Eight Questions with Jake T. Austin of Wizards of Waverly Place

Fifteen-year-old actor Jake T. Austin is perhaps best known for his role as Max Russo, the youngest wizard sibling on Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place. We caught up with the young star to chat about the New York Yankees, Andy Rooney, and tonight's hour-long, werewolves-themed episode.

Shakira recently taped an episode with you guys. How was that?

It went good. I'm a huge fan of Shakira's. The entire cast is. It was great to watch her in person and see her dance and act. Not too many people get that pleasure. I was able to learn a lot from watching her.

I was at the D23 Expo a few months back and the crowd really went crazy for the Wizards cast. Were you surprised at the size of the crowd and their reaction?

I was! I'm not that loyal and dedicated to anything, so it's a foreign concept. [laughs] But it's such an amazing feeling to see all these people who know more about me than I know about myself. You kind of go on auto-pilot and don't know what to say when a crowd is that kind.

Wizards has a special one-hour episode coming up [tonight!]. What can you tell us about that?

It follows the Vampire-Werewolf trend. It's a lot like [Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie]. Funny. Dramatic. Action-packed. A great thing to do on a Friday night.

All right, you're from New York. Yankees or Mets?

I'm a huge Yankees fan and have been since I was six.

But you're living in Los Angeles now? How's that going?

It's a completely different world. I may never get totally used to it. But I've adapted to the surfer lifestyle.

Have you actually been surfing?

Well, the water's a little cold this time of year. But I have been surfing—for about three years now.

So I'm not sure what surprised me more—that Andy Rooney has a Twitter page or that you follow him.

I love Andy Rooney! Dana Carvey did a great impression of him, not at all what you would expect.

My last question comes courtesy of my six-year-old. She wants to know: On the show, how does all that magic work?

I don't want to give too much away. There are people who are fantastic at their jobs. And the green screen helps, talking to tennis balls. But many, many people contribute.

See Jake in tonight's special one-hour episode of Wizards of Waverly Place, "Wizards vs. Werewolves," tonight at 8pm on the Disney Channel.