Date of Birth

3 December 1994, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name

Jake Toranzo Austin Szymanski

Nickname

Jakee

Height

5' 9" (1.75 m)

Mini Biography

Jake T. Austin was born Jake Austin Szymanski in New York City, to Giny Rodriguez Toranzo and Joe Szymanski. His middle initial is taken from his mother's name Toranzo. He has a younger sister, Ava. His father has Polish, English, and Irish ancestry, and his mother is of Puerto Rican, Argentinian, and Spanish descent. Jake started acting at age of seven in commercials. His first credited role was in a comedy sketch "Kid 1698". Jake starred in many animated movies, but he is mostly famous for his role as Max Russo on the series Wizards of Waverly Place (2007), the voice of Diego on Dora the Explorer (2000) and Go, Diego! Go! (2005), and Jesus Foster on the family/teen drama series The Fosters (2013).

He speaks English and Spanish fluently. Jake is living in L.A. but he often visits his family in New York.

Trivia

• Enjoys making short films with his friends, and writing.
• Has a sister Ava, along with two dogs Bogey and Beju.
• Favorite actors are Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Sean Penn, and Clifton Collins Jr.; Marlon Brando, Jim Carrey, Matt Damon, and Robin Williams.
• His favorite hobby is doing accents.
• His favorite music is rock.
• He wants to direct movies when he's older.
• His parents' names are Gina and Joe Szymanski. His father owns Clarksville Inn in West Nyack, New York.
• His favorite sports are snowboarding, surfing, basketball, football, and soccer.
• During filming The Perfect Game (2009), he became close friends with his co-stars, Jansen Panettiere, Moises Arias and Ryan Ochoa.
• He speaks English and Spanish.
• Attended Felix Festa Middle School in New York.
• Took a short break from filming a few episodes in the 4th season of Wizards of Waverly Place (2007) to concentrate on his school work. His character, Max, was turned into a girl, having another actor play the part, to fill in his absence. He later returned in the episode, "Back to Max".
• Attended West Nyack elementary school.

Quotes

• I've never been innocent, but I don't think I'm a bad kid! I didn't get voted prom king. I was kind of the dancer, the performer, but I was always very athletic, too.
• Having constant supporters and people who are always there and always giving back and knowing that they're loving what you're doing is always awesome to see.
• My best feature would have to be my hair. That sounds so cliché - but my hair is like a separate entity.
• I'm pretty versatile. I'm able to adapt to an environment and the way I view things based on who I'm with.
• I have to at least get a couple weekends in where I can just be on Santa Monica beach or Malibu and just ride the waves.
• It's important to have a fallback and other activities that keep you interested. I started acting when I was about nine or 10 years old. My father was a midtown firefighter so I always wanted to be a firefighter, but then acting came along. I have to have a plan B.
• 'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams is a great play. I had to read it for school when I was younger, but I started writing scripts after that. That's what got me into writing.
• I think everyone sings in the shower.
• With voice over work, you need to convey as much emotion as you can without making any physical movements, so it's hard. You've got to visualize everything.
• I was born and raised in New York, so I was blessed - or some say cursed - with a strong New York accent.