Sitting in a booth at Dan's Hamburgers on Menchaca in the middle of the lunch rush, Jackson Rathbone sizes up a greasy beef patty sticky with melted cheese. Hearty tomatoes and a healthy smattering of crunchy pickles are sandwiched between a toasted and buttered bun.
"At the end of a long work day, I'm always like — What am I doing for dinner?"' Rathbone said, eyeing the burger. "It's always burgers. They're easy and consistent. ... It's a perfect little meal."
The musician and Twilight actor moved to Austin with his wife and kids less than a year ago after stints in Los Angeles and Georgia. He said landing acting roles increasingly depends on maintaining a social media presence. Unsure of what to share, he leaned into something he loves: hamburgers.
He snaps photos with the juicy creations and types up a short review for an Instagram post, a ritual he has performed every time he's visited a new joint.
"I always order the burger the way it comes," he told his 1 million Instagram followers in a review of Proud Mary on Tuesday. "Suffice to say ... it was too much mayo for me …This is a decent cafe burger, but nothing to really 'seek out' in terms of the incredible burger scene here in Austin."
Photos of burgers populate his feed between posts with his family, guitar-playing videos and fan-expo promotions. Despite being known for his Twilight role as the brooding, internally tormented vampire Jasper Hale, the actor comes across as playful and funny — a trait he's carried from his childhood in Midland.
Like many teenage boys growing up in West Texas, Rathbone tried his best to play football.
I chased acting because I wanted to be something different. I didn't really have a lot of self love, and being other people was a way for me to escape that feeling.
"The coach is like, 'Bone, stop smiling. What's wrong with you? This isn't party time,'" he said. "But I was like, 'Dude, we're just having fun, man.' I never really took it seriously — whereas I took being an actor seriously and making music seriously. That was my passion."
Concussions in the fifth and eighth grades solidified his desire to leave the sport. At 13, he picked up DJing — the licenseless teen often bumming rides off older friends to get to gigs. He also joined the Midland Community Theater, a choice he says people questioned — but he didn't care what they thought.
"As opposed to just being a weird wallflower, I was like — I'll be the centerpiece," Rathbone said. "I'll make myself known, and I'll be a jester. In that, I covered up a lot of truth."
Rathbone moved to Los Angeles at 18 to pursue an acting career. After booking roles in blockbuster films early on, he now finds his interests lie in smaller indie productions and creating music. The actor also frequently attends fan expos where he shares his journey with sobriety — one he credits his wife, Sheila, for guiding him through.
"I chased acting because I wanted to be something different," Rathbone said. "I didn't really have a lot of self love, and being other people was a way for me to escape that feeling."
He blamed his anxiety, depression and desire to escape for his drinking.
"There were nights I found myself so drunk that I would have been useless in a house fire," he said. "It took me a long time to really realize that, and there was a guilt and shame spiral."
Now 41, Rathbone said he's in pursuit of "radical honesty." His forthcoming album with his new band STARMOTHER explores everything he once felt too afraid to say.
"This album is rudely honest about how my brain works," he said of Disco Punk Is Dead. "There's songs about my sobriety and how the demon on my shoulder is always chasing me about it. How much easier would it be to give up."
Although he hopes fans will receive the album well, Rathbone said he's not seeking outside validation.
"This album is legitimately for me to deal with my issues," he said.
After shuffling around the U.S. for years, the actor said he plans on making a life in Austin and becoming entrenched in the music scene.
"I love this city so much," he said. "It was that shining beacon in the distance when I was growing up in Midland. It's a city where weirdness, art, music and culture are celebrated. That's where I want to be."
He said he'll keep eating and rating burgers, while spending time with what he calls the "greatest thing [he's] ever done" — his wife and kids.
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