Jake T. Austin Biography

Jake Austin Szymanski (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Jake T. Austin, is an American actor. Beginning a career as a child actor at the age of seven, Austin is a five-time Young Artist Award nominee, best known for his role as Max Russo on the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place, and as the voice of Diego on the Nickelodeon animated series Go, Diego, Go!. Austin was also the original actor to portray Jesus Foster on the ABC Family family/teen drama series The Fosters.

Early life

Austin was born in New York City, the son of Giny Rodriquez Toranzo and Joe Szymanski. His middle initial, "T", is taken from his mother's maiden name. His mother is of Puerto Rican, Argentine and Spanish, descent, and his father is of Polish, Irish, and English descent. Austin embraces his Puerto Rican heritage, though he admits not being fluent in Spanish. He has one younger sister, Ava.

Career

2002-06: Beginnings

Austin's career began in 2002 when he appeared in commercials. A year later, he appeared in his first credited acting role as Kid 1698 in a comedy sketch on The Late Show With David Letterman. In 2004, he landed his first major role - voicing Diego, the cousin of Dora, on the hit Nickelodeon animated series Dora the Explorer. He continued to voice Diego on the spin-off series, Go, Diego, Go!, for three seasons. Along with voicing Diego, Austin was cast in multiple voice roles for the feature films The Ant Bully and Everyone's Hero - he was also cast in the Comedy Central special Merry F#%$in"?s Christmas. In 2006, Austin landed the lead role of Angel Macias in his first live-action feature film, The Perfect Game, which was based on a true story about the first non-U.S. team to win the 1957 Little League World Series. The film wouldn't be released in the United States until more than three years later due to post-production financing difficulties.

2007-11: Wizards of Waverly Place

Austin appeared in his first Walt Disney Company production in 2007 when he portrayed the role of Chris in the Disney Channel original film Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board. Later that same year, he was cast as Max Russo in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place. He played the youngest sibling of a wizarding family, co-starring with Selena Gomez and David Henrie. Until the end of the Wizards of Waverly Place in 2011, Austin appeared in multiple Disney productions. In the summer of 2009, he played the role of Max Russo in Wizards on Deck crossover episode which included two other popular Disney shows, The Suite Life on Deck and Hannah Montana.

During the same summer, he starred in the made-for-television film Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie. The film was a ratings hit, becoming the second most-viewed Disney Channel film at that time, behind High School Musical 2. It was also the #1 scripted telecast of 2009. Austin made his live action feature film debut in 2009 with the role of Bruce, an orphan who hides numerous dogs in an abandoned hotel, in the DreamWorks film Hotel for Dogs. In the fall of 2010, Austin was named as one of the "25 Brightest Latino Stars Under 25" by Latina magazine. He has written and sold his first screenplay, Kings of Suburbia, which he has said is written in the same vein as his favorite film Stand By Me.

2011-present: The Fosters

In 2011, Austin voiced the role of Fernando, an orphaned Brazilian boy who is forced to capture exotic birds, in the 20th Century Fox animated musical film Rio. He reprised the role in the sequel, Rio 2. He was also in the romantic-comedy film New Years Eve, released on December 2011. The following year, he had guest roles on the Lifetime comedy-drama Drop Dead Diva as Samuel Forman, a 16-year-old multimillionaire, and on the NBC legal drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Rob Fisher, the boyfriend of a girl whose family is massacred.

Austin landed his next major role in 2013, when he was cast as Jesus Foster in the ABC Family family/teen drama series The Fosters. The series tells the story of two moms raising both biological and foster children in a "multi-ethnic" household in San Diego, California. He played Jesus for two seasons until he left the show in the second season finale in 2015. In a statement on his departure, Austin said: "I'm honored to have been a part of such a groundbreaking series ... Thank you for letting me be a part of your family, it's been a pleasure." His role was recast for the third season. In 2016, he provided the voice for Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle in the DC Comics animated direct-to-video film Justice League vs. Teen Titans.

Personal life

Austin divides his time between living in Los Angeles and New York. He has two dogs, Bogey and Beju. His family owns an historic restaurant called The Clarksville Inn. The restaurant, located in West Nyack, New York, originally opened in 1840 as a hotel. In January 2016, Austin revealed that he is dating fan, Danielle Caesar.

Austin devotes time to various charitable causes including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions; the Starlight Children's Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening medical conditions; and Variety Power of Youth initiative, which partners with young stars to help raise money for their chosen causes.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	The Ant Bully	Nicky (voice)
2006	Everyone's Hero	Yankee Irving (voice)
2009	Hotel for Dogs	Bruce
2010	The Perfect Game	Angel Macias
2011	Rio	Fernando (voice)
2011	New Year's Eve	Seth
2013	Khumba	Khumba (voice)
2014	Rio 2	Fernando (voice)
2014	Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn	Huckleberry Finn
2014	Grantham & Rose	Grantham Portnoy
2016	Justice League vs. Teen Titans	Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle (voice)
2017	The Valley	Chris

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Late Show with David Letterman	Kid 1698	Episode: "December 23, 2003"
2004	Dora the Explorer	Diego (voice)	3 episodes
2005-08	Go, Diego, Go!	Diego (voice)	56 episodes
2005	Merry F#%$in' Christmas	Various (voice)	TV special
2007	Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board	Chris	TV movie
2007-12	Wizards of Waverly Place	Max Russo	94 episodes
2008	Happy Monster Band	Bluz (voice)	10 episodes
2009	Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie	Max Russo	TV movie
2009	The Suite Life on Deck	Max Russo	Episode: "Double-Crossed"
2012	Drop Dead Diva	Samuel Forman	Episode: "Home"
2012	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Rob Fisher	Episode: "Home Invasions"
2013	The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex	Max Russo	TV special
2013-15	The Fosters	Jesus Foster	41 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2006	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role - Young Actor	Go, Diego, Go!
2007	Imagen Award	Best Actor - Television
	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role - Young Actor	Everyone's Hero
2008	ALMA Award	Outstanding Male Performance in a Comedy TV Series	Wizards of Waverly Place
	Young Artist Award	Best Young Ensemble Performance in a TV Series (with Selena Gomez, David Henrie, and Jennifer Stone)
2009	ALMA Award	Year in TV Comedy - Actor
	Imagen Award	Best Actor - Television
	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV: Sidekick
	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Series - Leading Young Actor
2010		Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor	Hotel for Dogs
		Best Performance in a TV Series - Leading Young Actor	Wizards of Waverly Place
2012	Hollywood Teen TV Awards	Favorite Television Actor
2013	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite TV Actor
	Teen Choice Awards	Summer TV Star: Male	The Fosters
2014		Choice TV Actor: Drama
2015