Jason Earles was 28 when he auditioned for the role of Jackson Stewart, and lasted eight episodes before his secret was revealed.

Hannah Montana star reveals he lied to Disney producers about his age to play Miley Cyrus’ teen brother

Jason Earles was 28 when he auditioned for the role of Jackson Stewart, and lasted eight episodes before his secret was revealed.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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March 18, 2026 12:19 p.m. ET

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Miley Cyrus and Jason Earles on 'Hannah Montana'. Credit:

DISNEY CHANNEL/BYRON COHEN

Miley Cyrus wasn't the only one hiding a big secret on the set of *Hannah Montana*. But at least hers was fictional.

Two decades after the Disney Channel sitcom premiered, series star Jason Earles is coming clean about the noticeable age gap between him and his character, Jackson Stewart. In his newly launched *Best of Both Our Worlds* podcast, the actor recounted his big secret during a chat with his fellow cohosts and *Hannah* alums, director Shannon Flynn and writer-producer Douglas Danger Lieblein.

"I was desperately afraid that I was going to be fired and recast because I had a big secret," Earles began. "When I auditioned for the show, I lied to them and told them I was 18 years old."

In reality, Earles was 28 when he read for the role and already married. Fearing that he was too old for the part, the actor said he almost didn't go in for the audition at all.

"The character's 16, nobody's gonna buy it," he recalled thinking. "What's funny is Lisa London, who cast it, when she brought me in, she was like, 'Hey, I know you're 19,' because I had lied to her in a different audition. And she was like 'Would you be okay, when you go in there, would you lie and tell them that you're 18?' I was like, 'I think I can do that.'"

Jason Earles in 2024.

Disney/Mark Von Holden

The ruse succeeded and Earles landed the part of Jackson Rod Stewart, the lazy older brother to Cyrus' secret pop star. When the pilot was picked up, he stayed on board — and it wasn't until "halfway through the first season" that his secret got out.

"I think it was about episode 8 or so," Lieblein recalled. "I didn't find out until episode 8 and I think the network found out later than I did."

Earles confirmed that this was the case and even recounted the moment that he was confronted about the lie by an unnamed Disney executive.

"I remember one of the higher-up network executives showed up on show night and was like, 'Hey, you're, uh, 28? And you're married?' I was like, 'Yeah, that girl I keep making out with…that's my wife,'" Earles said. "And he was like, 'Any more secrets? Anything else we should know? Do you have any kids?' I was like 'No,' and he was like, 'Let's go ahead and keep it that way for a few years.'"

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That tense conversation aside, other *Hannah* crew members were actually grateful for the lie. Earles said he later had a conversation with series showrunner Steven Petermen, who thanked him for lying at the audition.

"He did say, 'Thank you so much for lying to us because we would've gotten nervous if we'd found out during the pilot and we would've recast you,'" Earles recalled.

Not only did Earles have a considerable age gap with his character, he was significantly older than much of the show's principal cast. Cyrus was just 13 when she took on the titular role. Her onscreen besties Emily Osment and Mitchel Musso were both 14 and Moisés Arias, with whom Earles shared many of his scenes, was just 11. Meanwhile, Billy Ray Cyrus was in his 40s, playing the father of Earles and his real-life daughter Miley.

Jason Earles, Miley Cyrus, and Billy Ray Cyrus on 'Hannah Montana'.

Craig Sjodin/Disney Channel via Getty

Lieblein said that, like Petermen, he was grateful for the lie. "The show would never have been the show without you. You were an adult on stage [but] the kids thought you were a kid and they treated you as such."

Earles interjected, "I acted like a kid. We all get to about 16 years old and we stop maturing anyway."

But Lieblein pointed out that his maturity and ability to blend in with the kids made all the difference. "They respected you. You were one of them," he continued. "So when you led by example — discipline and doing your homework, all that stuff — they followed because it was another one of them. Without you, *Hannah* wouldn't have been *Hannah*."

Earles quipped, "You should tell more people that."

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Miley Cyrus is presently gearing up to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary with a March 24 special on Disney+. Teasing the celebration last month during an interview with *On Air With Ryan Seacrest*, she told fans, "Trust me, I wanna design something really, really special for it, 'cause it really was the beginning of all of this that sits here today."

In the meantime, watch Earles discuss his* Hannah Montana *experience in the podcast above.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Comedy”