Jenna Ortega speaks about how her mum helped her avoid set misconduct as a child star

Before Jenna Ortega became the bonafide Hollywood star we know her as now, both a scream queen and a bankable blockbuster mainstay as well as leading huge shows for streaming services like Netflix, she was a child star. Jenna Ortega got her big break when she was just nine years old, and then went on to become a Disney kid on Stuck in the Middle. As more and more child stars speak out against misconduct on set, especially in the wake of the Quiet on Set documentary, Jenna Ortega has just shared how she never went through anything because her mum “watched her like a hawk”.

In a new interview with the New York Times, Jenna Ortega discussed how her mum called her after watching Quiet on Set – this year’s documentary that has made huge waves as it dives into misconduct and harrassment going on with the child stars at the heart of Nickelodeon show’s sets.

Speaking about her mother ringing her after watching Quiet on Set, Jenna Ortega said ” “I think for her, it was more pain, because she had seen the way that other children maybe weren’t protected or weren’t as looked after,” Ortega said about her mother’s reaction. “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 in her Disney Channel days

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Speaking more about the experience of what it’s like to be a child star in general, Jenna Ortega explained “I see why my parents felt so hesitant about it, because you’re putting a child in an adult workplace. 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.”

“Children aren’t supposed to be working like that,” Ortega continued. “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.”

Jenna Ortega concluded by saying that although she sometimes regrets getting into acting as such a young child, and that she thinks sometimes her parents regret it – she “wouldn’t change a thing.”

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Featured image via Shutterstock / Disney Channel.