cute boy to know: rio's jake t. austin

He charmed us all in his role as Alex Russo's funny little brother Max in the hit Disney showWizards of Waverly Place, but now that he's all grown up—and a few inches taller—Jake T. Austin is setting his sights on the big screen. He recently lent his voice to the star-studded cast of Rio, where Jake played Fernando, a fiesty teenage boy among a bunch of animals—literally!
We were lucky enough to get the chance to talk to Jake and ask all of the burning questions we know you're dying to get answers to!
CG: How is Rio different than all of your other projects?
JA: Since it's an animated movie, I could go into the recording studio in my pajamas and no one would ever know the difference. 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.
CG: What's the most fun you've ever had on a movie set?
JA: In Mexico, I filmed this movie called The Perfect Game. It's about these kids who form a baseball team in Monterrey, Mexico in 1957. I was filming with nine other guys around my age, so off-set we were always hanging out. It was a lot of fun. We all became really good friends. We would go go-karting. We actually got in trouble for breaking a window in our hotel, and we got kicked out.
CG: What about Wizards of Waverly Place? Are you sad that that show's wrapping up pretty soon?
JA: It's sad. Everyone is going to miss each other a lot. It's hard when you get used to seeing everyone five days a week and then all of the sudden you don't see them anymore. But I think it's going to be bittersweet. We're all ready to see what else is out there. It's crazy, but we've been doing the show for five years.
CG: In what ways have you changed in the last five years?
JA: I've learned so much. Working on the show I learned how to act in front of the cameras and what it was like to perform in front of a live audience. I got to know the cast really well, and David [Henrie] has done a lot of sitcoms before, so he taught me a lot about acting in general.
CG: What about Selena Gomez? What's working with her been like?
JA: Selena's great. She's really cool, and really talented. I've known her for a while now. It's a really light-hearted cast. We like to joke a lot and make each other laugh.
CG: Now Selena's really good at doing accents, and we hear that she does your mom's accent really well! Has she ever done it for you?
JA: She actually hasn't! Actually, Maria, who plays our mom on Wizards, did my mom's accent once at a table reading. I knew right away that it was my mom. I was like, 'Maria, that's my mom, right? And she was like, yep, I had to base this accent on something. You see, I was born and raised in New York, so I was blessed—or some say cursed—with a strong New York accent.