Jenna Ortega 'would go all day' without food or water as a child star
Jenna Ortega 'would go all day' without food or water as a child star
Ayeesha WalshWed, August 12, 2026 at 8:46 AM UTC
0
Jenna Ortega has opened up about her experience as a child star -Credit:Getty Images
Jenna Ortega has opened up about the extreme lengths she went to as a child actor while trying not to become a “problem” for anyone on set.
The Wednesday star has fast become one Hollywood’s best known up and coming actors and recently reflected on her early career and admitted she was so determined to make a good impression that she would avoid asking for even the most basic things. Jenna admitted believing she was an unusually well-behaved child actor because she was simply “so grateful and so excited to be there.”
She said, “I really had it going for me as a child ‘cause I can’t think of one mistake I made. 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.” It comes after Jenna's rumored boyfriend faced Neo-Nazi accusations after fans spotted racist links.
• Whitney Houston's horrifying autopsy – burned skin, sewn-on wig and scars everywhere
• Karoline Leavitt unwittingly humiliates Donald Trump as critics ask about his 'diaper'
Advertisement
However, her "game face" led to her neglecting some of her most basic needs, as she explained how she would deliberately avoid asking for anything while working, even when she was hungry or thirsty. She recalled to Esquire, “I wasn’t asking for a sip of water. I would go all day without eating, drinking, whatever, because I wanted so badly to not be in the way of anybody.”
Looking back, the actress now believes that trying so hard to be accommodating may actually have been one of the mistakes she made. She added, “Maybe that was my mistake, was not actually looking after myself.”
Jenna started out in her career at an early age after landing the lead role of Harley Diaz in Disney Channel's Stuck in the Middle. The series premiered in 2016, when she was just 13.
The Hollywood star wanted to pursue her dreams and not be a 'problem' -Credit:Getty Images for Lionsgate
She then built up a string of acting credits before becoming a household name as Wednesday Addams. Her early roles included appearances in Richie Rich, Jane the Virgin, You and Elena of Avalor.
Jenna also offered a blunt assessment when discussing the stereotypes surrounding child stars, suggesting there may be more truth behind some of the stories than people would like to believe. She said, “Is it wrong to say that a lot of them are true? And do with that what you will.”
Jenna had her big break in Wednesday -Credit:NETFLIX
She also confessed that while it was difficult growing up in the spotlight she never had a doubt in her mind that acting was what she wanted to do. She shared, “I was seven years old when I said I wanted to do this. 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.”
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
