The 'Wednesday' actress talks about one of her biggest regrets, wishing she 'had felt more autonomy' when she started out her career in the entertainment industry.
- Feb 25, 2024
AceShowbiz - Jenna Ortega laments not being "more in control." The "Wednesday" actress admits she's "very much a people pleaser" and regrets the fact she didn't have much of a "strategic way" of looking at her career when she was younger.
"I'm very much a people pleaser. I like to say that I'm not anymore - but I am. I wish that I felt that I was a bit more in control of my experiences," she told Vanity Fair magazine's 2024 Hollywood issue when asked what she wishes she'd done differently in her career.
"When I was younger, I was just so happy to be a part of the conversation that I wasn't really playing it in a strategic way. Not that it has to be. I wish that maybe I had felt more autonomy in who I was from a younger age."
The 21-year-old actress - who has been working for 10 years - also regrets being so single-minded growing up and wishes she'd found more time to take a step back and have fun. She said, "I think I've definitely fallen into patterns of taking myself too seriously or not being able to create much balance in my life."
"When I was younger, I wasn't thinking about sleepovers and friends and proms. It was always, 'What am I going to do next? How am I going to get this job? What meeting should I take?' It was work and school and sleep and repeat."
"So it's been funny as I've gotten older to realise, 'Huh, yeah, you do need your hands in other bowls and you do need to take a step and a breather.' I'm glad that I realise that now, but it's strange to have not really had that experience or been eager for that experience when I was younger."
But Jenna thinks it is "pretty cool" that she's still happy to be working as a consequence of choices she made when she was still a child. She said, "To still enjoy the job just as much 12 years later - even seeing all of the ugly and wonderful and extreme - I think is pretty cool. I made this decision when I was 10, so I'm living off of a 10 year old's choices."
