Fans know Jenna Ortega for her breakout role in Netflix’s Wednesday, but she has been in the industry since she was nine. In fact, she had her start as a Disney Channel star, which she left behind to appear in more mature projects.
Like other famous names in Hollywood, there’s at least one movie that inspired them to dive into the world of acting, and for the Mexican-Puerto Rican actress, it’s Denzel Washington’s 2004 film Man on Fire.
Jenna Ortega Found Her Acting Muse In Denzel Washington’s Action Movie
While speaking with Vanity Fair, actress Jenna Ortega revealed that her passion for acting stemmed from a movie she watched when she was a kid. But before that, she wanted other professions.
I’m so appreciative of my six-year-old self who wanted to be a president and an astronaut because I realize now that I was always looking for a way out.
At the time, she saw Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning’s Man on Fire. Ortega was mesmerized by Fanning’s performance, which became her muse in pursuing an acting career. The movie grossed over $130 million worldwide against a budget of $70 million, which isn’t too impressive.
According to the Wednesday star, the 2004 action thriller “changed the entire course of my existence.” This was when she decided her own fate. In an interview with Student Pages Magazine, Ortega shared her mom posted a video of her performance on Facebook which a relative shared with a casting director.
I performed a dramatic monologue for her from the book she gave me – I had tears, I was actually sobbing. It was crazy. She told me she had to get me an agent instantly, I just had to show them what I could do for them to trust in me.
As a young Latina, it was challenging to find roles in Hollywood. She made her debut on CSI as a shooting victim, then she starred as young Jane in Jane the Virgin. Her biggest project at the time was Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle.
Her perseverance paid off when she was cast in Netflix’s Wednesday as the titular character. The horror genre became her playground, starring as Tara Carpenter in Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023). Her upcoming project is Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. At this point, Ortega has become unstoppable.
Jenna Ortega Gets Emotional Talking About Fame
Ortega confessed struggling with the magnitude of fame she’s been receiving since her performance in Wednesday. The actress cried her heart out in an interview with Variety:
I’ve been exposed to the world in a sense that people prey on that and take advantage of that and they see your vulnerability and twist it in a way that you don’t always expect.
The 21-year-old California native went from a set extra to one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and she did it by working hard and staying inspired, despite the consequences and noise of the industry.
Man on Fire is available to watch on Disney+.
