Jackson Rathbone biography

Name: Monroe Jackson Rathbone V

Nicknames: Jay, J. Action

Date Of Birth: December 21, 1984

Place Of Birth: Singapore

Parents: Jack and Randee Rathbone

Siblings: 3 sisters – Ryann Rathbone, Kelly Garrett Rathbone, Brittney Rathbone

Jackson Rathbone’s birth name is actually Monroe Jackson Rathbone. He was born December 21, 1984 in Singapore. His parents are Randee Lynn and Monroe Jackson Rathbone. Monroe Jackson Rathbone is his great grandfather was the chairman of Exxon Oil in New Jersey.

Rathbone moved to northwest Michigan to attend the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy as a high school theater major. He grew to appreciate classical theater and flourished in Shakespearean plays. The summer between his junior and senior year, he performed in the Southwest Shakespeare Festival as Ferdinand in “The Tempest.”

Upon graduation from Interlochen, with plans to attend the Royal Scottish Academy as a theater major in the fall, he decided to give Los Angeles and the film industry a try for the summer and signed with manager Patch Mackenzie at Cutler Management, who sent him to study film acting with Jeremiah Comey. In short order, he landed a recurring role on “Disney 411,” interviewing Disney Channel stars, and signed with the Paradigm talent agency.

Opting for a career in film, Jackson decided to stay in L.A. rather than attend the Royal Scottish Academy. He quickly booked several television commercials, along with substantial roles in TV, the Hallmark telefilm “Close to Home” and the series “The O.C.” and “The War at Home” among them. Feature film work followed, in the independent films “Molding Clay” and “Pray for Morning.” He next landed a series regular role in the ABC Family series “Beautiful People”—he was able to keep up his musical pursuits via the internet while filming in Toronto.

Rathbone was chosen by Girls’ Life magazine as “The Hottie” of the month, and was featured in Popstar and ELLEgirl. Usually cast as a leading man, Jackson also enjoys the challenge of character parts, which he had in the features “Big Stan” and “Senior Skip Day.”

After having completed the role of Jasper Hale in the runaway hit features “Twilight” and “New Moon,” along with the lead in the horror film “Dread,” he appeared in guest-starring roles in the series “The Cleaner” and “Criminal Minds.” He most recently appeared in the third “Twilight” installment, “Eclipse,” again reprising the role of Jasper. He will next appear in the drama “Truckstop.”

After being in Los Angeles for a short time, Rathbone was cast in Disney 411, where he interviewed up-and-coming personalities like Hilary Duff and the sister duo Aly & AJ. He has also had guest roles on The O.C. and Close to Home. His film roles include work in Molding Clay, Pray for Morning, and Travis and Henry. In 2005, he scored the role of Nicholas Fiske in ABC Family's original series Beautiful People. In a 2008 interview, he stated it was his first leading man role and was his most difficult role to fit into.

In 2008, he played Jasper Hale in the film Twilight, based on the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer. He reprised his role in the sequels to Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. In 2009, Rathbone played Jeremy in S. Darko. In addition to that role, he won kudos for his performance as a serial killer on Criminal Minds. Rathbone played the role of Sokka in The Last Airbender, a 2010 film based on the animated series. The Last Airbender has caused controversy because of the casting of white actors like Rathbone to play characters that some fans felt were depictions of Asians or Inuit. Rathbone stated, "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."

Variety reported Rathbone would soon star in an upcoming indie film drama, Truckstop, which will begin filming in September. Rathbone will be playing the role of Charles, "a man with cerebral palsy who takes care of his dying father while working at truckstop, where he befriends a troubled young prostitute." Rathbone appeared in an episode of No Ordinary Family on November 9, 2010. Rathbone was recently cast as the lead in a new upcoming teen action series, Aim High. He will portray the role of Nick Green, a high school junior who's just starting a new school year as one of the country's 64 highly trained teenage operatives. Filming took place in November 2010 and the series is slated to premiere in 2011. In May 2011 Rathbone began shooting Live at The Foxes Den, a film in which he plays the lead role of lawyer Bobby Kelly.

Rathbone has a production company, PatchMo Entertainment, and a record company, Happy Jack Records.