Drew Van Acker (born April 2, 1986) is an American actor, model and producer. He is known for playing
Jason DiLaurentis
'' Pretty Little Liars'' is an American teen drama television series created by I. Marlene King for Freeform. It is based on Sara Shepard's novel series of the same name. Some of the characters appeared in the spin-off shows '' Ravenswood' ...
, the older brother of
Alison DiLaurentis
Alison Lauren DiLaurentis is a fictional character in the ''Pretty Little Liars'' book series, its television adaptation, and the spin-off series '' Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists''. The character was created by American author Sara She ...
(
Sasha Pieterse
Sasha Pieterse-Sheaffer (; born February 17, 1996) is a South African-born American actress, singer and songwriter. She is known for her role as Alison DiLaurentis in the Freeform series '' Pretty Little Liars'' and its spin-off '' Pretty Litt ...
Pretty Little Liars
''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American mystery teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series was broadcast on Freeform between June 8, 2010, and June ...
'' (2010–2017) and Ian Archer in
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...
Training Day
''Training Day'' is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers over a 24-hour period in the gan ...
''.
Early life
Van Acker was born in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, but lived in
Medford, New Jersey
Medford is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 24,497, an increase of 1,464 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 23,033,Shawnee High School, where he began acting in their high school drama classes, where he also played on his school's soccer and lacrosse teams. His soccer abilities led him to receive a soccer scholarship to
Towson University
Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...
in
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
. While attending Towson, Van Acker took a number of theater courses in order to refocus on acting. He then made the decision to move to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, followed by a move to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
.
Career
Van Acker's acting credits include ''
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
'' and
ABC Family
The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...
's ''
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
'' as well co-starring in the TheWB.com series ''The Lake''.
In 2010, Van Acker starred in the short-lived
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...
live-action series '' Tower Prep''. In June 2011, it was announced he had joined the cast of ''
Pretty Little Liars
''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American mystery teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series was broadcast on Freeform between June 8, 2010, and June ...
'' as
Jason DiLaurentis
'' Pretty Little Liars'' is an American teen drama television series created by I. Marlene King for Freeform. It is based on Sara Shepard's novel series of the same name. Some of the characters appeared in the spin-off shows '' Ravenswood' ...
Training Day
''Training Day'' is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers over a 24-hour period in the gan ...
'' as Detective Tommy Campbell. In 2019, Van Acker appeared as Garth/Aqualad in the
DC Universe
The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green L ...
series ''
Titans
In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Gai ...