Jason's first foray into show business was as a pianist. By age twelve, Jason was adding to his allowance by playing the occasional wedding and winning piano competitions. The promising musician never considered acting as a career until the lead in his high school's production of Whodunnit? dropped out at the last minute. "I stepped in and learned the part in a week," Jason recounts. "After opening night, I came home and said 'Mom, this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.'" As luck would have it, a very influential man was in the audience during Jason's theatrical debut. "My best friend's dad is a theatrical manager and after the play he came up to me and said 'Jason, if you want to be an actor, I'll help you.'"
Jason soon landed his first professional acting gig as the host for the Disney Channel's Project Time, an arts and crafts demonstration show. He juggled his duties on the show with his high school curriculum and rank as a striker on the school's soccer team.
Jason finished his freshman year at Moorpark College, where he was active on the speech and debate team, a skill he honed while in high school. In 1998, the orator and his debate partner placed first in the California Community College Forensics Association Speech Competition.
Jason resides with his family in Los Angeles. His father, Bill, is an engineer who constructs rides for amusement parks and his mother JoAnn is a preschool teacher and "devoted Mom." Jason has three siblings: an older brother, Michael, who owns a "rent-to-own" store; a younger sister, Janean; and an older sister, Michelle, who works for American Express. The Cooks have two dogs, Cobi and Zoe.
In his spare time, the actor unwinds by writing, reading, playing the piano and rock-climbing. He has brown hair and eyes and stands 5'11". Jason's birthday is September 13.
