Jenna Ortega opened up about what it was like meeting Winona Ryder for the first time on the set of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
The Wednesday star, 21, plays Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Ryder’s, 52, Lydia Deetz in the film.
‘She was so warm and welcoming and kind and inviting right from the jump, and I couldn’t be more grateful,’ Ortega explained in an interview with the New York Times.
‘It was at a time where my career was taking a different turn, and I didn’t realize that I needed that from somebody who could relate, but I did,’ she said, adding that she was in a ‘transformative’ period in her life after shooting to overnight superstardom on Netflix‘s Wednesday.
‘The way Winona and I got along was quite weird. It was like we were reading each other’s minds a little bit,’ she added.
Jenna Ortega opened up about what it was like meeting Winona Ryder for the first time on the set of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, pictured in August 2024
Shooting to fame so quickly left Jenna feeling like she ‘woke up in somebody else’s shoes,’ she said.
‘I felt like I had entered somebody else’s life, and I didn’t know how to get back to mine,’ she said.
‘Obviously with the success and the attention that she received in the ’90s, Winona had experienced that probably to an even greater extent, so she was the first person that I connected with on that topic,’ she explained.
‘She made me feel seen where other people necessarily in my life, as much as they wanted to, couldn’t relate or couldn’t understand.’
And when it comes to the advice the Heathers star gave her, Jenna is keeping it to herself.
‘It’s hard to pinpoint because I think some of it I would like to keep between us.’
‘She just made me feel really, really beautiful and special, and that was, again, during that time, it meant the world to me,’ she continued.
This isn’t the first time the Scream IV star has sung the praises of the Reality Bites actress.
‘Winona and I — I swear we just started talking one day on set and then never stopped,’ she told Fandango. ‘You could find us in the same position four hours later never having moved. She’s the best.’
Winona feels the same, saying, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever bonded with someone like I did with Jenna. It was insane. And it did feel a lot like I was talking to a younger version of myself, but she’s just like a thousand times cooler.
The Wednesday star, 21, plays Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Ryder’s, 52, Lydia Deetz in the film; Winona pictured in August 2024
‘She was so warm and welcoming and kind and inviting right from the jump, and I couldn’t be more grateful,’ Ortega explained in an interview with the New York Times, pictured in August 2024
‘It was at a time where my career was taking a different turn, and I didn’t realize that I needed that from somebody who could relate, but I did,’ she said, adding that she was in a ‘transformative’ period in her life after shooting to overnight superstardom on Netflix ‘s Wednesday; Winona pictured in August 2024
‘The way Winona and I got along was quite weird. It was like we were reading each other’s minds a little bit,’ she added, pictured in August 2024
‘Because we both have the same almost religious reverence for film,’ she said in an interview with Screenrant.
‘She is a cinephile, and we just can talk movies for years. We just bonded so intensely, and that was incredibly helpful. I was really just blown away by her.’
Ortega got in the last word, saying: ‘It’s weird; sometimes you look at someone, and you just know.
‘I feel like we had that, and I could have never anticipated getting the incredible opportunity to work with her, let alone to get to know and love her. And she’s so easy to love,’ she gushed.
