Jake T. Austin

Bio:
Jake T. Austin (born Jake Austin Szymanski in New York, New York on December 3, 1994) is an American actor who began his career as a child actor at age seven. Austin has been nominated for a Young Artist Award five times. Although he started out appearing in commercials, in 2004 he landed his first major role as the voice of 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. In addition to playing the animated character Diego, Austin was cast in voice roles for the feature films The Ant Bully and Everyone’s Hero. Austin’s first live-action feature film was The Perfect Game in 2006. But Jake caught his big break when he was cast as Max Russo in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place. The show ran from 2007 to 2012 and he starred alongside Selena Gomez and David Henrie. In 2009 Austin starred in Hotel for Dogs where he played Bruce. In the fall of 2010, Austin was named as one of the “25 Brightest Latino Stars Under 25” by Latina magazine. After appearing on Law & Order SVU and voicing Fernando in Rio and Rio 2, Austin landed his next major role in 2013 when he was cast as Jesus Foster in the ABC Family comedy-drama series The Fosters. He left the show in the second season finale in 2015 and his character was recast. 

Best Known For:
Jake T. Austin is best known for his role as Max Russo on the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place where he starred alongside Selena Gomez from 2007-2012.

Personal Life:
Jake T. Austin divides his time between living in Los Angeles and New York. His family owns a historic restaurant called The Clarksville Inn, which is located in West Nyack, New York. Austin devotes his time to various charitable causes including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. In January 2016 Austin announced through Instagram that he’s dating his lifelong fan, Danielle Ceasar.