Background and career
Jason Daniel Earles (born April 26, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jackson Stewart in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana and as Rudy Gillespie in the Disney XD series Kickin' It.
Earles was born in San Diego, California. After living in Ohio and Washington state, his family moved to Oregon. 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 from Rocky Mountain College in 2000.
Earles played a nerdy card gamer who was friends with the character Brian Miller in the CBS sitcom Still Standing. In 2004, he appeared in the film National Treasure as Thomas Gates, ancestor of Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage). 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 Cyrus), in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana from 2006 to 2011. Earles was 28 years old when the show began, notably older than his 16-year-old character. He guest-starred twice in the Disney Channel series Phil of the Future as Grady Spaggett, an advanced math student. Earles appeared in the 2006 Disney Channel Games 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 starred 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 guest-starred in season three as Dewey Wood, a camp counselor. In 2026, he started a podcast dedicated to Hannah Montana, titled Best of Both Our Worlds, alongside director Shannon Flynn and writer-producer Douglas Danger Lieblein.
Earles has contributed cast memorabilia to fundraisers for Rocky Mountain College. He was married to Jennifer Earles from 2002 to 2013. On August 12, 2017, Jason Earles married Katie Drysen.
