The Daily - Jenna Ortega Is Still Recovering From Childhood Stardom

Episode Date: August 24, 2024

The actress talks to Lulu Garcia-Navarro about learning to protect herself and the hard lessons of early fame.

From the New York Times, this is the interview. I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. This week, I sat down with Jenna Ortega. And if you have a tween daughter like I do, this is a very big deal. In 2022, Ortega starred as the title character in Wednesday, the Addams Family reboot produced by Tim Burton for Netflix. And she became an instant hero to both kids and adults like me, who adored her snarky, dark, and brutally honest

personality. Suddenly Wednesday, and by extension, Ortega, was everywhere, on merch, Halloween costumes, all over the internet doing her endlessly memeable dance moves. It was the kind of star-making, culture-saturating event that is life-changing for a young actor. But Ortega didn't just suddenly appear out of nowhere. She's been working since she was a kid herself, on the Disney Channel and in shows like Jane the Virgin. As an adult, she's also become a regular in the horror world starring in both the Scream and X franchises.

Ortega is 21 now, and her next big role is in the new movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to Burton's 1988 classic, where she plays the daughter of Winona Ryder's character. When I caught up with her, she was filming the second season of Wednesday in Ireland. We talked about her time as a child actor, her Latina roots, her upcoming projects, and her newfound fame.

And what came across is that Ortega is a deeply thoughtful and curious person who, like many young people, is still trying to find out who she is, all while dealing with the glare of a massive spotlight. Here's my conversation with Jenna Ortega. ["The Beatlejuice Movie"] Before we talk about the Beetlejuice film, I wanted to ask you just a little bit about what your life is like when you're filming in a place

that you're not familiar with. I mean, do you hang out with your co-stars? Do you just focus on your work? Like, what is the vibe day to day? Well, currently I'm working on being better about hanging out or prioritizing a normal life outside of work because I typically just hide away in a hole and lose all sense of self and life outside of my job.

And I don't do that intentionally and that's not to be dramatic, but I think it's really easy on a job where, for example, I do a lot of horror and things like that. There's a lot of night shoots. You're not working regular hours. It's kind of hard to communicate with people during the day because you're technically supposed to be sleeping. Me working on location usually consists of walking around for a bit, maybe going for a run, finding like a local cafe that I know I like the coffee there, and then that's about it. I usually

find a nice river and a park bench to write on. You like to journal. Yes, I love to. Tell me a little bit about that. Like, why did you get started doing that? And what do you journal about? Well, I got into that because I lost a sense of self in life while I started working and traveling for the first time.

Cause I first started traveling when I was around 18. So it's been a few years of this. I love to journal about my dreams mainly. Oh, really? Yes, because dreams to me are really fascinating because I feel like I learn a lot about myself through them. I've been able to notice patterns in my way of thinking based on how stressed I may be, lack of sleep.

Sometimes I end up in this middle state where I'm actually inspired and become creative over the ideas that I had while I was still somewhat awake. And sometimes it's complete nonsense, none of it makes sense. It'll be balloons made out of frogs. Like it doesn't matter, but other times it'll be a really special story.

It's cool that you remember it though. Yeah. Okay, let's talk about the movie. Okay. When did you first see the original Beetlejuice? Honestly, I can't really put a date on it. I feel like I had to have seen it maybe when I was around eight or nine.

I was terrified of everything when I was younger. I actually had a reoccurring nightmare about Beetlejuice. Really? Yeah, but I think I actually got scared because I saw a really terrible Halloween costume before I really knew what the movie was. And I think that the mold and smearing, like bleeding green and black Party City makeup gave me a scare. Anyway, I just remember that image.

And then I watched the movie later and I thought, oh man, this is what the guy was dressed as. This is just as scary. So yeah, I think around then. What were your nightmares about Beetlejuice? I shared a room my entire life growing up and I was the bottom bunk on a bunk bed. And I had a dream that Beetlejuice would come down and swing around the banister, down to my bunk, wearing a Superman cape, and would offer me grape juice. And he would say, got any grape?

Did you tell this to Michael Keaton when you met him? No. No. Maybe I should have, but maybe there was something in me that was still potentially scared and frightened, you know? It's like meeting him. It was like a giant from your childhood. That's that's intimidating and I think I just Maybe I reverted back to my old adolescent ways in front of him. I'm not sure You know one of the things that I love about Beetlejuice is that it's a film that is full of joy It's not like this scary view of the afterlife despite what you felt as an eight-year-old. I can understand that. But it is sort of this kind of funky, not terribly dark view of death.

Well, Tim Burton is obviously a master. And I think he's done an incredible job all throughout his career of being able to balance dark topics that most people are fearful of or avoidant of and make it an acceptable and almost comforting conversation. So, it's something like Beetlejuice. You see people reconnecting with loved ones. You see people finding love. You see people making discoveries about themselves.

It's actually beautifully put, you know, the afterlife rather than hell or something like that, you know, because it's just, it continues. And I think for a lot of people who maybe don't consider death, or for young children who can't really understand the concept, I think it's a really easy guide. And also just the idea that they're not gone, right? That you can find them afterwards. Yes.

Do you believe in life after death? No. Really? No, I wish. I wish. I wish that I could go and end up in Tim's version of the afterlife. But I don't. I really think it just goes black afterwards.

I think it's nice and comforting to think otherwise. I'm shocked. Do you? Well, yeah, this is the thing. You know, as a Latina, I grew up believing in ghosts. I had family members see them. You know, my sister, when we were young, was always like, don't you see the ghost there?

And I'd be like, no, man, I really don't. And you're freaking me out. But it's something that is embedded in the way I grew up. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to say that ghosts aren't real me out. But it's something that is embedded in the way I grew up. Yeah. I mean, I don't want to say that ghosts aren't real because I don't want one to come after me. And I also have people who claim that they saw ghosts. I'm sure there's some weird spiritual in-between realm. I do believe in kind of strong energies and things like that. But ultimately, I don't know, life is, there's a lot going on. I would hope that you get some good rest afterwards.

Also so much of ghost culture, feels so strange to say. I think especially in the Latin community is based off of, you know, it's very religious. So I think some of that is maybe to instill fear in young people or we just love to take the piss out of everything and harass one another in the most loving way. So I think also to tuck your kids in at night and tell them to watch out for La Llorona, like that's classic. I think that's hilarious.

I would do the same with my children. Yeah, I think you're right. And since we're talking about your childhood, I want to talk a little bit about that because you grew up in Coachella Valley. Correct. And I would love for you to tell me a little bit about what you remember from those early days.

I, looking back on it, had a pretty cool childhood. I grew up in a very loving household. My parents are very in love with each other. I'm one of six kids, so I'm the fourth. And there's a pair of twins under me. Who did you share your room with? I shared my room with my older sister Mia for the longest time. And then when my older sister left, Mia got her room. And then my younger sister came into play. So there was no escape for me.

I didn't have my own room until I left. But that was nice too, especially as someone who, I would tuck myself in my blanket and I would cover my entire face except for my nose and lips so I could still breathe. And I would wake up in a pile of sweat. I slept on like the wooden plank in between the bed and the wall.

So when I would wake up in the middle of the night in a panic because I had a terrible nightmare, I could always look over and see my sister and think, oh, okay, cool So did you have a lot of middle child energy being the fourth one? No, I feel like I actually kind of had not the opposite. I mean I was loud and extroverted and

all of my family was very shy and my parents always said that I had the most expression and And all of my family was very shy, and my parents always said that I had the most expression, and it made, you know, trips to Disneyland or something like that worth it, because where my siblings would walk around going, oh, okay, that's nice. I was walking around going, oh my God, can you believe it? Ariel waved at me. She saw me. This is the happiest place on earth. I get it.

You know, I was very much that, which I don't think is very middle child of me. Huh. And your dad was a sheriff. Correct. And your mom was an emergency room nurse. Did that sort of rub off on you? You know, those very intense jobs that deal with really important things, life or death matters. Yeah. I love my parents. I love my mom.

She made me think I was gonna die with every left turn that I took. Her fear of life and what would happen when we walked out, she'll even say it herself. She's very fear-based and she moves based on her fears, which is totally understandable considering the job and the horrific phone calls she's had to make or things that she's had to see. It's unbelievable. She has unbelievable stories. But I wouldn't want to go outside for weeks. I had to go to school and I would beg her,

please don't make me go because I thought that I was going to walk out and was going to get hit by a car instantly or I was going to trip and fall and bang all my teeth out. I didn't want to pet a dog because I thought a dog was going to bite my face off. I just didn't know what was going to trip and fall and bang all my teeth out. I didn't want to pet a dog because I thought a dog was going to bite my face off. I just didn't know what was going to happen. I definitely was, and still am to a certain point, paranoid. I'm just very cautious of my surroundings and the people around me. Yeah. I mean, I imagine that's true because if your know, if your mother's been seeing all this stuff,

you know, she's gonna worry that that's gonna happen to you. Yes. Did she tell you about it? Did she come home and talk to you about it? She would, and that's the thing, she would explain things in detail, which is why I think with the job that I do, it's kind of helped because while I was fearful of it then, I also was simultaneously being very desensitized to things. So I was never really scared by blood or gore, but I think that kind of helped. Your first lead came when you landed

the Disney show Stuck in the Middle. And then you were a voice actor in the animated Disney show Elena of Avalor, which I will say is my daughter's favorite. Um, first Latina princess. Yes. And you played her younger sister, who's also a princess.

Do you remember the significance of being part of that show? Yeah, most definitely when I initially was trying to convince my parents to let me act. I remember crying to them one night at the dinner table and just saying, "'Oh, man, I can do it. I know I can do it. If you let me do it, I swear to you, I will end up on Disney Channel. And they just kind of laughed. So that was a huge marker of success for me when I was really young just because I had met my promise. I completed

my task. And then with Elena of Avalor, I was doing Stuck in the Middle at the time, so I was a familiar face to Disney kids. So Disney Channel actually flew me out to Orlando, to Disney World, to promote the Disney Princess in the Park. And I remember almost being brought to tears, and my mom was definitely crying because we saw Elena walk through the park for the first time, and there was girls of all different ages and colors dressed in her

outfit and that to us was such a glorious moment because it was all, all I wanted growing up was somebody that I could relate to and you know, I loved princesses and I wanted to be able to see myself in them. I wanted to be Cinderella so bad but I didn't have blonde hair and that killed me, you know? So something like Elena, we, I mean, I was so little when that happened. I think I must've been 10 when I was first cast, but I knew the significance then

and I definitely didn't take it for granted. Your parents were very supportive, but they weren't like stage parents, right? At all. They weren't kind of pushing you out there. It sounds like it came all from you. What was the dynamic like, especially among other sort of families who's, you know,

who really wanted their kids to become stars? You know, when I first started auditioning, we had spent hours in these casting offices and we met so many strange and intense personalities. It could be stage parents, it could be producers that really made me fearful of other people for a while and I think that's when I kind of started to become more introverted but it was such a joy to be able to get back in the car at the end of the day and just do my homework

because I was still going to public school at the time and listen to my mom talk and catch up with my siblings at home. When I was on that Disney Channel show, my mom was so calm and relaxed. She went back to school. She got her bachelor's degree in that time and she took advantage of that time that she, all those hours she spent with me on set. I was just very lucky because it felt very normal. I was in school, she was in school. Hey, you want to grab dinner afterwards?

Everything was very cozy and close, and I knew that no matter who I was surrounded by or who I was with, my mom was there right by my side the whole time. What do you mean when you say that it made you afraid of other people, the kind of personalities that you would meet? Because we were so brand new to everything. And some of these people had been in it for years at the time,

or every kid in that family was an actor, or, you know, all of these people had, you know, advice and experience and lessons. And I didn't know anything about Hollywood. I didn't know anyone, you know. All of these people had advice and experience and lessons. And I didn't know anything about Hollywood. I didn't know anyone. I wanted to be able to do things at my own pace and in my own style. But you didn't know if people were saying things to help you or to hurt you. And not even on that show, just speaking about my career as a child.

Overall, there was definitely a few moments where you realized, oh, maybe that person didn't have my best interest. You know, oh, maybe they didn't want to be as supportive of me as they said. And that's a hard lesson to learn so young, and especially hard when you have adults or people you should know better addressing you in a way that is potentially harmful to somebody whose brain is still growing and developing. Did you watch Quiet On Set, the doc about Nickelodeon child stars?

No, I know my mom did and she called me about it a bit, but I didn't sit down and watch the whole thing. Did it resonate for her? No, it didn't. But I had had, before I was on Disney, I had had some experience with Nickelodeon when I was younger and nothing like that. I don't know all of the stories, but I can't relate to anything like that. But she just remembers being really grateful that I ended up

on a different channel or in a different space because obviously we weren't seeing that side of things. But I think for her it was just more so pain because she had seen the way that other children maybe weren't protected or weren't as looked at after. She watched over me like a hawk, you know. So I think for her it was more empathizing and wishing she somehow could have done something to help, you know, that case. But she just called me saying she was so grateful

that things were okay and that she was there to witness everything. Do you think that that's what helps when you're a child actor having parents that are going to protect you? Yeah, I think, I mean, child acting is strange. It is in hindsight. I see why my parents felt so hesitant about it, because, you know, you're putting a child in an adult workplace. I think if I just stayed growing up in the Coachella Valley,

I would be a completely different person. I wouldn't speak the way that I do or approach interactions the way that I do. It's completely changed my way of thinking and going about life. And when I speak to other child actors, I can pick them out instantly because we kind of all have that,

it's just a very specific, like some secret little language or something like that, that we all share. So children aren't supposed to be working like that. They are supposed to be climbing trees and drawing and going to school. Some of those kids' parents don't even take school seriously. So I feel really, really fortunate to have had parents who made sure that I hung out with friends, made sure that I went to public school, and wouldn't allow me to work on a job unless I had straight A's and was prioritizing my sleep and my schoolwork.

It's funny when you say that you can pick them out in a room. What is that thing? Is it like just like a poise, of precociousness? Yes, it poise precociousness. It's hard to say because what I'm finding too is oftentimes we mistake it for maturity. And it's not it's it's almost a mask. It's a professionalism that people our age typically aren't equipped with because you're waking up at six in the morning every day and have starting your morning with meetings and coffee and I think it's very important to mention that we think it's maturity and it's not. Do you regret it that you chose that path?

There's There's times that I regret it, there's times that my parents regret it. Looking back, I wouldn't change anything. I don't believe in that because if anything, I'm incredibly grateful for the lessons that it did teach me and it did teach me so much. I do love that when I go on a set now, I'm incredibly knowledgeable of the set around me. I know what the, you know, camera verbiage means. I know what a gripped job is. I know what a gaffer's job is.

I can get along with the DP. I can go through shot lists. Like I understand it all. I know what's going on around me. Therefore, I feel incredibly safe and comfortable and excited to go to work every day because it's familiar to me. So I guess there's a part of me that as a 21-year-old actor now, I'm really, really grateful for that knowledge and I wouldn't have had that without that experience. Have you talked about it with other former Disney stars?

I'm thinking of like Selena Gomez and others like that who had a similar experience? Not entirely, but I do have a weird habit of connecting with older generation actresses almost instantly. And I think it's because of that, there's a certain level of empathy and instant want for protection and to be able to guide younger people. I've been really, really lucky to work with incredible actresses who definitely had a harder upbringing. They've been teachers, they've been mentors, and that has definitely helped a lot and been really beautiful.

Like who? Winona Ryder, of course. She was so warm and welcoming and kind and inviting. Right from the jump, and I couldn't be more grateful, it was at a time welcoming and kind and inviting right from the jump. And I couldn't be more grateful. It was at a time where my career was taking a different turn, and I didn't realize that I needed that from somebody who could relate, but I did. The way Bernardo and I got along was quite weird.

It was like we were reading each other's minds a little bit. What advice did she give you? It's hard to pinpoint. That you'd want to share. It's hard to pinpoint because I think some of it I would like to keep between us. I don't know, she just made me feel really, it's almost hard to say because it's hard to believe sometimes. She made me feel really, really beautiful and special. And that was, again, during that time, it meant the world to me. You keep on mentioning that time. I'm just trying to understand. What do you mean, that time?

It was a very transformative period of my life. We shot Beetlejuice not that long after Wednesday had come out. So, you know, one day I just I woke up in somebody else's shoes. I felt like I had entered somebody else's life and like I didn't know how to get back to mine. So she, you know, obviously with the success and attention that she received in the 90s, she had experienced that known that probably to an even greater extent. So she was the first person that I connected with on that topic, or she made me feel seen

where other people necessarily in my life, as much as they wanted to, couldn't relate or couldn't understand. I mean, it's funny that we've been talking about your Disney days because the stereotype of a Disney star, right, bubbly, precocious, is kind of the polar opposite of the roles that you've become famous for as an adult. Did that shift feel like a conscious one for you? — Not at all. I remember when I first met with my agent and we were deciding what we wanted to do after Disney Channel, what

was the move. She asked if there was any genre or anything specifically that I was looking for and I really didn't know what to say. I said I think horror would be cool and I said that but didn't think much about it and it just so happened that a lot of the opportunities that came my way a few years down the road were primarily horror. How I've become the deadpan, dark, brooding teenager, I'm not sure. I mean, well, I can't say that. Obviously, it's because of Wednesday. Well, you are filming right now the new season of Wednesday.

One of the things that I love about the character of Wednesday is that it gives young girls permission to not be nice. You know, my daughter has a Wednesday mug that says, I don't bury hatchets. I sharpen them. Beautiful. She's 11. She's cool. Yeah.

And, you know, I think it's a good message for young girls and for women, for all of us, that you don't have to be liked all the time. Is that something that you thought about in the character of us that you don't have to be liked all the time. Is that something that you thought about in the character of Wednesday, that, you know, she had acerbic, sharp edges? I think Wednesday has taught me the same thing. She's definitely taught me to be a lot more confident, a lot more headstrong.

I think it's really easy for women to be labeled difficult or you know a diva or you know just just trouble and I think that that's ridiculous. It's not a bad thing to be opinionated. That's not a nasty evil thing. It's so important to have opinions. If we don't have opinions, where the hell would we be? We would get nothing done. It would be a mess. I think everyone should have opinions and I'm glad that Wednesday has ignited that in people. You wrote a book when you were 17 and you talk about insecurities, mental health challenges

and you're 21 now. And I'm wondering, since your career blew up, does that make things easier or harder? Uh, much, much harder. Really? Much harder. Yes, of course, because I've always been someone who's put an immense amount of pressure on myself, but it's a bit different when you can't really walk outside without expecting to be pointed at or, you know, it's kind of died down now.

But still I walk into a room and I am looking at everything differently. I know that my position as a public figure has changed immensely and I was a private person and I prefer to be a private person. So I think understanding that there's a lot more eyes and a lot more people watching and I'm so underdeveloped. My prefrontal cortex isn't even fully there yet technically. I want to be making the mistakes and learning from them and falling on my face and maybe the opposite. I want to be extremely confident and try everything and do everything

and be the biggest risk taker in the world. There's a lot more at stake now, whether I like it or not. And people are entirely entitled to, you know, share their opinion and even when maybe it's not the most welcome. But I think it's just kind of... Sorry, I'm trying to think of the best way to phrase this or put this in a way that is still refreshing. But...

You don't have to just say it in the way that you feel it. Yeah, it's... It's really scary, actually. And it's hard to say that because... Also, you can't complain, you know? I wanted this when I was a child. I live such a privileged life. I'm so lucky to do the things that I do.

I love my job. I don't see myself wanting to stop my job. There are certain things that no one can really prepare you for though, and that kind of attention is one of them. How do you protect yourself? This is terrible to say because I think my publicist might be listening to this, but I do avoid the phone as much as I can.

I'm always walking. If you're ever wondering what I'm doing, if my parents are ever wondering, if I'm not at work, I'm not on some sort of meeting, I am outside doing laps, I'm in a random garden, I am laying, taking a nap in a field. I hope your publicist likes that. That's beautiful. I know that's what she likes. And I hope your parents feel the same.

Except for when you're trying to book this second phone call to catch up and it's like, oh man, well, where's Jenna go? And she can't get a hold of me. That, I guess that's maybe how I protect myself. I think it's really easy for, again, maybe I'm like my mom in a lot of ways where maybe I operate out of fear sometimes. And I try not to be that way. I think I've actually relaxed a lot in recent years because I've given up and I don't mean that in a sad way.

I mean that in the most liberating way possible. I think I'm really working on not being so self-critical or just killing myself over things that in the grand scheme of the world with the news and things you see, it's really just not, it's not important at all. I should be having so much fun right now. So much fun. And I don't, and I should. And I try to remind myself of that. Jenna, thank you so much, and I hope you will pick up the phone when I call you again.

Well, I will for you. But that's only because I like you and I like you will pick up the phone when I call you again. Well, I will for you. That's only because I like you and I like your daughter. LAUGHS After the break, I called Jenna back to talk more about the pressures of growing up in public. I don't like to mess up. I do it all the time and it's embarrassing. Hi. Hello.

How you been? I've been good. I've been very good. Busy? Busy. Last week was chaos, but I had, it was been a holiday here in Ireland, so me and my friends went to the north of Ireland for the three days and just swam in the sea and slept and ate and went on hikes. It was perfect. It was just what I needed right before this big crazy press store.

So when we ended our conversation last week, it was a little bit of a somber note. I was thinking about the tension of being a young person and being famous. You seem like quite a private person who really needs to kind of guard that privacy. But then there's also this desire for you to be this public person to answer questions, to have all these people look up to you and want things from you. And I was wondering how you at, figure how much of yourself to share. Right. Hmm. Well, something that I want to make very clear is, well, I am an actor, and

well, that sort of attention, it is so heavy and it is so intense, but, you know, oftentimes you get the, uh, oh, well, you should expect it. Oh, well, now you're complaining. Oh, well, why don't you do this instead? Or why don't you stop? And, you should expect it. Oh, well, now you're complaining. Oh, well, why don't you do this instead? Or why don't you stop? And you know, which is true, you could say that, but I think what I'm trying to say when I say that is not that I'm ungrateful, but more so that you can expect something

and try to prepare yourself for something as best you can, but you just don't know until you go through it. It's the same thing about, you know, oh, I could easily drive a car. You know, when you're a kid, you think, oh, that's easy. Yeah, you know, I'll look so cool. I'll do it with one hand. I'll do it with my knees, you know, and then you get behind a car and it's terrifying.

But for the most part, I like I'm 21. So also, don't I can't be expected to go out there and be a philosopher or be some, you know, almighty being because yeah, I'm a 21-year-old kid, and I think that's also probably important to remember. I remember my 20s being really, really hard because you are leaving one stage of your life and going into another, and it felt really fraught, and it felt really uncomfortable a lot of the time.

You're becoming an adult. And I was thinking about you having to do that in the public eye. I mean, does it feel scary? Of course it feels scary. It feels scary regardless. I get scared when I wake up, you know? I don't know what to do with myself.

And there's a big part of me that's frustrated by it because people reflect on 20s like some beautiful time, which I can't speak for everyone. Obviously, some people may have had an incredible time. Some people may have had a shitty time. What I find most is it's that thing where you can't appreciate where you're at right now. So you look back on things and you go, oh man, the 20s, that was such a good time.

I was young, I was beautiful, I was the best I had ever looked and this and that, whatever you want to say. But ultimately, no, you were terrified. I know you were because that's what I'm going through right now. There's no way that you're learning how to pay bills for the first time and dealing with taxes and being expected to be an adult and not be scared shitless. That's, it's just a given. So maybe there's something exciting about that. But no, it's not nice because I don't like to mess up. I do it all the time and it's embarrassing.

What does messing up mean to you? To me, it's really frustrating when I don't communicate the way that I intend to, or I'm not able to, you know, fix a situation, could be in my control, could not be in my control. I feel really, really bad when I can't manage to do what I feel to be simple things. It like, it could be anything.

I could- You're a perfectionist, do you think? Like you just always- I can't even call myself that, but my Family and friends do it's just You know everything everything is everything could be better. I could be doing everything better. Hmm so I'm thinking about you trying to be the best representation of whatever it is or not offending people and

There was something that you said in a recent interview about the expectations on you as a representative of your culture. As a Latina, it made me upset that there's this idea that there's one way to be Latino. And I wondered how you deal with that, trying to represent an entire community, but also feeling like maybe you can't represent an entire community.

It's very clear, I not going to satisfy everybody. And there's a lot of pressure, but I've learned to make it less of an external pressure and more of an internal. Our culture, my culture, my Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, it's so beautiful. The stories to come from it are amazing. I have so many incredible relatives and just insane surreal experiences that I've heard and have been passed down. I want to be as close to that as possible. I do want to speak Spanish.

I want to be more connected to my culture. The difference is now I want to do that for me and not for other people, which I think is incredibly important, making that distinction and being aware of it. I mean, when you say you want to do it for you and connect more for yourself, what does that entail? What does that look like? Well, I have my Tia Emma is really, really important to me. She's kind of a grandmother to me.

You know, she's, lives with my mom now. And I think it's really important that because I'm seeing her so much more often, I want to be able to connect with her as much as I possibly can. And part of that is I think would be being able to connect with her in her native tongue. So when I go home,

I want to be able to have all those conversations with her and have that intimacy because I love her so much. And now with how close she is, I want to be even closer. So you're learning Spanish? Yes, I mean, I am, but also simultaneously I'm not. I find myself doing the thing where I pick it up and then I put it down, pick it up, and then I put it down, which is hard with my job because it's so much studying.

But 100%, I watch videos in Spanish, I read articles in Spanish. I do all of that because I think it's best to kind of keep myself aware and up to date and make sure that I can figure things out. If I spoke Spanish to you, would my grammar be all over the place? 100%. What might the

Emma make fun of me? Of course she would. But I think she would also be charmed by the fact that I was trying. And if that brings her joy, of course I'm going to try. That's what matters. A few more questions. One of your next big projects is an adaptation of the Ishiguro novel Clara and the Sun. It's a sci-fi story. You are playing a robot. Why did you want to go do that? I had a really great meeting with Taika Waititi and he tends to work with a lot of his friends and family. So the environment is really safe and comfortable. The character Clara, what

he had in mind for her is she's artificial intelligence and she's basically bought by this mother to befriend a young girl who's dying. She's sick. I knew that Clara had just a pure, completely innocent, untainted optimism about her that you can't find in a person. Not a person of that age, eventually you get older and you're a bit jaded or a bit scarred by certain things. You know, you've learned a lot.

You've maybe built a bit more of a wall. Clara didn't have that wall, which is the complete opposite of a lot of the other characters I play, where, you know, they hide who they are or they don't want their emotion to be seen. I just felt like it was a good place to be vulnerable and try something new.

What do you think of AI? I hate AI. I mean, here's the thing. Here's the thing. AI could be used for incredible things. I think I saw something the other day where they were saying that artificial intelligence was able to detect breast cancer four years before it progressed.

That's beautiful. Let's keep it to that. Did I like being 14 and making a Twitter account because I was supposed to and seeing um dirty edited content of me as a child? No. It's terrifying. It's corrupt. It's wrong. It's disgusting. Here's the problem though.

We've opened Pandora's box. Well, it is what it is. It's out there now. We're going to have to deal with the consequences. I would like it to be used with good intent, but we could say that about anything and everything. You saw AI images of you, generated images of you as a child, like pornographic ones? Yes, of course.

One of the first, actually the first DM that I ever opened myself when I was 12 was an unsolicited photo of a man's genitals. And that was just the beginning of what was to come. I used to have that Twitter account and I was told that, oh, you got to do it. You got to build your image. I ended up deleting it about two, three years ago because the influx after the show had come out of these absurd images and photos,

which is so repulsive, and I already was in a confused state that I just deleted it because it was unnecessary and I didn't need that. I just can't imagine how disturbing that must have been. Yeah, I didn't want to, on Twitter I would make political statements or just personal ones or just talk about excitement for jobs

and then I was graded with this stuff and it was just disgusting and it made me feel bad. It made me feel uncomfortable. It's awful and it's, anyway, that's why, yeah, I deleted it because I couldn't say anything without saying something like that. And I don't need to be saying that every day. So one day I just woke up and I thought,

oh, I don't need this anymore. So I dropped it. I guess you've learned how to protect yourself or a learning. I'm learning. And I guess just in the bigger picture, how would you describe this moment at 21 when you have been exposed to so much already? I'm just navigating. I think I'm exploring. I'm on this sort of personal expedition. I guess is the best way that I could put it. I'm on my own little personal expedition.

So you're turning 22 at the end of September. Any plans? Not at all. Probably work. I have spent every single birthday of mine since I was 11 on set except for my 21st. That was the first time in 10 years that I had not been on set on my birthday. So I've never been big on birthdays and I'm back at work this time. So nothing crazy planned. I am probably just going to want to sleep. That's it.

That's Jenna Ortega. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is in theaters nationwide starting September 6th. This conversation was produced by Seth Kelly. It was edited by Annabelle Bacon, mixing by Corey Schreppel, original music by Alicia Baetoop and Marian Lozano, photography by Devin Yalkin, our senior booker is Priya Matthew, our producer is Wyatt Orm, our executive producer is Allison Benedict. Special thanks to Dearmudd McIntyre, Rory Walsh, Renan Borelli, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddie Masiello, Nick Pittman, Atheme Shapiro, Jake Silverstein, Paula Schuman,

and Sam Dolnick. If you like what you're hearing, follow or subscribe to The Interview wherever you get your podcasts. To read or listen to any of our conversations, you can always go to nytimes.com slash the interview and you can email us anytime at theinterview at nytimes.com. Next week, we're on a break. So we'll be sharing an episode from our friends over at the Book Review podcast.

Then the week after, David interviews Will Ferrell and his friend Harper Steel about how Harper's transition affected their decades-long friendship and why they decided to make a documentary about it. It didn't come from a social justice warrior kind of place at all. I mean we're both producers and writers and he's kind of an actor. I'm a mid-level... I'm either a mid-level A-lister or I'm a top tier B.

No, I think we both make a lot of crap so I think that's how we think sometimes too. Just like, we want to go do something fun. What can we make out of it? I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro and this is the interview from the New York Times.