Jenna Ortega Reveals Decade-Long Screenplay Dream: “I’ve Known I’d Make This Movie for 10 Years”

The ‘Wednesday’ star says acting was always a stepping stone to directing as she begins developing her first original film — a passion project she started writing at 12.

Jenna Ortega Steps Behind the Camera: A Childhood Screenplay Takes Center Stage

At just 22 years old, Wednesday and Scream star Jenna Ortega has already become one of Hollywood’s most compelling young talents. But her true creative aspirations, it turns out, have been quietly unfolding behind the scenes for nearly a decade. In a recent interview with V Magazine, Ortega revealed that she’s been writing a screenplay since the age of 12 — and she’s finally ready to bring it to life.

“I have a script that I’ve known that I was going to make for almost 10 years,” Ortega told her Hurry Up Tomorrow co-star and co-creator Abel Tesfaye (a.k.a. The Weeknd). “It’s weird because it’s something that I thought of when I was younger and when I first started out in this field, and it’s only now that I’m actually starting to take the steps to get it made, which is really interesting.”

Ortega, who began her career on the Disney Channel before stepping into breakout roles in X, Wednesday, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, said the delay was essential for the project to take shape properly. “There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that I wasn’t aware of. I’m just putting the puzzle pieces together in my head,” she explained. “I think I needed a few years of that under my belt to understand the order of doing things.”

Though she’s planning to star in the film — at least this one — Ortega made it clear her future lies behind the camera. “This one in particular, I see myself in it, but I really want to direct,” she said. “That’s probably the main thing that I want to do. I see that for myself. I just feel that’s the way my brain wants to work and think, and that’s how I even view my acting sometimes.”

For Ortega, acting has always been part of a larger vision. “It’s hard to develop something that you’re starring in or you’re leading,” she shared. “I don’t want to be in the things that I create in the future, but starting out, because I’ve created more leverage for myself with a name as an actor, I may as well use that as a stepping stone.”

Ortega has already stepped into producing, serving as an executive producer on Hurry Up Tomorrow, her new film with Tesfaye, which also marks a shift toward deeper creative involvement. She’s also developing several new projects — some driven by characters and collaborators that inspire her, and others born from original concepts she’s long nurtured.

“I think learning how to produce and being a part of projects in that way has informed me so much,” she said. “Everything that I’ve done in my career, I feel like there’s a reason why I didn’t make this story at an earlier time, but I’m really excited about it.”

While Ortega didn’t divulge any specifics about the plot of her upcoming directorial debut, her track record hints at a creative voice ready to make its mark not just on-screen, but in storytelling itself.