Ginny & Georgia Season 3 Star Diesel La Torraca on Austin’s Age & That Big Finale Twist

I did a few commercials in the years following that first one, and then in 2017, I auditioned for the first film that I ever did, Little Monsters, which was the first big set I was on with Lupita Nyong’o and Josh Gad. That film went to Sundance in 2019, and that was the first time I came to America… and from there it just kind of went off. We came back to Australia after that, during the pandemic, [I continued] auditioning. And then I got Ginny & Georgia and came over here, and it’s just been really great since.

TV: Wow. That is kind of like a skyrocket. So you’ve been doing this since you were literally in diapers. How does it feel now, being a teenage actor?

DLT: It’s crazy. I think about it a lot like, “Wow, like, where am I? I’m halfway across the world from where I was born, and I’m doing all these crazy things at such a young age.” But it’s all I’ve ever known, right? I know nothing outside of it, and it’s crazy to know that this is just the life that I kind of fell into. I never really tried to do it, it just kind of happened. It does feel a little bit like whiplash sometimes.

TV: I love that acting chose you, in a way. I was stalking your social media a little bit before our chat… I saw that you also sing. Who are some of your favorite music artists? What kind of music do you want to make in the future?

DLT: Currently, I’m doing like a pop, R&B type-feel, so think Justin Bieber, ‘90s, early 2000s-type beats and stuff like that. As far as favorite artists go, I have a very broad taste when I’m listening to music, from Lana Del Rey to Drake. Very wide.

GINNY & GEORGIA (L to R) DIESEL LA TORRACA as AUSTIN, BRIANNE HOWEY as GEORGIA, and ANTONIA GENTRY as GINNY in episode 101 of GINNY & GEORGIA Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2020COURTESY OF NETFLIX

TV: You have range! Let’s talk about Ginny & Georgia a little bit. How do you think you’ve grown since season 2, literally and figuratively?

DLT: Literally, I’ve definitely gotten much taller, and I look much older in the face. [Laughs] Otherwise, I feel like I’ve grown so much as an actor. I’ve done other things in between Ginny & Georgia that have really helped me find myself in this job, and I’ve grown with Austin because it’s been so long. [The show] has been the main center of my life for six years… I’ve grown up with the character in that way. It’s really great that I’ve been with it for so long, and I get to adapt season after season like this.

TV: Yeah, that’s really cool. What has playing Austin and growing with him as a character taught you?

DLT: This kind of relates to my own life, that no matter where you are in the world, you can always find your grounding. Austin has moved around the U.S. so much as a kid with Ginny and Georgia. And so have I — I have lived all around the world, crazy places, moving here and there at the drop of a dime, like, “Today we’re in LA, tomorrow we have this job, we have to go halfway across the world.”

TV: Love that answer. So like I said, I was stalking your social media. Your Tiktok account is so funny. The video that has almost 7 million views is the one that’s like, me trying to convince people that Austin is still nine. I feel like we haven’t really said his age out loud in a few seasons — in season 3, how old is he supposed to be?

DLT: [Laughs] Nine! Yeah, he’s supposed to be nine. I think it’s the very beginning of the first episode of season 1, we’re driving in the car and Ginny turns down the music, and she’s like, “He’s nine,” and I feel like that’s the only time we’ve mentioned it… he hasn’t had a birthday yet.

DLT: Well, honestly, we kind of ignore it a little bit! [Laughs] It’s kind of just like… there’s a 14-year-old sitting at the table with Harry Potter glasses on that’s supposed to be nine. And that’s okay! In some shots I did have to bend my knees a little bit to look a little shorter than Toni, or they got her an apple box a few times, but for the most part we’ve kind of just kept the show running.