Jenna Ortega got her start in Hollywood as a child actress at age 9 and quickly gained popularity through her roles in hit series like Disney Channel’s “Stuck in the Middle.” Ortega recently told The New York Times that she never experienced misconduct as a child on set because her mother “watched her like a hawk.” Ortega didn’t watch this year’s documentary series “Quiet on Set,” which featured numerous stories of misconduct and harassment behind the scenes at Nickelodeon shows, but her mother did and “called me about it.”
“I think she was feeling more pain because she saw how other children might not be protected or cared for,” Ortega said of her mother’s reaction. “She was watching me like a hawk, so I think she felt empathy and wished she could have done something to help. She called me to say she was so grateful that things were okay and that she was there to witness everything.”
Although Ortega was fortunate enough to be protected from harassment on set, she admitted to The Times that “acting as a child is weird” in general.
“I can see why my parents were so hesitant about it, because you’re putting a kid in an adult workplace,” Ortega said. “I think if I had just stayed in Coachella Valley, I would have been a completely different person. I wouldn’t have spoken the way I do or handled interactions the way I do. It’s completely changed the way I think and live my life, and when I talk to other child actors, I can instantly recognize them because we all have that — it’s a very specific thing, like some little secret language or something that we all share.”
“Kids shouldn’t be working like this,” Ortega continued. “They’re supposed to be climbing trees, drawing, going to school. Some of these kids’ parents don’t take school seriously, so I feel really lucky to have parents who made sure I had time with friends, who made sure I went to public school, who wouldn’t let me work a job unless I got straight A’s, who prioritized sleep and my schoolwork.”
While Ortega admitted that there are “times when I regret” choosing an acting career at such a young age and “there are times when my parents regret it,” she “wouldn't change anything.”
“I don’t believe in that because I’m so grateful for the lessons she taught me,” Ortega said. “I love that when I go on set now, I’m incredibly familiar with everything. I know what the camera language means, I know what the handler’s job is, I know what the director’s job is, I can get along with the director of photography, I can go over shot lists. I understand everything. I know what’s going on around me, so I feel incredibly safe and comfortable and excited to go to work every day because it’s familiar to me.”
Ortega next appears in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice,” which opens in theaters on September 6 from Warner Bros. after its Venice Film Festival premiere. Head to The New York Times to read the full Ortega profile.
