Jenna Ortega Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Jenna Ortega is reflecting on the focus she had beginning her career as a child actor and the early mistake she made.
During a sit-down with Esquire, the Wednesday actress was asked what “rookie mistake” she made while working on her first set.
“I really had it going for me as a child ‘cause I can’t think of one mistake I made,” Ortega said. “Is that a terrible thing to say? I feel like I make mistakes now all the time, but as a child, I was so grateful and so excited to be there that my game face was on.”
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She went on to recall how she was so focused that she didn’t want to inconvenience anyone by asking for even food or water.
“I wasn’t asking for one sip of water,” Ortega said. “I would go all day without eating, drinking, whatever, because I wanted so badly to not be in the way of anybody.”
“Maybe that was my mistake, was not actually looking after myself,” she then added.
Earlier in the interview, Ortega recalled deciding to be an actor professionally when she was 7 years old.
She added, “My parents laughed at me when I told them that I wanted to do it, and then that was kind of the root of everything. The motivation. And I never really stopped, because I’m very stubborn. And then I never questioned it.”
Ortega credited Dakota Fanning for being an early creative influence on her and someone who taught her “what acting was” when she was a kid.
When also asked to set the record straight on a stereotype for child actors, she quipped, “Is it wrong to say that a lot of them are true? And do with that what you will.”
In April, Ortega also reflected on almost walking away from acting. During an appearance on pal Kid Cudi’s podcast, Big Bro, the actress revealed that she was about to start high school when she felt like “it was a good run.“ However, things changed when she booked the show, You. “We had talked about it for a few months with my team, and then, I think I booked that show You, and then I went on that set, and I loved it and had the best time,” Ortega said about the Netflix series starring Penn Badgley. “I thought, ‘Yeah, there’s no way I could let this go.’”
Ortega’s early credits included CSI: NY, Know It All Nina, Richie Rich and Stuck in the Middle, as well as a film role in Iron Man 3. She later portrayed the younger version of Jane on Jane the Virgin in 2014.
The actress is next set to star in Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel.
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