Jake Toranzo Austin Szymanski (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Jake T. Austin, is an American actor. Beginning his career as a child actor at the age of seven, Austin is best known for his role as Max Russo on the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place, and as the original voice of Diego on the Nickelodeon animated series Go, Diego, Go!. Austin was also the original actor who portrayed Jesus Foster on the ABC Family family/teen drama series The Fosters. His feature film credits include co-starring roles in Hotel for Dogs, New Year's Eve, Rio and The Emoji Movie.

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 ancestry. Austin embraces his Puerto Rican heritage, though he has said that he is not fluent in Spanish. He has a younger sister, Ava.

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 Late Show with David Letterman. In 2005, 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' 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 would not be released in the United States until more than three years later due to post-production financing difficulties.

Austin appeared in his first Walt Disney Company production in 2007 when he portrayed 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 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 the 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 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 wrote and sold his first screenplay, Kings of Suburbia, which he described as being written in the same vein as his favorite film Stand by Me.

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 Year's Eve, released in 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 murdered.

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, with Noah Centineo.

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. On August 30, 2016, Austin was revealed as one of the contestants who would compete on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer, Jenna Johnson. On September 20, 2016, Austin and Johnson were announced as the first couple to be eliminated from the competition. In October 2018, it was announced that Austin joined the cast of Adverse, a neo-noir thriller starring Mickey Rourke. Adverse had its premiere at the opening of the Fantasporto Festival on February 28, 2020, in Portugal.

Austin divides his time between living in Los Angeles and New York. He has two dogs, Bogey and Beju. His family owns a restaurant called The Clarksville Inn in West Nyack, New York, which was originally built in 1840 and served as a hotel.

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's Power of Youth initiative, which partners with young stars to help raise money for their chosen causes. He has also supported the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, stating "I know how important it is to have a supportive environment and feel good about yourself, especially as an adolescent."

In October 2020, Austin discussed his biracial familial heritage and the importance of voting in the upcoming election: "... whether it's via mail-in voting or at the polling place, becoming active in the electoral process is so important. Whether the person on the ticket is running for local, state or national positions, our role as their constituents starts with voting."

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 Anderson
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	Teen Titans: The Judas Contract		Voice
2017	The Emoji Movie	Alex	Voice
2017	The Valley	Chris
2020	Adverse	Lars

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Late Show with David Letterman	Kid 1698	Episode: "December 23, 2003"
2004	Dora the Explorer	Diego	Voice, 3 episodes
2005–2009	Go, Diego, Go!	Diego	Voice, main role (seasons 1–3)
2005	Merry F#%$in' Christmas	Various	Voice, TV special
2007	Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board	Chris	Television film
2007–2012	Wizards of Waverly Place	Max Russo	Main role
2008	Happy Monster Band	Bluz	Voice, 10 episodes
2009	Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie	Max Russo	Television film
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	Television special
2013–2015	The Fosters	Jesus Foster	Main role (seasons 1–2)
2016	Dancing with the Stars	Himself	Contestant on season 23
2017	Justice League Action	Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle	Voice, 2 episodes

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Mermaids	Diego Marquez

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

• Jake T. Austin at IMDb