We’ve all told a little white lie to get a job, right? Well, Disney Channel star Jason Earles is no exception.
The actor played 16-year-old Jackson Stewart on “Hannah Montana,” the brother of Miley Cyrus’ titular character, but he feared he was a tad old to nab the part. Earles was 28 years old when the show came out, so he fudged the numbers a bit, telling producers he was only 18.
“I was desperately afraid that I was going to be fired and recast because I had a big secret,” he said on the “Best of Both Our Worlds” podcast. “When I auditioned for the show, I lied to them and told them I was 18 years old.” In fact, Earles said he almost didn’t audition at all, figuring no one would believe he was a teenager.
Earles then explained that he had previously auditioned for the casting director, Lisa London, and had lied about his age then, too. London believed he was 19 years old, but asked him to say he was 18 because the network wanted to cast someone as close to the character’s age as possible. Basically, Earles had a lot of lies he needed to keep straight, especially since he landed the role.
Earles’ secret did come out while filming season one, but he was able to keep his job on the Emmy-nominated series. “I remember one of the higher-up network executives showed up on show night and he was like, ‘Hey, so you’re 28.’ And I was like, ‘I am.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that girl that I keep making out with? That’s my wife,’” he said. “[The executive] was like, ‘Any more secrets? Anything we should know?’ I was like, ‘No.’ He’s like, ‘Do you have any kids?’ And I was like, ‘No kids.’ He’s like, ‘Let’s go ahead and keep it that way for a few years.’”
I guess Earles is proof it’s okay to lie sometimes (as long as it’s about your age).
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