Jason Daniel Earles (born April 26, 1977) is an American actor. Known for his role as Jackson Stewart in the Disney Channel sitcom '' Hannah Montana'' and his role as Rudy Gillespie in the

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...

series '' Kickin' It''.

Early life

Earles was born in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, California. After living in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, his family moved to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. In Oregon, he graduated from Glencoe High School in Hillsboro. Before moving back to southern California, Earles lived in Billings, Montana, where he graduated in

theatre arts Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

from

Rocky Mountain College Rocky Mountain College (Rocky or RMC) is a private college in Billings, Montana. It offers 50 liberal arts and professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. In fall 2013, the college had 1069 enrolled students. It is affiliated with the ...

in 2000.

Career

Earles played a nerdy card gamer who was friends with the character Brian Miller in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

sitcom '' Still Standing''. In 2004, he appeared in the film ''

National Treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the funda ...

'' as Thomas Gates, ancestor of Ben Gates (

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

). In 2005, Earles played Ernie Kaplowitz in the film '' American Pie Presents: Band Camp''. Earles' most notable role was as Jackson Stewart, the older brother of

Miley Stewart Miley Ray Stewart is the fictional main character in the Disney Channel television series ''Hannah Montana'', portrayed by Miley Cyrus. She first appeared on television in the pilot episode "Lilly, Do You Want to Know a Secret?" on March 24, 2 ...

(

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...

), in the Disney Channel series '' Hannah Montana'' from 2006 to 2011. Earles was notably older than the character he played; when the show began, he was a 29-year-old playing a 16-year-old. He guest-starred twice in the Disney Channel series ''

Phil of the Future ''Phil of the Future'' is an American science fiction sitcom that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 18, 2004, to August 19, 2006, for two seasons. The series was created by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile and produced by 2121 Productions. ...

'' as Grady Spaggett, an advanced math student. Earles appeared in the 2006 ''

Disney Channel Games ''Disney Channel Games'' are a ''Battle of the Network Stars''-based annual television series that aired on the Disney Channel during the summer from 2006 to 2008. Phill Lewis was the co-host of the first two editions in 2006 and 2007, and Brian ...

'' on the Blue Team, and in the 2007 and 2008 ''Disney Channel Games'' on the Red team. Earles was the co-host of ''Disney Channel's Sing-Along Bowl-athon'' ( Disney Channel's 2006 New Year's Eve special) and the corresponding online voting. He voiced Spudnik in the 2009 talking dog film '' Space Buddies''. Earles stars as the sensei, Rudy Gillespie in the Disney XD original series '' Kickin' It'', which premiered on June 13, 2011. Earles served as the acting coach for '' High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'', and will guest star in season three as Dewey Wood, a camp counselor.

Personal life and philanthropy

Earles has contributed cast memorabilia to the fundraisers for Rocky Mountain College, his alma mater. He was married to Jennifer Earles from 2002 to 2013. On August 12, 2017, Jason Earles married Katie Drysen.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Jason Earles audio interview at Tommy2.Net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earles, Jason 1977 births 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Living people Male actors from Oregon Male actors from San Diego People from Hillsboro, Oregon Rocky Mountain College alumni