{"id":594119,"date":"2026-04-10T05:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594119\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T05:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:30:13","slug":"jenna-ortega-reveals-she-auditioned-for-ari-asters-hereditary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594119\/","title":{"rendered":"Jenna Ortega Reveals She Auditioned for Ari Aster\u2019s \u2018Hereditary\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJenna Ortega<\/a> in Hereditary<\/a>? It could\u2019ve happened.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring an appearance on pal Kid Cudi<\/a>\u2019s new podcast, Big Bro, the 23-year-old Wednesday star revealed that she auditioned for Ari Aster<\/a>\u2019s horror film, released by A24 in January 2018. \u201cI think I auditioned for Hereditary, which obviously wouldn\u2019t have made any sense, especially for, like, my disposition as a kid, so I understood,\u201d she told Cudi, her friend since they starred together in Ti West\u2019s slasher pic X opposite Mia Goth, Brittany Snow and Martin Henderson.<\/p>\n

\n\tOrtega said that while she only received a select portion of the script, she knew it would be impactful. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what I was looking at and they they gave us barely any sides. It was like two pages of just ominous words that as a 12-year-old went over the head,\u201d she explained. \u201cBut I remember seeing it, looking at it, and thinking, \u2018I feel like this is an important movie,\u2019 and then it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAster\u2019s Hereditary, which he directed from his own script, centers on a family struggling to make sense of the mysterious occurrences that happen in the wake of the death of matriarch Ellen, played by Ann Dowd. The woman\u2019s daughter, a miniature artist named Annie played by Toni Collette, begins to uncover disturbing secrets just as the family is thrown into personal tragedy when their 13-year-old daughter, Charlie, dies in a shocking car accident while her older brother is behind the wheel. Ortega auditioned to play the 13-year-old in a role that went to Milly Shapiro, while Alex Wolff played the older brother. It was a key part, too, as Charlie had a chilling presence onscreen as he family grows increasingly concerned by her strange behavior.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThen it came out, and we went to the theater,\u201d Ortega recalls of seeing Hereditary back in 2018. \u201cI sat up in my chair and I looked at my mom and I said, \u2018This is the one that I said was going to be in.\u2019 You know, we didn\u2019t even realize that [is what we were seeing]. But incredible movie. It\u2019s funny to think that I went in for that because again, I just didn\u2019t make any sense for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kid Cudi: “I auditioned for Get Out. I was, [in] one of those situations where I read the script and I knew it was about to go.”<\/p>\n

Jenna Ortega: “I auditioned for Hereditary \u2026 I remember seeing it, looking at it, and thinking, ‘I feel like this is an important movie.'”<\/p>\n

Kid Cudi\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/GfR0IWJz78<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Big Bro with Kid Cudi (@bigbrocudi) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tOrtega added that she\u2019s always taken rejection really well. \u201cI never really question it. I didn\u2019t want to get in my head about that sort of thing, and what\u2019s meant to be mine will come to me or, you know, I\u2019ll find somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOrtega\u2019s chat with Cudi has generated a fair amount of headlines focused on the segment when she opened up about the time she almost quit acting altogether. The actress, who grew up in Palm Springs, California, broke out as a child star on such shows as Know It All Nina, Richie Rich and Stuck in the Middle. Then came a crossroads.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t know what else I was gonna do,\u201d Ortega told Cudi. \u201cI\u2019ve never really considered anything else, more so recently, just out of sake of curiosity and wanting another life experience. But when I was a teenager, I\u2019d gotten off a children\u2019s show, and I didn\u2019t know what I was going to do. I had to prove myself and meet all these new casting directors who didn\u2019t know who I was. It just felt like a good time to call it quits if I was going to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenna Ortega reveals she nearly quit acting before booking the TV show \u2018You\u2019 \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n

“It felt like a good time to call it quits. I was starting high school, it was a good run \u2026 Then I booked, the show ‘You’ & I was like, ‘There’s no way I could let this go.'” pic.twitter.com\/jMxwM1Kit7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Big Bro with Kid Cudi (@bigbrocudi) April 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tOrtega was just about to start high school and felt like \u201cit was a good run,\u201d she said. \u201cWe 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,\u201d Ortega said about the Netflix thriller series starring Penn Badgley as a serial killer. \u201cI thought, \u2018Yeah, there\u2019s no way I could let this go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe\u2019s been working at a hectic clip ever since. But now Ortega has found herself in a rare space with months of consecutive downtime. \u201cI was so scared. I was so scared,\u201d she says of taking a break. \u201cI remember the first few weeks I thought, \u2018OK, I don\u2019t really know what to do with my hands. Maybe I should, like, pick up a hobby?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut now that her free time is winding down, Ortega said she feels much better. \u201cI learned so much about what I enjoy and what I don\u2019t enjoy. I know how to entertain myself real well now, and I just got to do real domestic stuff that I was missing out on for a while, like cooking. I never got to cook because you\u2019re living in a hotel room.\u201d<\/p>\n