Jason Earles

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.

Early life Earles was born in San Diego, California. After living in Ohio and Washington state, his family moved to Oregon. Before moving back to southern California, Earles lived in Billings, Montana, where he graduated in theatre arts from Rocky Mountain College in 2000.

Career 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.

Personal life 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.

Filmography

Film + Film Year Title Role Notes 2004 National Treasure Thomas Gates Table 6 Bus boy Short film 2005 American Pie Presents: Band Camp Ernie Kaplowitz Direct-to-video Special Ed Young David 2007 Gordon Glass The Boss 2009 Space Buddies Spudnick (voice) Direct-to-video Hannah Montana: The Movie Jackson Stewart 2013 Super Buddies Jack Schaeffer Direct-to-video 2014 Hunted Dax 2018 Battle Drone Dax2026 Second Chances

Television + Television Year Title Role Notes 2003 MADtv Swirley kid Season 8, episode 18 Kyle Episode: "Breakpoint" Malcolm in the Middle Marshal School pupil on the left Uncredited; episode: "Academic Octathalon" 2004 Still Standing Goran the Invincible Episode: "Still Winning" 2005 One on One Brad Episode: "Glug, Glug" 2005–2006 Phil of the Future Grady Spaggett 2 episodes 2006–2011 Hannah Montana Jackson Stewart Main cast; 98 episodes 2007 Shorty McShorts' Shorts Guy / SheZow (voice) Episode: "SheZow" 2008 Boston Legal Mitchy Weston Episode: "Indecent Proposals" 2009 Yin Yang Yo! Himself (voice) Episode: "Yin! Yang! You!" Aaron Stone Hunter Episode: "S.T.A.N. by Me" Dadnapped Merv Television film 2010–2014 Fish Hooks Kevin / Hamster boy (voice) 2 episodes 2011–2015 Kickin' It Rudy Gillespie Main cast; 83 episodes, Co-producer (seasons 2-4), Directed 4 episodes 2013 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja Brent (voice) Episode: "Sword Quest" 2016 Best Friends Whenever Dax Fraggins Episode: "The Friendship Code" 2016–2018 WTH: Welcome to Howler Chuck 8 episodes 2017 Vampirina Curt Spookman (voice) Episode: "Little Terror/Super Natural" Linda from HR Todd Television film 2019 Mood Swings Angel Main role; 8 episodes 2020 Just Roll with It Skeeter Swindell Episode: "Shayna Pennsylvania" 2022–2023 High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Dewey Wood Recurring (season 3), Guest (season 4)8 episodes

Web series + Web Year Title Role Notes 2013 Santa (voice) Episode: "Mall Santa" Jennifer McMinamin (voice) Episode: "New Year" 2017 Betch David Episode: "A Makeup-Free Sketch Show" 2018 Hotel Du Loone Flynt Rogers Main role; Brat sitcom

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result 2009 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Actor: Music/Dance Hannah Montana: The Movie