Jenna Ortega has cemented herself as the new scream queen of Hollywood after appearing in several horror franchises such as Netflix’s Wednesday, Scream, and Beetlejuice 2. The actress is very passionate about gothic and macabre things, but when she was a child, she admitted it was her biggest fear.
The 21-year-old California native is set to star in Tim Burton’s sequel to 1988’s Beetlejuice, which she also admitted was a film that terrified her. Now that she has overcome her childhood fear, Ortega is now the one scaring little kids who stay up past their bedtime.
Jenna Ortega Revealed Chucky Was The Nightmare Of Her Childhood
It’s amazing how swiftly the trajectory of Jenna Ortega’s career has moved over the past few years. She used to be an unknown actress who worked as an extra on sets, like the time she played a random victim in an episode of CSI: NY and the vice president’s daughter in Iron Man 3.
It took her a long time to find her niche in the industry, and when she landed on her most iconic role as Wednesday Addams, she became unstoppable. Soon after, Ortega has appeared in a series of horror projects.
Surprisingly, despite her evident fascination with ghoulish things, she used to be a scaredy-cat who would even hide in a closet because she feared someone would take her. This was when she revealed in an interview via The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that the first movie that sent chills down her spine was 1988’s Child’s Play, which grossed over $44 million worldwide.
She recalled accidentally watching it on TV when she was 4 or 5 years old and her parents were gone. Her uncle, who was looking after her that night, probably had a mini heart attack when he realized Ortega was nowhere to be found. “They couldn’t find me for 30 minutes ‘cause I was rocking back and forth in a corner” thinking Chucky was going to take her. She admitted to hiding in her sibling’s closet.
It’s amusing to think that she was able to face her fears and turn them into her own art. It’s like the saying, “If you can’t beat them, join them” – and now, she has become a leading star in the horror genre.
Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice Scared Jenna Ortega
Ortega may be headlining Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice 2, but she confessed to being afraid of the movie when she was younger. She told the Today show that she was “scared of everything” especially the original Beetlejuice movie.
She admitted getting the jump scare when she met Michael Keaton dressed like Beetlejuice with molds peeling off his face in her dressing room. The actor came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, and suddenly all her memories of Beetlejuice resurfaced. Still, she tried to play it cool.
The future is bright and clear for Ortega as she’s just starting to establish herself as one of the most profitable stars in Hollywood.
Child’s Play is currently available to watch on Prime Video. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice arrives in theaters on September 6, 2024.
