On February 17, 2009, Schwartzman was named one of the "Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America" by GQ magazine.
Schwartzman's acting career began when he was 17 years old, when he starred in Wes Anderson's Rushmore in 1998. Prior to Rushmore, he had no acting experience. Shortly after in 2000, Jason had a guest role in the short-lived series Freaks and Geeks. In 2001, he starred in CQ, a film by his cousin Roman Coppola. In 2002, he starred in Slackers and in 2003 starred in Spun. In 2004, he starred in I Heart Huckabees, and Shopgirl in 2005. He also appeared in various television shows, such as Cracking Up. In 2006, he starred in Marie Antoinette under the direction of his cousin, Sofia Coppola, in which he appeared as King Louis XVI.
Coconut Records is an indie pop musical solo project by Schwartzman, which began in 2006. The debut album, Nighttiming, was released on Schwartzman’s Young Baby Records in 2007. The album had musical contributions by members of Incubus, as well as appearances by actresses Zooey Deschanel and Kirsten Dunst and Schwartzman's brother Robert. Coconut Records' second release, Davy, was released in January, 2009.
Prior to acting, Schwartzman was the Drummer and a Songwriter for the band Phantom Planet. Despite leaving the band, music remains one of his passions. He appeared in the music video for the rock remix of "It's All About the Benjamins" by Puff Daddy, and contributed to Ben Lee's 2005 album Awake Is the New Sleep. In 2007, he created the indie rock solo act Coconut Records. The first album, entitled Nighttiming, was produced by Michael Einziger and features a cover photo from Roman Coppola. The album was first released on iTunes on March 20, 2007. His second album, Davy, was released on iTunes on January 20, 2009. Schwartzman performed the musical score for Funny People and the theme song for Bored to Death. He has also written tracks for Smallville and Slackers. Schwartzman also played the drums on Phoenix's rendition of The Beach Boys' song "Alone on Christmas Day" in 2015. The song was featured in Bill Murray's Netflix special, A Very Murray Christmas.
On February 17, 2009, Schwartzman was named one of the "Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America" by GQ magazine.
In 2011, Schwartzman made a cameo appearance as Vincent van Gogh in the Beastie Boys short film Fight for Your Right Revisited. In 2013, he made a cameo appearance as himself in an episode of the television show Key & Peele. In 2014 he played himself in the lead role of the Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories episode "The Endorsement
