Jenna Ortega’s star-studded support circle: “We’ve all got this jaded way about us”
The past few years have been huge for Jenna Ortega, who has risen to become a modern-day scream queen with roles in movies like X and the Scream franchise. Even one of her first movie roles back in 2013 was in Insidious: Chapter Two, clearly taking an interest in horror from a young age.
With roles in horror comedies like Studio 666 and both Tim Burton’s gothic fantasy Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and his Netflix show Wednesday, Ortega has aligned herself with all things dark – clearly unafraid to explore the scarier and more unconventional aspects of the human experience on screen.
Ortega is evidently a bold young star, and even though some of her choices haven’t succeeded – like Miller’s Girl – her ambitious nature and willingness to take on movies with taboo themes, in this case an inappropriate age-gap relationship, demonstrate why she stands as one of her generation’s most unforgettable stars.
It’s practically guaranteed that Ortega will have a long and fruitful career spanning decades if she so chooses, and it’s her experience of acting since she was a child that has allowed her to prosper as a young adult in the industry. While many people in their early 20s are still trying to break into Hollywood, Ortega firmly secured her place with a career in a mixture of children’s and adult shows, like Jane the Virgin, Stuck in the Middle, and Richie Rich, as a child.
This gave Ortega the chance to prove herself from a young age, although that hasn’t come without its challenges. All child stars will admit to the struggles that come with being thrust into the spotlight when you’re still figuring yourself out and learning how to be a person. You’re subject to scrutiny, your every move studied by people who don’t truly know you – and this can take a serious toll. In many instances, female actors have reflected on the industry’s objectification of young girls, with exploitation and manipulation all too common in Hollywood.
Luckily, Ortega has a support network of former child stars she has spoken to about navigating the film industry, revealing to Harper’s Bazaar that she in contact with the likes of fellow Burton alumni Winona Ryder (she played Ryder’s daughter in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) and Natalie Portman (who she will appear alongside in the upcoming film The Gallerist). These actors experienced their fair share of highs and lows while coming of age in Hollywood during the 1980s and 1990s.
“It’s been so beneficial and so cozy. They’ve seen it all, and, honestly, during a much darker time in Hollywood. We’ve all got this jaded way about us that I don’t think we’d have if we hadn’t started so young and had so many brutal realisations and experiences. But they turned out all right,” Ortega explained.
Certainly, being in such an adult and corrupt industry from a young age has the power to send someone towards either destruction or realisation. Ortega has been lucky enough to come out relatively unscathed, with the rise of the #MeToo movement coinciding with her rise to fame. It seems that young actors have more access to support than ever before, and Ortega has gained the privilege of speaking to those who have already gone through the star system before her.
