Jason Earles Attends 'Hannah Montana 20' Premiere After Confirming He Lied About His Age to Play Jackson Stewart

Jason Earles is returning to his roots and celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hannah Montana!

The actor was spotted walking the red carpet at the premiere of Disney+’s Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special on Monday (March 23) at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.

Jason recently went viral for his comments about his age and how he lied to Disney Channel execs about how old he was when he was cast as Miley’s brother Jackson Stewart.

Keep reading to find out more…

Jason, who will turn 49 years old next month, was 28 when he was playing a teenager on the show.

“I was desperately afraid that I was going to be fired and recast because I had a big secret. So, when I auditioned for the show, I lied to them and told them I was 18 years old,” Jason said on the Best of Both Our Worlds: The Official, Unofficial Hannah Montana Podcast.

He added, “It was another reason why I didn’t almost audition for the show because I was like ‘I’m too old.’ The character’s 16. Nobody’s going to buy it.”

Disney Channel execs didn’t discover his real age until halfway through the filming of season one. They also found out he had a wife.

“I remember one of the higherup network executives showed up on show night and he was like, ‘Hey, so, you’re 28.’ And I was like, ‘I am,’” he said. “And he’s like, ‘So, you’re married? And I was like, ‘Yeah, that girl that I keep making out with, yeah. that’s my wife.’ And he was like, ‘Uh, any more any more secrets? Anything we should know?’”

Disney execs asked him to wait a few years to have kids. He also couldn’t correct fans who thought his first wife was actually his mom.

“I remember going to dinner with my wife at the time and people coming up and saying, ‘You must be so proud of your son,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘Well, all right. Sex is off the table tonight. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah. Yeah.’”

Jason was married to his first wife, Jennifer, from 2002 to 2013. He has been married to Katie Drysen since 2017.