Daytime television newcomer Jason Cook couldn't have asked for better "soap opera" genes; his character, Shawn-D, is the heir apparent to one of television's most beloved super-couples, Bo & Hope, on NBC's number one daytime drama, Days of our Lives. Originally from New Jersey, the Cooks moved to Los Angeles when Jason was born. "I thought I wanted to play professional soccer when I was a kid," Jason explains. "One of my earliest memories is getting a soccer ball from my parents when I was a baby. I still have that ball." Jason's first foray into show-business was as a pianist. By age twelve, Jason was adding to his allowance by playing the occasional wedding on the weekends and winning piano competitions. The promising musician never considered acting as a career until the lead in "Whodunnit?," the West Lake High School play, dropped out at the last minute. "I stepped in and learned the part in a week," Jason recounts. "After opening night, I came home and said, 'Mom, this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.'" As luck would have it, a very influential man was in the audience during Jason's theatrical debut. "My best friend's Dad, Bill Civitella, is a theatrical manager and after the play, he came up to me and said, 'Jason, if you want to be an actor, I'll help you.'" Jason soon landed his first professional acting gig as the host for the Disney Channel's "Project Time," an arts and crafts demonstration show, which Jason juggled with his high school curriculum and rank as lead scorer on the soccer team. Jason starred as Tony in "West Side Story" and recently portrayed Dimitrius in "A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Civic Arts Shakespeare Summer Festival in Thousand Oaks, California. Along with some friends, Jason recently formed the improv sketch comedy troupe "Severe Head Drama." The young thespian will demonstrate his improvisational skills this fall when he guest stars on Nickelodeon's "The Amanda Show." Jason recently completed his freshman year at Moorpark College, where he was active on the speech and debate team, a skill he honed while at high school. Last year, the orator and his debate partner placed first in the California Community College Forensics Association Speech Competition. Jason resides with his family in the LA area. His father, Bill, is an engineer who constructs rides for amusement parks and his mother, JoAnn, is a pre school teacher and "devoted Mom." Jason has three siblings; older brother Michael owns a 'rent to own' store, younger sister Janean is a sophomore in high school, and older sister Michelle, a huge Days fan, is a human resource manager for American Express. The Cooks have two dogs, Cobi and Zoe, and a lizard named Diablo. In his spare time, the actor unwinds by reading; Michael Crichton and Ken Follet are his favorite authors. Jason is currently working on a screenplay. Jason has brown hair and brown eyes and stands 5' 11". Jason turned nineteen on September 13, 1999.
Since Jason Cook has taken over the role of Shawn his life has been anything but stable. He came home to Salem from boarding school only to discover that his parents were off in Europe and that his mother was having and identity crisis. When his father came back their relationship was very hard. Bo wasn't very caring of Shawns feelings and they often fought. Then when Bo's "Fancy Face" came back to Salem, Shawn, the only one who knew it wasn't his mother from the start, had to put up with this woman who tried to kill him. At Bo and "Hope's" wedding "Hope" shot Shawn off a ledge alost killing him. Since then we have seen Shawn's sensitive side resurface as the search for his mother continues.