Jason Earles Recalls Lying About His Age To Get Cast On 'Hannah Montana'

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A popular piece of Disney Channel lore that pops up a lot is that Jason Earles was significantly older than his Hannah Montana character, Jackson Stewart. Miley Stewart’s goofy older brother was about 16 years old on when the show premiered in 2006. At the time, Earles was almost double that age at 28. Two decades later, the actor has finally revealed how he managed to land the part despite the large age gap.

Earles told the full story of how he hid his real age during the early Hannah Montana years on the March 17 premiere of his Best of Both Worlds podcast.

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

At the time, Earles ...