Jenna Ortega has signed up alongside Rose Byrne to star in a new film centred on gymnastics called Nasty – but how much do you know about her?
Good news for fans of Jenna Ortega – and there are many of you out there – she has signed up to star in a new movie alongside Rose Byrne called Nasty, which starts shooting this autumn.
Deadline reports that Nasty, which is written by newcomer Isabella Jarosz and directed by Mary Bronstein, centres on a talented gymnast who is battling for a place on the Olympic gymnastics team. But to make it, she has to overcome her biggest opponent – her coach.
The movie is being produced by LuckyChap and Jenna also involved in the production side.
We don’t know when the project will make it to screens, but with bankable stars such as Jenna and Rose on board, it is likely to be a hit.
But how much do you know about Jenna Ortega? Here are some facts you might not know about her.
Dakota Fanning inspired her to take up acting
Jenna decided that she wanted to be an actress at the age of six. Her inspiration was Dakota Fanning, who she watched in the 2004 thriller Man on Fire. Jenna was intrigued how such a young actor on film could perform in a way that scared her so much. She watched the movie over and over and decided from then she wanted to be like her and act.
However, Jenna’s mother was not convinced about acting, and tried to dissuade her from pursuing it, which included trying to get her to play soccer – and indeed Jenna did think about pursuing that as an option, before acting won out.
She got her early break in commercials
Once Jenna’s mother was on board with her ambition to be an actress, she posted a video online of Jenna performing a monologue. This was spotted by a casting director, who then signed her up to an agency.
After this, Jenna started to go for auditions in Los Angeles – a six-hour round trip from her home. But the long hours paid off and in just her first year she managed to secure parts in 12 national commercial campaigns, including three for McDonald’s.
She made her name on Disney
After starting in commercials, Jenna started to make the movie into TV. Her first appearance was in the sitcom Rob in 2012, followed by small role in CSI: NY.
Various other small roles followed – including a recurring role as young Jane Villanueva in Jane the Virgin – before she got her break on a Disney show.
From 2016-18, she played Harley Diaz in the sitcom Stuck in the Middle, a show about the middle child of seven siblings. For this, she drew on her own experience of being the fourth of six siblings.
She keeps her private life private
Jenna likes to keep her life out of the newspapers and online gossip columns, preferring to be a private person away from the cameras.
She doesn’t subscribe to the celebrity lifestyle – she’s called it “ridiculous” in interviews – and doesn’t publicly discuss her romantic life. She also says her family and friends give her a sense of safety that help her deal with the more challenging aspects of her chosen career.
She loves to write
Jenna has talked in the past about one of her favourite hobbies being writing. She has said she will write about anything and everything and that she finds it a great way to unwind.
She was hungover when she make iconic scream
One of Jenna’s breakthrough roles was in the movie X, which came out in 2022. One of the most iconic scenes in that movie is Jenna’s ear-splitting scream, but there is a story behind it. While filming for the movie in New Zealand, Jenna and fellow cast member Kid Cudi went on a bar crawl the day before the scream scene. Jenna and company overdid the drinks a little, which meant that she had a huge hangover when filming the scream, so that must have hurt her head!
