Jackson Rathbone

Monroe Jackson Rathbone V is an American actor, singer, and musician. He is best known for portraying Jasper Hale in the film adaptation series The Twilight Saga and Sokka in the 2010 live-action feature film The Last Airbender. In addition to his acting career, he served as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the funk rock band 100 Monkeys from 2008 to 2012.

Rathbone was born in Singapore on December 14, 1984, to American parents Randee Lynn and Monroe Jackson Rathbone IV. He has three sisters, including ceramic artist Kelly Rathbone. Through his family lineage, he is distantly related to Civil War general Stonewall Jackson and English actor Basil Rathbone. His great-grandfather served as chairman of Standard Oil. Because of his father's work with Mobil Oil, Rathbone lived in Singapore, Norway, and Indonesia before settling in Midland, Texas.

In Texas, Rathbone attended the Trinity School of Midland and started performing in local theater with the Pickwick Players youth program. He attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan for his final two years of high school, majoring in acting. After graduation, he applied to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; following a rejection, he moved to Los Angeles to seek acting opportunities. He soon hosted Disney 411, interviewing figures like Hilary Duff and Aly & AJ, and secured guest roles on The O.C. and Close to Home.

After early film roles in Molding Clay, Pray for Morning, and Travis and Henry, Rathbone secured his first leading television role as Nicholas Fiske on Beautiful People in 2005. His breakthrough came in 2008 when he was cast as Jasper Hale in Twilight, a role he reprised in New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and Part 2. In 2009, he appeared in S. Darko and played a serial killer on Criminal Minds. He also starred as Sokka in the 2010 film The Last Airbender.

Rathbone formed the funk rock band 100 Monkeys with Interlochen classmates Ben Graupner and Ben Johnson, along with Jerad Anderson and M. Lawrence Abrams. Serving as vocalist and playing various instruments including guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard, he released three albums with the band in 2009. The group launched a 100-city U.S. tour through 2010, released the album Liquid Zoo in June 2011, and subsequently toured internationally.

Rathbone later guest-starred on No Ordinary Family and portrayed teenage operative Nick Green in the 2011 web series Aim High. In addition to his creative work, he serves as an honorary board member for Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit supporting music education in public schools. His charity work includes donating a signed Twilight script, visiting classrooms, and delivering instruments to students.

Rathbone married Sheila Hafsadi on September 29, 2013, and the couple lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, with their three children. On September 18, 2014, Rathbone was aboard a JetBlue flight that suffered an engine explosion and performed an emergency landing in Long Beach, California, with all passengers surviving.