Kenton Duty began his acting career when he was 9 years old in the Dallas Theater Center's stage production of "A Christmas Carol". He began auditioning for roles in Los Angeles after he was discovered at a workshop at the Young Actors Studio in Dallas, Texas by Hollywood talent agent Cindy Osbrink. Duty first gained popular notoriety in the role of young "Jacob" on the hit TV series, Lost (2004), although no one, including Duty himself, knew who his character was until nearly the final episode of the series. He was billed simply as "Teenage Boy". In 2010, Duty landed a starring role on the Disney Channel original series, Shake It Up (2010) as the flamboyant dancer/fashion designer antagonist, "Gunther Hessenheffer", alongside Caroline Sunshine as his fraternal twin sister, "Tinka Hessenheffer". The glitzy brother/sister duo of Gunther and Tinka is said to be inspired by Ryan and Sharpay Evans of Disney's "High School Musical" franchise.