Jenna Ortega is getting very real about her star-making turn as Wednesday on the hit Netflix show of the same name.
The 20-year-old actress revealed in a recent interview with The Times that she initially did not want to take on the role. She stated that she turned down the role – and more than once, too.
Jenna said:
“I got the email, passed on it.”
She said that the reason she didn’t want to do it was because of her desire to do more film work instead, explaining:
“I had done so much TV in my life. When I first started acting, I don’t want to say nobody believed in me, but at the same time, nobody believed in me. You have to prove yourself.
It’s only in the last three or four years that I’ve been able to start going up for film. I was scared that by signing on to another television show it could prevent me from doing other jobs I really wanted and cared about.”
So what made her change her mind? Two words: Tim Burton. Jenna declared:
“The only reason I went back is because Tim is such a legend, and we just happened to get along very well. But even then I said, ‘Ah, no — I think I’m OK,’ a couple [more] times.”
Wednesday would of course become a huge breakout role for Jenna.
