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Jason Gerhardt Profile |
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Birth Date:
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Birth Place: Austin, Minnesota, USA
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Birth Name: Jason Gerhardt
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Height: 6'1"
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Biography |
Jason was born in Austin, Minnesota, the home of Hormel and
the birth place of Spam. His father worked for Hormel and
his mother was a nurse and a stay-at-home mom. As his father
was promoted in his company, the family lived in many other
cities in the Midwest.
It was in Nebraska that Jason made his first foray into
acting.. He was cast as “The Claus” in his elementary school
production of “The North Pole Goes Rock-n-Roll.” – a
heart-warming story of Santa Claus’ quest to increase his
popularity by becoming more “hip and cool,” only to find
that he just needs to be himself.
Though this role could have launched him into Hollywood
stardom, he was more interested in football, basketball,
tennis and gymnastics than acting, at the time.
It wasn’t until high school that Jason was encouraged by
friends and family to once again pursue the craft. He joined
the show choir and performed in a few musicals and plays.
Even with all of that experience, acting still wasn’t his
calling…just yet. He left for college with the goal of
becoming an investment banker or maybe a politician.
Attending the University of Wisconsin, Madison was a life
changing experience for Jason and his time there will always
hold a special place in his heart. It was there that he
joined the University of Wisconsin gospel choir and met some
amazing friends. His time with the gospel choir not only
kept him in front of an audience, but the experience really
changed his outlook on life. This is also when Jason started
modeling and commercial acting, to help him pay some of his
collegiate expenses.
With his degree in accounting, Jason headed to Kansas City
to work for Sprint. In his time outside of work, he was very
active in children’s ministries for various churches, and
was the lead singer in a church band. He also met the woman
of his dreams, Chalae, who was gracious enough to marry him
within a year of their first date. He feels extremely
blessed to have her as his bride and best friend.
It was at this point that he started to see the connection
between movies and making an impact on people… their ability
to inspire and move people to make positive changes in their
lives. The desire began to grow in his heart to be a part of
this process, but the security of his job and an inability
to see acting as anything more than a frivolous pursuit,
kept him from considering it as a career. But, when his
promising career at Sprint was cut short due to corporate
downsizing, Jason’s took that as a sign that it was time to
follow his heart. He began to see that acting was what he
was meant to do.
His first step was to sign with Exposure, Inc., a local KC
talent agency, and to enroll in some acting classes. Through
Exposure he did some modeling and industrial video work,
while picking up whatever odd job he could find -- from
plowing snow to cleaning toilets -- to help feed his family.
It wasn’t long before he knew it was time to step out on
faith. So, leaving his wife to take care of the dogs, Jason
headed to New York City to see if he could establish a life
for them there. What he learned was that New York is a great
town for modeling, but film and television jobs were few and
far between. He and Chalae decided that the time had come
where she was either going to join him there and they were
going to make a go of it, or, they were going to make the
big leap of faith and move to LA.
With a 14’ truck containing all of their belongings, and
their three dogs, Jason and his wife (who was then pregnant
with their first child) moved to the land of movie stars.
Let’s just say morning sickness and three dogs made for an
interesting trip.
This leap of faith proved to be a big leap indeed. The
struggles came quickly and often. Jason found himself taking
classes, auditioning, working whatever jobs he could find on
the side, and doing everything he could to be a good
husband, and a good father to Madyson, their newborn
daughter. Rejections were common. Money was tight. But with
the undying support of Chalae, the family was able to keep
themselves afloat...
Through one of Jason’s auditions, yet another rejection, he
was fortunate to meet his current manager and friend,
Anthony Barnao. This was a big step for Jason that started
opening doors previously closed to him. Not only does
Anthony serve as Jason’s manager, but he is also a gifted
teacher and acting coach who has helped Jason to hone his
skills.
It was about one year after that fateful meeting that Jason
found himself auditioning for the role of Logan on General
Hospital. Though he didn’t get the part, his screen test
made a lasting impression on the writers. A day later, his
manager received a call to inform him that they had decided
to rewrite an upcoming character into a full time role and
wanted Jason to play the part. The day afte that, Jason was
on the set. |
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Other Information |
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Originally auditioned for the role of Logan Drake on General
Hospital. However, since they liked him so much they created
the character of Cooper Barrett for him to portray. |
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