This amiable, grinning face -- and this well-defined chest -- are familiar to millions of gay and straight teens. They belong to Austin Butler, an Orange County boy who was discovered by a talent agent in 2005, when he was 13 (apparently such things still happen).
Soon he was appearing all over the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, on
Hannah Montana, ICarly, Zeke and Luther, The Wizards of Waverly Place, Zoey 101, and
Jonas, usually as the boy that Hannah or Carly or Alex has a crush on.
And not just the Disney Channel. In
Rudy and the Rockits (2009-2010), Austin played Jordan Gallagher, son of former teen idol Patrick Gallagher (Patrick Cassidy), who has a crush on his cousin Ruby (daughter of
David Cassidy's character).
In 2011, he starred in the
High School Musical spin-off
Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, as the boy Sharpay hooks up with.
He's currently starring in the tv series
The Carrie Diaries (2013-), a prequel to
Sex in the City about Carrie's high school years, as one of the boys Carrie hooks up with.
You'd think that with so many roles as the object of a girl's crush, Austin would have little time for buddy-bonding. Incorrect.
In
Aliens in the Attic (2009), the nerdish Tom (Carter Jenkins of
Unfabulous and
Struck by Lightning) and his hunky cousin Jake (Austin) must work together to save the world from the aliens in the attic. When Jack is captured, Tom must lead a daring rescue, along with his sister (Ashley Tisdale) and her boyfriend Ricky (Robert Hoffman). Jake doesn' display any heterosexual interest, but seems to like Tom quite a lot
In
Switched at Birth (2011), his character Wilke has a passionate, quasi-romantic friendship with the gay-vague Toby (Lucas Grabeel).
You get the idea -- when girls crush on him, there's lots of semi-nude scenes. When boys crush on him, the shirt stays on.
In
The Intercept (2012), four college students solve crimes. I haven't seen it, but it looks promising.
He hasn't made any public statements about his gay fans, but his girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens kissed a girl and liked it.
