Jackson Rathbone

Bite me or sing to me, vampire or rock star; either way, I’m all yours! Jackson Rathbone, my personal favorite reason to be excited about the opening of New Moon, is a perfectly adorable “Jack-of-all-entertainment-trades’ – vampire, movie & TV actor, musician, singer, composer – there’s apparently nothing this boy can’t do, and do very well indeed.

Jackson first came to general notice in November ’08, by playing one of the key secondary characters in the Twilight Universe, Jasper Whitlock-Hale-Cullen. (Jasper’s proper surname depends upon what point of the book/movie saga you are referring to!) While many of the young actors in the film ignited furious debate over whether they were the right choices to play the much beloved Twilight characters, Jackson was universally accepted as an excellent ‘spot on’ Jasper. In spite of having limited screen-time in the film, Jackson managed to breathe life into the non-breathing vampire, enough to make his brief scenes memorable ones. For myself, one of the few warm-blooded females who did NOT fall into a swoon at the sight of Robbie Pattinson, the films’ brooding ‘Edward’ – I found Mr. Rathbone to be the most attractive male in a cast positively filled with Fan Girl ‘eye candy.’ Voicing this opinion often produced the comment: “You mean the one that looks like Edward Sissorhands?” And my reply: “Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing? Edward Sissorhands is JOHNNY DEPP, after all!!”

With a little research, I soon discovered that there was a great deal more to Jackson than being convincing in golden contacts and swinging a mean vampire baseball bat. He has several TV appearances on his resume, as well as some lesser-known films. I’d highly recommend checking out his ‘Criminal Minds’ episode, and movies Big Stan and S. Darko – all impressive examples of his acting ability and range. I’m also looking forward to his role as ‘Sokka’ in the upcoming The Last Airbender – and have fingers crossed that his lower budget films: Dread, Hurt and Girlfriend will make their way to mainstream theaters.

The biggest surprise, however, was discovering that Jackson Rathbone has his own band, 100 Monkeys. I became a devoted Monkey’s fan this past June, when I had the great fortune and absolute pleasure of seeing them perform live in New York City. I’ll freely admit that I had no expectations of the show, since my limited grasp of their music – based on poor quality YouTube fan video – was that it was mainly ‘jazz’ oriented, not a type of music I usually favor, but ‘100 Monkey’s LIVE is nothing short of incredible! Much of the music is jazz-ish, but they play faster rock-type numbers too, and all of it wonderful to hear and to watch! In fact, I can’t imagine anyone not having a great time watching these guys perform! They were all having SO MUCH fun — I could not help but wonder whatever made Jackson want to go into acting, since he obviously loves his music with his whole heart! During the show he played guitar, keyboard, drums, and trumpet, as well as singing lead for most of the songs. They also do ‘improv’ songs, which consists of creating an entire song, music and lyrics, right on the spot; something that you just have to experience for yourself to believe!

It certainly doesn’t hurt the show, that the other guys who make up 100 Monkeys, (Jerad Anderson, Ben Johnson & Ben Graupner), are all quite cute, but it was difficult to pay them any attention, with Jackson there. Looking even more gorgeous in person than he does on screen; Jackson’s eyes are ‘immortally’ beautiful, and his SMILE…. ‘lights up the room’ does not begin to cover it! For days after the show, I saw that smile every time I closed my eyes, just like the ‘after image’ of a flash bulb!

OK, so at just short of his 25th birthday, Jackson Rathbone is an accomplished actor, part of one of the major pop-culture crazes of our time, a genius level musician and performer, and a drool-worthy male specimen besides! Talent, fame, fortune, and striking good looks – ‘too shallow’ you say? Well, by all reports he’s an absolute sweetheart to his cast mates, and to those fans who have been lucky enough to have a personal ‘encounter’ – he loves his mother (sporting a ‘Mom’ in a heart, tattoo) and is, dare I say, ‘super’ intelligent – and if you think that’s exaggerated, look up ‘Hundredth-monkey effect’ on Wikipedia! And that’s why, while the Twi-World divides itself between the Rob-sessed and the Wolf-girls… just call me ‘Team Jasper’!

Fansites:
Jackson Rathbone dot Org
Jackson Rathbone Online

Official Sites:
The Twilight Saga
The Last Airbender

100 Monkey Sites:
Official Site
MySpace
Twitter

Rate This Actor:
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)


 Loading ...

Gallery:

Thomas Dekker

You have to wonder how many times Tom Dekker hears “come with me if you want to live.” The blessing and curse I supposed playing the iconic John Connor on the short-lived FOX show “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” Well from one icon to another, now Tom is going to be in the remake of the 80’s horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street (the original co-starred a young unknown actor by the name of Johnny Depp). So now he’ll start hearing: “whatever you do don’t fall asleep.” Honestly I don’t think this guy is going to have much time to sleep considering all he’s got lined up.

Tom started off as a child actor doing mostly TV shows and providing voices for animated projects like The Land Before Time and American Tail lesser known sequels. Bet you didn’t know that, huh? As he matured so did the work. Guest spots on “House” and “CSI” lead to a part on the premiere season (and most would say, the best season) of “Heroes”. Tom played Zach, the Cheerleader Claire’s best friend and social misfit. As the season drew to a close the fate of Zach was uncertain but Tom fans in the know took comfort in the knowledge that Tom was moving on to bigger and better things, namely an exciting new series about cyborgs and the savior of the human race.

Making a weekly show about the mother of all mothers, Sarah Connor was unexpected but inspired. From the butt-kicking pilot to the jaw-dropping “finale” the cast of Lena Heady, Summer Glau, Brian Austin Green (yes, David Silver!) and Dekker delivered a mini-movie each week. Tom’s John Connor was a mix of teenage angst and Cassandra-like prophecy of a dire future we seem fated to live. But the less than stellar ratings for the show caused its own Judgment Day and after 2 seasons “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” was canceled. The video below was Tom’s (adorable) attempt at getting fans to save the show. Even though it didn’t work it’s still fun to watch.

Tom has made the transition into feature films which started with the tear-jerker My Sister’s Keeper. Seriously though don’t rent that one unless you’re prepared to just bawl your eyes out. He even wrote and directed a film sensationally entitled Whore. There’s no DVD release date for that yet. As I mentioned Tom is in the update of A Nightmare on Elm Street with Jackie Earle Haley as the be-sweatered Freddie Krueger. This re-imagining promises to be as scary as the original with a cast of up and coming who’s who: Kellan Lutz (Twilight), Katie Cassidy (the new “Melrose Place” and “Supernatural”) and Kyle Gallner (A Haunting in Connecticut and Jennifer’s Body). Tom fits in nicely there I think.

I can’t wrap up a profile on Tom without mentioning his passion for music. Growing up in a musical household, Dekker started writing his own music as a teen. He calls his mixing of classical and electronica as “electrofolk”. His debut album Psyanotic was released in 2008 and is available on iTunes. Be sure to check out his MySpace page to hear some samples of the tracks.

Thomas on Twitter
Thomas on MySpace

Official Sites:
A Nightmare on Elm Street

Fansites:
Thomas Dekker Fans
Thomas Dekker Source

Rate this Actor:
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)


 Loading ...

Gallery: