Jason Morkel

Jason Peter Morkel (born February 1, 1980) is an American actor, filmmaker, and businessman. Morkel was born and raised in. He is the son of cartoonist Nicholas H. Morkel and the brother of filmmaker/cartoonist Phelan Morkel and writer/producer/actress Julie Morkel. His accolades include six, four , two , a , and two.

Morkel began his career as a voice actor in the 2000s, starring as Jack Boring in the TBS animated sitcom The Boring Life of Jack (2001–2006) and eventually having roles in various Morkel & Associates productions. His first major live-action role was Kevin Lawford in the RKO comedy-drama series Small World (2005–2010). Morkel garnered further recognition for his feature film roles, including as Jimmy Pope Jr. in Jimmy Pope (2007), Eduardo Guerrero in 24th Avenue (2008), Vincenzo D'Antonio in Another Week (2011), and Luciano "Luke" DeLuca in Springing (2012). He also received praise for playing recurring character Mark Deegan in RKOx's Madcaps (2010–present).

Morkel made a return to voice acting when he starred as the voice of George Stardust in the animated series Inner Space (2011–2018). He has also been a member of the cast of the RKOx sketch comedy series Joyride Theater since 2014, and voices the recurring role of Toby Baffier in Living on an Edge (2016–present). Morkel is currently a writer and executive producer of the RKO comedy-drama The Morkels (2023–present).

Early life and family
Jason Peter Morkel was born on February 1, 1980 in. He is the son of Nicholas H. Morkel (born August 16, 1931) and Argentine-born Cassandra Morkel (née Bergamo; May 2, 1930 – February 11, 2014). He has Afrikaner, German, and Irish ancestry on his father's side and Italian and Spanish ancestry on his mother's. His older brother, Phelan Thomas Morkel (born October 25, 1975) is a filmmaker and cartoonist, and Jason has starred in several of his productions. His sister, Julianne Shannon "Julie" Morkel (born August 21, 1978), is a writer, film and television producer, and actress. His cousins include novelist Tony Morkel, filmmaker Justin Morkel, actress Katelyn Morkel, actor/director Kevin Morkel, and singer/actress Brooke Morkel.

Morkel attended and graduated in 1998. He graduated from the with a  degree in 2002.

Television career
Morkel's first role was the voice of Jack Boring in TBS's adult animated sitcom The Boring Life of Jack in 2001. In 2000, Morkel—who was still in college at the time—had originally auditioned for the role of Jack's best friend, Malcolm Neverland; however, casting director Pierre Bernard felt his calm, higher-pitched voice was better suited for Jack. (The role of Malcolm was given to English-born actor Kearney Forbes.) He stayed with the show's cast until its 2006 cancellation. He later had minor roles in episodes of Mole Miner and Trisha's Way, both produced by Morkel & Associates.

Morkel claims his first "major" television role was Kevin Lawford in the RKO Network comedy-drama series Small World (2005–2010). In 2009, Morkel also appeared as Kevin in the pilot episode of the spin-off series The Boom, which aired for one season from 2009 to 2010.

One of Morkel's most famous roles is George Stardust in the adult animated science fiction series Inner Space, which ran for seven seasons from 2011 to 2018 on. The series was critically acclaimed, and Morkel won several awards for his performance including two.

From 2012 to 2014, Morkel guest starred as George Bennett in five episodes the  legal drama series Case Open. In 2013, Morkel joined the cast of the RKOx sketch comedy Joyride Theater, for which he has received several additional nominations.

He also portrayed defense attorney Lorenzo Capaldi in the 2014 legal comedy-drama miniseries The Trial of Victor Trent, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by J.J. Quincy. In 2016, Morkel began voicing Toby Baffier in 's Living on an Edge, which was created by Phelan Morkel.

In May 2022, it was confirmed that Morkel would be a writer and executive producer of the RKO comedy-drama The Morkels, his first time in both roles. The series premiered in September 2022.

Film career
Morkel's first film role was Jimmy Pope Jr. in the 2007 independent comedy-drama film Jimmy Pope. He would later make a brief appearance as Eduardo Guerrero in the 2008 drama film 24th Avenue. Morkel also made a cameo appearance alongside Phelan Morkel in the 2010 comedy film Cartoonists, directed by his girlfriend (now wife) Mariana Fabiano. He also appeared as Vincenzo D'Antonio in the 2011 drama Another Week and as Luciano "Luke" DeLuca in the 2012 comedy-drama Springing.

Morkel returned to cinema for the 2014 science fiction comedy film Jeffrey 51, in which he portrayed antagonist Ken Antonucci. He also portrayed Michael Forrest in Son of the Invaders, which came out later that year. He played Eric "Chip" Sherman in Lemongrass II: The Next Generation, a 2015 sequel to the 2002 comedy film Lemongrass. In 2017, Morkel played Engywook in The NeverEnding Story, a remake of the which his brother Phelan directed and produced. Morkel earned a nomination for the for his performance. Morkel also appeared in Mariana Fabiano's 2018 animated film Everything in the Universe, and his performance earned him two nominations and the MFTA Award for Best Voice Actor in a Foreign Film.

In October 2023, Morkel announced that he had begun writing a feature film with Kearney Forbes.

Other ventures
Morkel—alongside brother Phelan and sister Julie—owns the Fitchburg–Leominster Flamingos, a minor league hockey team in the Regional Hockey League (RHL) affiliated with the. Their creation and ownership of the team has been profiled in the RKO Universe documentary TV series Fighting Flamingos. Jason, Phelan, and Julie also own three radio stations in —WPJJ, WPJJ-FM, and WCBR-FM.

In September 2023, Morkel and his brother-in-law Ricky Fabiano jointly acquired a 50% stake of digital media company Network Z and announced the launch of a Network Z linear channel on services such as  and.

Relationships
He began dating filmmaker Mariana Fabiano in 2007, and the two got married and moved in together in in June 2013. After meeting Kearney Forbes on the set of The Boring Life of Jack, Forbes and Morkel have been close friends, and Forbes attended Morkel and Fabiano's wedding. In September 2023, Morkel and Fabiano moved to.

In 2018, Morkel told News.org that he is a close friend of Campuzanos lead singer Lorenzo Campuzano and guitarist Fernando Campuzano, and he performed "I Am Human" with Lorenzo at a Glendale concert in June 2018. They also appeared together in an episode of The Campuzanos Show in 2023.

Other known friends of Morkel's include the cast of Madcaps (George Grayson, Sabrina Samson, and Nathan Webber), rapper Missy T, actress Sweet Dee Smith, actor/filmmaker Michael Beasley, animator/filmmaker Webster Morgan, Canadian voice actor Tagi Miori, and Gordican actress Serena Chong.

Beliefs and activism
Morkel is an atheist. He said in a December 2016 interview with XYZ News that the Morkels are a "very monotheistic family" and he "respect[s] people's belief in God, including those of my family and my friends", but he believes that the concept of is "out of this world", and he refuses to believe in "some big, invisible sky man who toys around with the world at his will". Morkel's statements drew criticism from for purportedly promoting. Phelan Morkel defended him, saying "He is entitled to his own belief in whether or not God exists, and I respect that." Meanwhile, Julie criticized such critics for jumping to conclusions and "trying to tarnish [Jason]'s reputation".

Following Morkel's comments on atheism, the official Twitter account of conservative political commentator Benito Bernardez's website BB Net published a video of Bernardez cursing Morkel out for supposedly accusing "every Christian in the world" of being an extremist, and demanded that he release a formal apology, retire from acting, and leave the United States. In a reply to the tweet, Morkel simply told Bernardez, "Little boy, go sit your ass down." In an M News interview later that month, Morkel stated that he will not apologize, and called Bernardez "way uptight" and stated that "as a fellow Bay Stater, I think Bernardez is a humongous disgrace to ".

Morkel has stated that he supported in the  and  United States presidential elections, and  in the. He has been an outspoken critic of, an amendment to the which solely defined marriage as being a union between a man and a woman. He raised roughly $6,000 in opposition to the amendment, but the bill still passed. After it was overruled in 2013, he "Bye-bye, Prop 8", accompanied by the. The tweet has since evolved into a.

Morkel has also been critical of 's, calling him "a huge power abuser" and "not competent enough to run the website". He announced in May 2023 that he was "leaving" Twitter; his account shall remain open, but he will not be posting anything new. He cites Musk's "absolute stupidity" as the reason for his leave.