Jackson Rathbone

Monroe Jackson Rathbone V (born December 14, 1984), is an American actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his role as Jasper Hale in The Twilight Saga and for playing Sokka in The Last Airbender. --- Rathbone was born in Singapore, the son of American parents Randee Lynn (née Brauner) and Monroe Jackson Rathbone IV. His great-grandfather, Monroe Jackson Rathbone II, was the chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey, which later became Exxon; Rathbone is also distantly related to Civil War general Stonewall Jackson and famous British actor Basil Rathbone. Because of his father's job at Mobil Oil, Rathbone has lived in places ranging from Indonesia to Midland, Texas. He started out in local theater in Midland with the youth actors program "The Pickwick Players", initially doing musical theatre. For his junior and senior years of high school, Rathbone attended the Interlochen Arts Academy, a private school for the arts in Michigan, where he majored in acting. After graduation, he had planned to go to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, but went instead to Los Angeles to experiment with film acting. 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. --- Rathbone resides in Los Angeles. Rathbone and his girlfriend, Sheila Hafsadi, had a son, Monroe Jackson Rathbone VI, on July 5, 2012. Close friend and Twilight co-star Nikki Reed is the Godmother.