued to learn about his craft through more than just experience.
In describing his work on the series and in discussing the various episodes, Cirroc states, "I really don't have any favorites. My acting is better in some than in others. As time progressed I felt more comfortable. I learned more and felt more comfortable as it went on. So I guess the newer episodes are more my favorites because I've improved as an actor."
Jake's counterpart on the show is his friend, Nog, the Ferengi boy, who is played by Aron Eisenberg, an actor in his mid-twenties. But Cirroc says that in the Ferengi makeup Aron looks like he's the same age as Jake is.
Regarding his future, Cirroc wants to continue acting but go to college as
well. Although for a time he was thinking about being a doctor, now he's
decided that he wants to make a career out of acting while still getting
a college degree.
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by Mario Guatteri