Jonathan Jackson Biography

Jonathan Stevens Jackson (born May 11, 1982) is an American actor, musician and author. His first well known character was Lucky Spencer on the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital, a role which has won him five Emmy Awards. In 2002, he played Jesse Tuck in the film Tuck Everlasting. In 2004 he started the band Enation (currently: Jonathan Jackson + Enation) with his brother, actor Richard Lee Jackson and friend Daniel Sweatt. He currently portrays Avery Barkley in the CMT drama Nashville.

Early life

Jackson was born in Orlando, Florida, the son of Jeanine (ne Sharp), an amateur ventriloquist and businesswoman, and Dr. Rick "Ricky Lee" Jackson, a family physician, country musician and Congressional candidate in the state of Washington. Jackson was raised in Battle Ground, Washington with his brother Richard Lee Jackson, now an actor and musician, and his sister Candice Jackson, now a lawyer, author, and official in the Trump administration. Jonathan attended Meadow Glade Elementary school.

In 1991, Jackson's family took a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood, where both Richard and Jonathan decided to pursue acting. The brothers took acting lessons in nearby Portland, Oregon, before moving part-time to Burbank, California with their mother in 1993. After doing various commercials, within six months Jackson won a role on the ABC Daytime soap opera, General Hospital. Jackson continued his studies while working, graduating high school at age sixteen.

Career

Acting

Jackson's first notable role was Lucky Spencer on General Hospital, a role he first played from 1993 to 1999. Jackson won numerous awards for his work as Lucky. He was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series six times, winning first in 1995, and again in 1998 and 1999, making him the record holder for both nominations and wins for the Younger Actor category. He also won Soap Opera Digest Awards in 1995 and 1999. He was nominated for Young Artist Awards in 1996, 1997 and 1999. He won The Hollywood Reporter's YoungStar Award in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 1999 and was nominated in 2000. Jackson also became a popular "teen heartthrob" among fans, featured on fan magazines such as Tiger Beat and garnering many fan clubs and internet fansites. In 1999, he was named one of People magazine's 50 most beautiful people.

While working at General Hospital, Jackson starred in his first feature film Camp Nowhere, as Morris "Mud" Himmel in 1994. Also during this time he starred in made-for-television films Prisoner of Zenda, Inc. and The Legend of the Ruby Silver, and made a guest appearance during Season 5 of the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World. In 1999, Jackson filmed The Deep End of the Ocean shortly before leaving General Hospital, starring opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. Deep End director Ulu Grosbard spoke of Jackson as "an enormously gifted actor. He brought a weight and a presence and chemistry with Michelle from the beginning. He's only 15 years old and he is a very serious actor who has both concentration and humor." Pfeiffer added, "When Jonathan and I read together, it was like he was my own son. And we just went at each other in only this way that a mother and son could do. His reading was exhilarating." Jackson was nominated for YoungStar Awards in 1997 for Prisoner of Zenda, Inc. and 1999 for The Deep End of the Ocean.

In December 1999, Newsweek magazine reported Jackson was likely to be taking on the role of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. However, he was soon dropped from the running, and publications speculated the prior publicity had hurt his chances due to creator George Lucas' preference for privacy. Jackson continued his film career in 2000 with the independent film True Rights and the ABC television movie Trapped in a Purple Haze. Jackson also wrote and directed a short film with his brother Richard entitled Crystal Clear, which won Best Dramatic Short Film and the Coen Brothers Award for Duo-Filmmaking at the Brooklyn Film Festival. In 2002, Jackson played one of his most well-known film roles as Jesse Tuck in Tuck Everlasting, which he filmed simultaneously to Insomnia. In 2004, Jackson filmed Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, and Riding the Bullet. From 2008 through 2009, he had a recurring role as Kyle Reese in the hit Fox TV show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, playing the father of John Connor before the show was cancelled.

On September 29, 2009, it was announced that Jackson would return to General Hospital on October 27 to reprise the role of Lucky Spencer. In 2011, Jackson won his fourth Daytime Emmy and first Outstanding Supporting Actor Award. On November 7, 2011, it was announced that Jackson had decided to leave General Hospital and his final airdate was on December 23, 2011. His character is not planned to be recast or killed off, leaving the door open for Jackson to return with the show in the future. In 2012, Jackson won his fifth Daytime Emmy and second consecutive win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

In 2012, he got the role of singer-songwriter Avery Barkley in the ABC drama Nashville. Along with the rest of the cast, Jonathan sings and performs guitar himself on the series.

Music

As a child, Jackson took guitar lessons and taught himself to play the piano. Growing up he had an evolving band with various family members. In 2000, the band included his brother, uncle and father and was named "Scarlet Road". By 2002, Jonathan and his brother Richard had named their group "Jono and the Rock".

The ensemble morphed into Enation, where Jackson is the frontman, playing guitar, vocals and writing most the songs. Other band members include Jonathan's brother Richard (drums), and their friends Daniel Sweatt (bass), Luke Galeotti (guitar) and Michael Galeotti (keyboard). The band has released several albums and their song "Feel This" became a Top 10 hit on the iTunes national Rock Charts after it was featured on the CW television drama series One Tree Hill. Enation's songs have also been featured on Riding the Bullet, and General Hospital.

As well as performing as singer, guitarist & piano man Jackson also wrote the song "The Morning of the Rain" featured on episode 7 and 19 of the first season of Nashville.

Books

In the spring of 2012, Jackson released a book of poetry under the pen name J. S. Jackson, titled Book of Solace and Madness. In June 2012, he discussed his yet-to-be-released book entitled Acting in the Spirit, which would discuss the connection between his Orthodox faith and his acting career. In November 2014, Jackson released The Mystery of Art: Becoming an Artist in the Image of God.

Personal life

Family

At age 20, Jackson married former General Hospital actress Lisa Vultaggio on June 21, 2002. Jackson told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Some people thought we were a little young to get married. But we didn"?t see the need to wait. When it"?s right, it"?s right." The couple moved to Jackson's hometown of Battle Ground, Washington to raise their family. They have three children.

Religion

The son of Seventh-day Adventist parents, Jackson was raised as a non-denominational Christian, and has always been vocal about his faith. As part of his belief system, as a teen Jackson chose not to drink or do drugs. Jackson was also a proponent of abstinence from premarital sex. Jackson also often thanked God during his award acceptance speeches. While Jackson was working on General Hospital, he and his family held a home church in Burbank which various cast members attended, including Jackson's future wife Lisa Vultaggio. Jackson explained how his beliefs affected his choice of acting roles in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 1999, "I won't get involved with a movie that's a direct slap in the face of God. [...] I'm an actor, so I have to play people who believe differently than me. I would be willing to play a character that was completely unbelieving and anti-God, just as long as that wasn't the message of the whole movie." In 2002, Jackson participated in the DKNY-sponsored "What's Your Anti-Drug?" campaign, posing for the 2003 calendar featured in Cosmogirl magazine, stating his anti-drug was faith.

In 2012, Jackson and his family were baptized into the Orthodox Church. Jackson cited a trip to Romania and Rome that first brought his attention to learning about the history of Christianity. In his acceptance speech for his 2012 Daytime Emmy Award, he thanked the Holy Trinity as well as the monks on Orthodox monastic enclave Mount Athos. Jackson later explained in an interview, "These people (are) dedicating their lives to prayer, and not just praying for themselves, but truly praying for all of us. And then the thought kind of crossed my mind: with all the destruction, chaos and insanity that goes on in this world, if their prayers weren"?t happening, what would this world be like? I felt personally like I just wanted to thank them because I really believe that their prayers mean a lot."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Camp Nowhere	Morris "Mud" Himmel	Feature film debut
1996	Prisoner of Zenda, Inc.	Rudy Gatewick/Oliver Gillis	Showtime television movie
	The Legend of the Ruby Silver	Matt Rainie	ABC television movie
1999	The Deep End of the Ocean	Vincent Cappadora
2000	True Rights	Charlie Vick	Independent film
	Crystal Clear	Eddie	Short film also written and directed by Jackson
	Trapped in a Purple Haze	Max Hanson	ABC television movie
2001	Skeletons in the Closet	Seth Reed
	On the Edge	Toby
2002	Insomnia	Randy Stetz
	Tuck Everlasting	Jesse Tuck
2004	Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights	James Phelps
	Riding the Bullet	Alan Parker
2005	Venom	Eric
2006	A Little Thing Called Murder	Kenny Kimes	TV movie
2010	Kalamity	Stanley Keller

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	General Hospital	Lucky Spencer	1993-99, 2009-11, 2015
1998	Boy Meets World	Ricky Ferris	Episode: Starry Night Episode: Honesty Night
2001	Night Visions	Devin	Episode: If a Tree Falls
2001	Legend of the Candy Cane	Matt Wilkins	TV Movie
2003	The Twilight Zone	Martin	Sunrise
2008	One Tree Hill	Himself	Cameo with Enation
2008-09	Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles	Kyle Reese	Episode: Dungeons & Dragons Episode: Goodbye To All That Episode: The Good Wound Episode: Born to Run
2012-present	Nashville	Avery Barkley	Main cast; 105 episodes
2017	NashChat	Himself	Guest host; week 4

Soundtrack appearances

The Music of Nashville: Season 1, Volume 1 (2012)

• Contributed 1 track: "Twist Of Barbwire"

The Music of Nashville: Season 1, Volume 2 (2013)

• Contributed 2 tracks: "Let There Be Lonely" and "Keep Asking Why"

The Music of Nashville: Season 2, Volume 1 (2013)

• Contributed 2 tracks: "You Learn How To Live Alone" and "Be My Girl" with Sam Palladio

The Music of Nashville: Season 2, Volume 2 (2014)

• Contributed 3 tracks: "Hennessee" with Sam Palladio and Chaley Rose, "Everything I'll Ever Need" with Hayden Panettiere and "I Ain't Leavin' Without Your Love" with Sam Palladio and Chaley Rose

Christmas with Nashville (2014)

• Contributed 2 tracks: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" and Celebrate Me Home with the Nashville cast

The Music of Nashville: Season 3, Volume 1 (2014)

• Contributed 1 track: "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" with Sam Palladio and Chaley Rose

The Music of Nashville: Season 3, Volume 2 (2015)

• Contributed 6 tracks: "Borrow My Heart" with Sam Palladio and Clare Bowen, "This Is What I Need To Say", "Hold You In My Arms" with Hayden Panettiere, "My Song" with Sam Palladio and Clare Bowen, "Novocaine" with Laura Benanti and "One By One" with Hayden Panettiere

The Music of Nashville: Season 4, Volume 1 (2015)

• Contributed 2 tracks: "History of My Heart" and "Sleep Tonight (A Lullaby)" with Chris Carmack

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1995	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital
	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Child Actor
	YoungStar Award	Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Daytime TV Program
1996	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital
	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Daytime Drama - Young Actor
1997	YoungStar Award	Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Made For TV Movie	Prisoner of Zenda, Inc.
		Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Daytime TV Program	General Hospital
	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series
	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Daytime Drama - Young Actor
1998	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital
	YoungStar Award	Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Daytime TV Program
1999	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital
	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Younger Lead Actor
	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Daytime Serial
	YoungStar Awards	Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Daytime TV Program
		Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film	The Deep End of the Ocean
2000	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital
	YoungStar Award	Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Daytime TV Program
	Young Hollywood Award	Breakthrough Performance - Male	The Deep End of the Ocean
	Brooklyn Film Festival	Festival Award: Best Narrative Short - Drama (with Richard Lee Jackson)	Crystal Clear
		Festival Award: Coen Brothers Award For Duo Filmmakers (with Richard Lee Jackson)
2005	Saturn Award	Best Performance by a Younger Actor	Riding the Bullet
2010	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital
2011
2012
2016	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Nashville