Phenomenal Leadership: Jake T Austin
Jake T. Austin has grown up on-screen from child star to teen heartthrob and now adult actor. As the US speeds towards the 2020 Presidential election, Jake encourages all Americans to take on on an important role of their own: active voter.
Jake was born and raised in New York to a European father and Hispanic mother (the “T” in “Jake T Austin” is a nod to her maiden name “Toranzo”). “My early years were truly a melting pot. In education settings, it was all english, but at home, I was also spoken to in Spanish. From a very early age, I was able to respond in Spanish. And to this day, I still have conversations with my grandmother in Spanish. Dinner could be hot dogs or enchiladas; our household was a fusion of the individual heritage of each of my parents.”
Jake T Austin is shot at home in Hollywood, CA. Wardrobe: ASOS Man, watch: Shinola, shoes: Creative Director: Andrew J Pham, Photographer: Mitch Dao
At the age of 10, Jake landed the role of “Diego” in the animated series Dora the Explorer. The show eventually spun off into Go Diego Go! which collectively ran on Nickelodeon for five years. As Diego concluded, he starred in the movies Hotel For Dogs and The Perfect Game. “In The Perfect Game, my role was Angel Macias who is a real person and pitched the first perfect game in Little League History. The movie tells the true story of a group of boys from Mexico who had a passion for playing baseball and built upon that and ultimately became the first non-US team to win the Little League World Series. We shot it in 2019 and the story takes place in 1957: from that era to the present day, from Mexico and all across the planet: everyone understands the concept of the American Dream.”
The Wizards of Waverly Place followed and was a hit on The Disney Channel for five years. The lauded sitcom spawned two movies and the franchise garnered a total of three Emmys. “When I think about the various departments that work independently to create a show: there are the writers, the set designers, wardrobe. Of course, you have the lighting team, the camera people and the leader is the director. It’s like a government with various branches and they work together, but there are checks & balances. You could make the equivocation that the director is the President, the writers are Congress, the set designers are the House and the editors are the Senate. Each group are specialists at what they do and they come together to create for the American people.”
Now 25 years old and with credits that include the movie New Year’s Eve, guest spots on series such as Law and Order: SVU and the upcoming feature film Adverse (which co-stars Mickey Rourke), Jake is increasing awareness for voting. “I’ve been working with a non-partisan group called ‘Voto Latino’ which encourages voter registration. There is a 13 second video on their YouTube channel and in that brief amount of time, you can learn how to register. I’ve been fortunate to be nominated for acting accolades at the ALMA, Imagen and Teen Choice Awards, but more importantly than that, each citizen has the capability to voice their opinion about the party’s nominee. The winning candidate has the honor of serving the people they represent, so 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”.
In this election cycle and for the rest time in history, Latinos will be the second largest voting block with 32 Million Latinx eligible voters. Online voter registration is ongoing through October 19. For more information, please visit votolatino.org.
Credits
Talent: @jaketaustin
Publication: @latinoleadersmag Wardrobe: @asos_man
Watch: @shinola
Creative Director: @mrandrewjpham Photographer: @mitchdao.photos