Jenna Ortega was nine when she rose to prominence following roles on hit series like Disney's "Stuck in the Middle," but while similar stories are rife with misconduct, the "Wednesday" star never had such an experience because her mother watched over her "like a hawk."
The 21-year-old actor reflected on growing up in the limelight in an interview with The New York Times. Recalling a conversation with her mother, who had watched the documentary series "Quiet on Set," which features various stories of misconduct and harassment behind the scenes of Nickelodeon shows, Ortega said for her mother, "it was more pain, because she had seen the way that other children maybe weren't protected or weren't as looked after."
"She watched over me like a hawk, so I think for her, it was more empathizing and wishing she somehow could have done something to help. She just called me saying she was so grateful that things were ok and that she was there to witness everything."
Ortega shared with The Times that she understood why her parents were protective, adding that "child acting is strange" in general.
"I see why my parents felt so hesitant about it, because you're putting a child in an adult workplace," Ortega said. "I think if I had just stayed growing up in Coachella Valley, I would be a completely different person. I wouldn't speak the way that I do or approach interactions the way that I do. It's completely changed my way of thinking and going about life, and when I speak to other child actors, I can pick them out instantly because we all have that — it's just very specific, like some secret little language or something that we all share."
Ortega explained that children should grow up working the way they do as child stars. Instead, they should grow up in normal lives — something that she was fortunate to have had.
"Children aren't supposed to be working like that," she said. "They are supposed to be climbing trees and drawing and going to school. Some of those kids' parents don't even take school seriously, so I feel really, really fortunate to have had parents who made sure that I hung out with friends, made sure that I went to public school and wouldn't allow me to work on a job unless I had straight A's and was prioritizing my sleep and my schoolwork."
There were times, Ortega said, that she did "regret" choosing acting as a career at such a young age, and there were times that her parents regretted it too, but it was something she "wouldn't change anything."
"I don't believe in that because if anything, I'm incredibly grateful for the lessons that it did teach me," she said. "I love that when I go on a set now, I'm incredibly knowledgeable. I know what the camera verbiage means, I know what a grip's job is, I know what a gaffer's job is, I can get along with the D.P., I can go through shot lists. I understand it all. I know what's going on around me, therefore I feel incredibly safe and comfortable and excited to go to work every day because it's familiar to me."