Why was Jason Earles cast as Miley Cyrus' brother

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If Google is correct, then Jason was born in 1977. When Hannah Montana first went on the air in March 2006, he would've been 28 years old and playing what was presumably, a 16 year old. Keep in mind that Miley Cyrus during this same timeframe, would've been about 13 years old while Billy Ray Cyrus as 44.

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Former Disney Channel star says he lied about his age to get job

Earles recently opened up about lying and getting away with it during the inaugural episode of the Best of Both Worlds podcast with the sitcom’s director Shannon Flynn and writer-producer Douglas Danger Lieblein.

“I was desperately afraid that I was going to be fired and recast because I had a big secret,” Earles recalled. “When I auditioned for the show, I lied to them and told them I was 18 years old.”

At the time of his audition, the actor was 28 years old — but Jackson was supposed to be 16.

“What's funny is Lisa London, who cast it, when she brought me in, she was like, ‘Hey, I know you're 19,’ because I had lied to her in a different audition. And she was like, ‘Would you be okay, when you go in there, would you lie and tell them that you're 18?’ I was like, ‘I think I can do that,’” he continued.

Even after booking the role and shooting episodes of the hit Disney Channel show, Earles said people on set didn’t find out his real age until “halfway through the first season.”

“I didn't find out until episode eight, and I think the network found out later than I did,” Lieblein explained.

Earles even admitted that someone from the network ended up confronting him over the lie and asked him if he had any other “secrets.”

“I remember one of the higher-up network executives showed up on show night and was like, ‘Hey, you're, uh, 28? And you're married?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that girl I keep making out with…that's my wife,’” the Hannah Montana actor said.

“And he was like, ‘Any more secrets? Anything else we should know? Do you have any kids?’ I was like ‘No,’ and he was like, ‘Let's go ahead and keep it that way for a few years.’”