Ginny & Georgia fans refuse to suspend their disbelief when it comes to Diesel La Torraca — who is now a teenager — playing a 9-year-old.
The third season, which premiered on Thursday, June 5, picked up right where things left off, with Georgia (Brianne Howey) being arrested for murder in full view of her kids, Austin and Ginny (Antonia Gentry). It should have been an emotional moment, but viewers kept getting distracted by the fact that the two-year hiatus between seasons 2 and 3 resulted in La Torraca, 14, looking all grown up.
“They really threw some glasses on this grown 14 year old kid and said go on Austin be 9/10 years old????????. Here for it????,” read a reaction via X, while someone else joked, “Austin look like he married with taxes to pay and two kids of his own.”
The audience found it hard to ignore La Torraca’s obvious growth spurt. “The Ginny and Georgia directors trying to hide the fact that 9 year old Austin is 6ft tall now by making him sit every scene he’s in and wearing a blanket,” wrote an X user.
Meanwhile, another fan poked fun at the time it will take to film season 4, writing alongside a photo of Jack Antonoff, “At this rate Netflix is going to take their sweet time pushing out these seasons. This gonna be Austin next season.”
La Torraca joined in on the fun with a TikTok video of him and costar Connor Laidman. “Y’all think I grew up,” he captioned the video, which showed how much Laidman grew as well since the last time his character, Zach, was seen on the show.
Ginny & Georgia, which premiered in 2021, follows a young single mother who moves her family to Wellsbury, Massachusetts, after running away from her past. In addition to Howey, Gentry and La Torraca, the Netflix series also stars Felix Mallard, Sara Waisglass, Scott Porter and Raymond Ablack.
The newest batch of episodes aired after a lengthy hiatus. Season 2 originally wrapped up filming in early 2022, but production on the third installment only started two years later following the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
“We see entirely new sides of Ginny and Georgia,” Howey, 36, exclusively told Us Weekly in January about the onscreen changes. “I feel like [it’s] surprising ’cause we’ve already seen so many sides of them, but lo and behold, there’s more.”
One month later, Howey expanded on what is to come, telling Us, “All of the characters are now, as we see, on their own mental health journey, and it’s a really important part of the show. Georgia, for the first time in her life, is realizing the catastrophic consequences of her actions that they have on her children.”
Howey was excited for Georgia to continue to evolve. “As season 2 starts, Georgia has been so exposed — all of their private family secrets are now out in the open — and you can only imagine the domino effect of what this does to everyone in Georgia’s life, including Georgia,” she added.
At the time, Howey noted how Georgia and Ginny’s bond will continue to be the driving force of the show, adding, “I think what we love so much about Ginny and Georgia is their love for each other. What Georgia is out there showing is that there’s no wrong way to love your child — it might look different on everybody, but there’s no wrong way to love your child.”
Howey concluded: “Georgia, even with her limited toolbox — and she, of course, doesn’t get it all right — but she is trying so hard. I think that’s what really matters.”
Ginny & Georgia is currently streaming on Netflix.
