Most famously known for his music career, Jesse McCartney was 12-years-old when he joined the boy band, Dreamstreet, in 1999. After three years he went on to have a successful solo career beginning with his debut album, Beautiful Soul (2004) which went Platinum and reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the album’s single of the same name. While Jesse McCartney is still making music with his latest single “Friends” in 2020, he has also had a long and successful career both in live-action and animation.
McCartney’s first role was at the same time as his tenure with Dreamstreet on the long-running ABC soap opera, All My Children. The role earned him two Daytime Emmy Award nominations. From there he went on to have his own show, Summerland, as well as cameo roles in other series. On the voice acting side, McCartney has lent his soulful voice to characters in movies, TV, and even video games only one of which utilizes his talented singing voice. Here is a breakdown of Jesse McCartney’s acting career and the roles he brought to life both in live-action and animation.
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Dick Grayson (a.k.a. Robin/Nightwing): Young Justice
Young Justice was an animated series that originally aired on Cartoon Network and most recently was brought back for DC’s streaming service, DC Universe. The show followed the sidekicks of the DC heroes who forged their own team to take down the forces of evil.
The team included Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy, and most famously Robin, voiced by Jesse McCartney. Robin is a central character throughout the series taking up his comic book mantle of Nightwing at the beginning of Season 2. McCartney voiced the character in all three seasons and is set to return for Season 4 titledYoung Justice: Phantoms.
JR Chandler: All My Children
The long-running ABC soap opera All My Children aired from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011. In 1989 the character of Adam “JR” Chandler Jr. was born on the show and for the next two decades grew up on-screen and was portrayed by seven different actors.
The fourth actor to play the character was Jesse McCartney in his first acting role which he held for 2 years. In the role, McCartney earned two Young Artist Awards and two Daytime Emmy Award nominations.
Theodore Seville: Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks made their debut in 1958 with “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” and introduced the three brothers of Simon, Alvin, and Theodore. Since then this trio has been portrayed across TV, animation, and even live-action.
In 2007, 20th Century Fox released the first of what would become four live-action/CGI Alvin and the Chipmunk movies. Theodore, the youngest Chipmunk was voiced by none other than Jesse McCartney who interestingly didn’t do the singing voice for the chipmunk.
Bradin Westerly: Summerland
Summerland was a series that aired on The WB in 2004 and 2005. The show had 2 seasons and followed Ava Gergory played by Lori Laughlin who took care of her niece and nephews after their parents died in a tragic accident.
Jesse McCartney played the oldest child, Bradin Westerly, a seventeen-year-old boy who gets caught up with drinking and drugs to cope with the loss of his parents. McCartney plays a stereotypical California surfer bro often appearing shirtless and reminiscent of the characters on the popular SNL sketch, “The Californians”.
JoJo: Horton Hears a Who!
After the success of the first two Ice Age films, animation house Blue Sky Studios produced the film adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!. Like the 1954 book of the same name, the movie follows an elephant named Horton who tries to protect the microscopic community of Whoville.
The film had an all-star cast including Jim Carry, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Seth Rogan, and more. Jesse McCartney voiced Jojo, the oldest of the Mayor’s 97 children as well as the only son. The character is portrayed as a shy kid who is afraid of disappointing his father and often doesn’t talk. However, at the end of the film, it is Jojo who saves Whoville by screaming “YOPP” into the horn forcing the larger animals to recognize their existence.
Andy: Greek
Greek was an ABC Family original series that had a total of 4 seasons from 2007 to 2011. The series focused on a group of students who attend a fictional university in Ohio and participate in the Greek system. The series introduced Jesse McCartney’s character Andy in the second half of Season 2 as the new pledge for Kappa Tau and Rusty’s “Little Brother”.
Andy’s arc lasts 6 episodes where he is the love interest of Rusty’s crush, Jordan Reed. Andy ends up de-pledging and leaving the show after he sees Rusty and Jordan kissing. Recently, Jesse McCartney featured his Greek co-stars Scott Michael Foster (Cappie), Paul James (Calvin Owens), and Jacob Zachar (Rusty Cartwright) in his new music video for his song “Friends”.
Terence: Tinker Bell
In 2008, Disney capitalized on their Peter Pan movies by spinning out the Neverland Fairy, Tinker Bell, into her own franchise called Disney Fairies. The franchise consists of books as well as seven direct-to-video movies. The movies explore the world of the fairies within Neverland and introduce fans to a slew of new fairy characters.
Included in that list is Terence, a dust-keeper sparrow fairy who often is portrayed as having a crush on Tinker Bell. This lovable character is voiced by none other than pop-sensation, Jesse McCartney.
Tim Truman: Army Wives
Following the lives of four army wives and their families, Army Wives was a huge success for the Lifetime network lasting seven seasons and having the largest series premiere in the network’s 23-year history. The final season introduces McCartney’s character Private Tim Truman who suffers from PTSD after returning home from Afghanistan.
In an interview with Yahoo! Music, McCartney said, “There’s a pivotal scene where I’m in one of the towers, and I pick up a machine gun, and I end up firing at the enemy and ultimately end up saving this platoon. But when I come home, something terrible happens to Tim, and he can’t get over it, and he suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder which is something a lot of our soldiers go through,”
Roxas: Kingdom Hearts
The Kingdom Hearts franchise is based in a fictional universe that combines the characters of various Square Enix characters with that of Disney. The franchise includes an original story that spans 10+ video games and follows the main character Sora. Kingdom Hearts II introduces Sora’s Nobody named Roxas who is voiced by Jesse McCartney.
Like McCartney, Roxas sports light brown hair. Roxas goes on to be the main protagonist of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, a spin-off that focuses on Roxas’ time with Organization XIII. McCartney has reprised the role across several games and even voices Ventus one of the main characters in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep another popular spin-off.
Reed: Fear the Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead is the first of two spinoffs of AMC’s popular and long-running series. The show’s post-apocalyptic setting has been known for killing off characters regularly and as such the series has seen many actors come and go. One such character is Jesse McCartney’s Reed who serves as the antagonist in Season 2.
Reed’s older brother Connor formed a pirate group of outbreak survivors. Reed is later turned into a ‘walker’ after being stabbed by Madison Clark making McCartney’s appearance brief lasting a total of two episodes.