How Jenna Ortega Really Got Famous

July 2024 · 1 minute read

We all know the on-screen version of Jenna Ortega — the one who has starred in "Scream," "Wednesday," "Studio 666," and "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous." But what do we know about Ortega's rise to fame? The actor has always wanted to do just that: act. "I initially wanted to start acting when I was six years old, but my mom said no. So I kind of pleaded with her for a while, and to shut me up, she got me this monologue book she got at Barnes and Noble," Ortega told Movie Maker in January. 

That monologue book must have been useful, because in 2021, when Tamron Hall interviewed Ortega on her show, "The Tamron Hall Show," the host informed her audience that when Ortega was just 9, her mother posted a monologue of the aspiring actor performing to Facebook. Upon seeing the video, a casting director "immediately" reached out. 

During her interview with Hall, Ortega said she didn't recall her mother making a big deal of posting the monologue on social media. "She didn't mean anything by it. It was kind of a joke. I remember at the time she didn't want me to be an actor... she posted it just as a joke for her friends."  

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