Disney Society Exclusive: Interview with Jason Earles of “Hannah Montana” (Part 2)

Here is Part 2 of my great conversation with Jason Earles, who plays Jackson on “Hannah Montana”. Jason has SO much going on that I had to break up the interview into two parts. We had a lot to talk about! You can check out Part 1 here.

In Part 2, we talked about “Hannah Montana: The Movie”, “Space Buddies”, “Dadnapped”, “Aaron Stone” and more! Whew!

Jason was so gracious to answer all of my questions and I wanted to give him a big “Thank You!!”.

Enjoy!

Disney Society: What was it like filming “Hannah Montana: The Movie” in Tennessee?

Jason: It was awesome! Probably the coolest part of it was, we went from taping our show, (that we shot 60 episodes on our sound stage from, it was always in that one place never out in the world), to this beautiful setting in Tennessee. So, all of these characters that we got to know intimately, you suddenly get to see where they came from, out in the world, driving cars, out on the ranch and doing big giant concerts. It was just cool to see the scale of it all change from our little TV show to a big giant movie.

Disney Society: What can you tell us about the movie and Jackson’s role in it? Do you go to TN with Miley?

Jason: My role in the movie is sort of like the show where I sort of pop in and provide a little comic relief. The premise is Jackson is going off to TN to go to college and then he sort of gets sucked into Miley’s troubles in TN a little bit.

The overall story for the movie is that Miley sort of loses her way a little bit and doesn’t really understand the distinction between Miley and Hannah Montana anymore. So, we take her back to TN to sort of make her remember where she came from. It’s kind of like a finding yourself again story. I’d say that’s what 90 percent of the movie is about and it’s a really beautifully shot, beautiful music, sweet moments, funny moments….it’s the total package for a good family movie.

Read the rest below!

Disney Society: Well, I am definitely excited about it!

Jason: Have you seen any previews from the movie?

Disney Society: Oh yes!

Jason: The thing that’s always shocking to me is that it looks like a big movie. We do a really good job on our sound stage, but it’s just a whole different scale then what we can do on the show.

Disney Society: Were there any funny incidents on the movie set?

Jason: Jackson ends up going to TN and working at a petting zoo. So, at the petting zoo, I am teaching these kids about this giant ostrich. I told the wardrobe guy, when I was doing my very first fitting before we started shooting the movie, that I thought this was all really funny, but that I hate birds. I just really hate them and I have this scene with this giant 6 foot, pre-historic, angry bird and I just don’t know what’s going to happen with that. And I said that the only thing that I don’t want to happen is I just don’t want it to bite me in the face.

The very first take with the ostrich, it bit me in the face. It was the scariest thing ever and my face welted up and they had to cover it with a bunch of makeup. But I had to shoot with this ostrich the entire day and from the very first take I was just terrified. The animal handler gave me the little leash that was around his neck and said, “Here’s the leash. Don’t pull on it.He doesn’t like it when you pull on it”, and I’m like, well what’s the point in giving it to me? You’re basically saying I have no control over what this ostrich does and he’s like, “Yeah, that’s pretty much what I’m telling you”. So, that was definitely an adventure and maybe one of my least favorite days to shoot, but then it ended up being a funny story. There’s some silly ostrich stuff in it, that works out pretty good.

Disney Society: So, ‘Dadnapped’ is coming out on February 16^th. I know that you play Merv. What can you tell me about that character?

Jason: Merv is the hotel manager of the hotel that Emily, who plays Melissa, and her dad stay at. Her dad’s a writer of these really popular, sort of spy books and there’s a convention going on there, so they swing by and he’s doing a little event at the convention. Her dad gets kidnapped, Dadnapped, and I help Melissa try to track down her father. He’s [Merv] a really big, sort of silly character. He’s probably the biggest, broadest, sort of silly character in the show. He’s got this rat pack sort of a vibe about him with the big pompadour hair, the white jacket. He definitely stands out.

The thing that’s really cool is he is completely different from Jackson. I think that all of the Disney fans that watch the movie will be excited to see all of these characters from the different shows play parts that are totally different. David Henrie is different than he is in Wizards. Moises and Emily are both from my show and they both play very different roles. And even Phil Lewis who is like the butler from Suite Life – Mr. Moseby – he plays a bad guy. So, it’s a lot of familiar faces, but you see them in cool, different ways.

Disney Society: Do you have any plans for the “Dadnapped” debut?

Jason: I think that we’re going to try to get together with the different Disney people that were in it and watch the premiere together. Like Emily and Phil Lewis….we’ll see if we can get David to come out and then the guy who plays the dad, his name is George Newburn. He was in Father of the Bride and he’s a really funny guy. I think we might end up getting together with him too, with his family. We’ll all just get together, watch it and see how it turned out.

Disney Society: I saw Space Buddies and I know you do a voice of one of the dogs, Spudnick. Have you ever done a voice over movie like that before?

Jason: No, not like that. I’ve done some little animated pilots for the Disney Channel and a couple of cartoons, but that was the first time that I had done it like a full movie, with live action stuff…although it was a little different since I was playing a dog.

It was really cool. You would be amazed at how fast you can record those things. I think I went in for maybe 3 sessions, less than 8 hours, including all the revisions, to do the whole movie. And what’s crazy about the voice over stuff too, is that I never met the guy who played the Russian cosmonaut. I was never in the same room as him or any of the other voice over actors. I was never even in the same room as the director. He was always in Canada, calling in on the phone listening to the session while we were recording. So, it’s so disjointed but they do a really good job at putting it all together and you would never know how little contact we had with each other when we’re shooting it.

Disney Society: So, Disney is launching a new network, Disney XD. I saw that you’ll be playing Hunter in Aaron Stone. What can you tell me about that show?

Jason: I am really excited about Aaron Stone. Before I went up there to shoot my episode, they sent me the first 3 episodes and it is so good. It’s totally a boy, action show. They’ve got martial arts fighting. They’ve got really cool computer graphics for these video games that they play. The characters are all really cool. For the episode that I did, I played Hunter who is like a cyborg, terminator type, who’s the defender of the hero Charlie. So, I show up at school and I am there as his sidekick to help defend him basically. Then I get damaged in a battle and I totally go evil, terminator…trying to destroy Aaron Stone.

What’s so cool is that they have full teams of stunt guys out there. The fight choreography is amazing and my stunt double was really good. But they taught me all of the fight choreography and I was doing like me against three soldiers, martial arts fighters with no experience. But they did a good job at teaching me all of the stuff and I think they are going to actually use a lot of my fighting. I was so excited to shoot that episode.

I am really optimistic that this show is going to be the boy answer to Hannah Montana. I think this show is going to be huge for them.

Disney Society: I think you’re right! I know that Disney XD’s main target audience is tween boys. Why do you think it’s important to have a channel aimed towards that age group?

Jason: I just don’t think there’s much out there for them right now. I think out of all the other shows on Disney….no offense to the other shows…our show [Hannah Montana] is the closest to something that tween boy would watch. The boys that watch our show, I think like it, but to say that their cool, they’ll say that they watch it because my sister watches it. But still, for whatever reason, there is a little bit of a stigma about some of the Disney shows when it comes to boys.

Disney XD really seems like a home for them where it’s all entertainment that is geared towards them. It’s going to be the thing that they like. Guys gravitate towards video games, action..so to have an outlet for them that’s not really offensive, bloody or super violent…but you still get the action. I think it’s going to be a network that parents will feel comfortable with their boys watching it.

Disney Society: You sure have a lot going on right now! Do you have any other projects coming up in the future?

Jason: I think that about covers it. You really did your research. But, I am excited about all of those things, and I am really proud of being a part of all of them. I have a bunch of nieces and nephews from my older brothers and I am so thrilled that I’ve been able to be a part of so many things that they can actually watch, as opposed to things that I would want them to avoid.

I hope that people will enjoy everything.

Disney Society: Oh, I think they will! The last question I have for you today is from one of your fans. She wanted to know what your long term goals are and if you see yourself acting forever?

Jason: Yeah, I really hope so. Somebody that I have always looked up to and hoped that I could have a career like would be Michael J Fox. I think that type-wise, we are sort of similar guys and we both do physical comedy. He did a really good job at bouncing back and forth between movies and TV. He also did a lot of family friendly stuff. He had just a really great career. Everybody loved watching him, it didn’t really matter what he did.

I hope that 30 years from now people will say the same thing about me and my career. If I could have a career like that, it would be fantastic.

Disney Society: Well, I sure hope you continue with acting and I can’t wait to see what else you do in the future!

Image Credit: Newscom