Jeffrey Kenton Duty (born May 12, 1995) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He is best known for his recurring role as "Young Jacob" on the final season of the ABC primetime drama, Lost, and for his co-starring role as the flamboyant European exchange student, Gunther Hessenheffer on the Disney Channel comedy series, Shake It Up and Matt Prylek in the anti-bullying movie, Contest. Early life Duty was born on May 12, 1995 and raised in Plano, Texas. He has two younger siblings, twin sisters, Jessica and Rebecca, born in 1999. Duty first began studying acting at the age of 9, when his parents suggested he attend a musical theatre workshop to help him feel comfortable in front of an audience for school presentations. It was at the summer workshop that he discovered he had a love for musical theatre, and it was there that he would also meet the casting director who would ask him to audition for his first play, A Christmas Carol. Career In 2004, Duty began his acting career in Dallas, Texas at the age of 9, playing "Young Scrooge" in the Dallas Theater Center's musical stage production of A Christmas Carol. He appeared on-stage again the following year with a principal role in the Denton Community Theatre production of Ragtime. Duty began auditioning for roles in Los Angeles after he was discovered at a showcase performance at the Young Actors Studio in Dallas, Texas by Hollywood talent agent, Cindy Osbrink and she invited him to come to California to audition for pilot season. He has appeared in numerous national commercials for McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut, and Mattel. In 2007, after several appearances in comedy sketches on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Duty landed his first featured role as Michael in the Lifetime television movie, Christmas in Paradise. Over the next two years, he appeared in guest-starring roles on Cold Case and The Jay Leno Show, as well as a co-starring role in the popular web series Ctrl. In 2009, Duty landed his first feature film role in the suspense thriller, 2:13, as well as feature film roles in the horror film, Forget Me Not, the comedy film, Crazy on the Outside. In February 2010, he played a supporting role in the film, My Name Is Khan directed by Karan Johar and starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. In the spring of 2010,