Fans of teenage, high school drama from the early 2000s will very fondly remember Jamie Scott, the adorable son of Nathan and Haley James Scott. The role was played to great aplomb by Jackson Brundage, then a child actor from California.
Brundage took up the role of 9-year-old Jamie in Season 5. He would go on to feature in a total of 99 OTH episodes, right up until the series finale in 2012. In the years that have followed, the keenest fans of the show have been eager to keep up with news of what the young talent has been up to - as well as the other cast members.
Most of the main actors from the series have gone on to have long and productive careers. Jamie's mom, Haley, was portrayed by Bethany Joy Lenz, who has since become a mother in real life, starred in multiple Hallmark movies, among other professional and life achievements.
As for Brundage himself, he made the surprising decision to retire from acting in 2015, although he still maintains a relatively active life on social media. We take a quick look at how his life has unfolded since his One Tree Hill days.
Jackson Brundage Is All Grown Up Now
On January 21st this year, Brundage officially turned 21 years old. He celebrated the occasion with a post on his Instagram stories, which was captioned, "21 today! Alcohol recommendations, anyone?"
It would have been a stark reminder of just how fast time flies for those who got to experience his character's journey through five seasons of One Tree Hill. And while those who absolutely adored him really miss seeing him on their screens these past few years, Brundage did continue acting for a while before he hung up his boots.
While still active on The CW drama, the young actor made a cameo appearance in a 2010 episode of NCIS, as a character called Tommy Smith. After OTH, he featured once in the CBS sitcom Friends With Better Lives.
He would follow that up with more active roles in See Dad Run and Harvey Beaks, both on Nickelodeon. After the rigors of being a child actor, however, Brundage finally decided to call it quits and walk away from Hollywood at the age of 14.
Still, he has managed to maintain a tangible presence, especially on Instagram.
Jackson Brundage Foreshadowed His Own Retirement Years Earlier
As it would turn out, Brundage had somewhat foreshadowed his retirement a few years earlier, while he was still actively involved in One Tree Hill. In an interview with myFanbase, he was asked whether screen performance was something he would want to carry on doing even after he grew up.
"Well, I don't really know," Brundage said at the time. "I might want to do something else."
Still being young and impressionable, he went on to reveal the one big-time actor he hoped to eventually work with, if he remained in the business: "If I were being able to film in the future, I would really want to work with Jackie Chan because he is my all-time favorite actor."
The actor also spoke about the things he enjoyed doing the most, away from the set. "I like skateboarding with my friends [and] jumping on my trampoline that I have at home," he explained. "I like hanging out with my friends, playing lots of sports, going down to the park – because the park is right down the street from our house. I like doing most stuff outside."
Jackson Brundage Shared Photos Of Him And Another 'One Tree Hill' Alum On Instagram
In one of his Instagram posts last year, Brundage actually shared two photos of him and former OTH colleague and friend Michael May after they had been out hiking. On the series, May had played the part of Chuck Scolnik, a bully-turned-friend of Jamie Scott.
May is due to turn 23 this year, although he is still very much an active actor himself. Since 2020, he has been starring as Simon Spry in the Netflix romantic drama series, Sweet Magnolias.
Seeing the two OTH alumni together evoked a lot of memories for fans, who took to the comment section to reminisce about the old days. 'Chuck and Jamie together again!!!!' one fan enthused. 'They're friends in real life omg,' another one wrote, followed by a couple of heart eyes emojis.
At 21, Brundage is still figuring out what direction his life is going to take after acting. He has not yet shared publicly what career options he wants to pursue. At the very least, he is keeping a close enough distance to fans who still want to follow his every move.