Jenna Ortega Was afraid of Beetlejuice as a Child

Jenna Ortega, the star of the upcoming sequel "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," shared her childhood fears during a recent interview on the "Today" show. The actress revealed to co-anchor Hoda Kotb that she was "scared of everything" as a child, including the original "Beetlejuice" film. Ortega expressed a complicated relationship with horror movies, admitting that while she loved films like "Gremlins," they also terrified her. Ortega explained her evolving perspective on fear, stating, "I think I got older and I realized that excitement is the same as fear." She emphasized the importance of reframing her feelings, noting that when she felt scared, she would remind herself that it could also be excitement. This shift in mindset helped her cope with her childhood anxieties about scary movies. In a moment of enthusiasm about her new role, Ortega recounted how she reacted upon receiving the script for "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." She pulled over to read it immediately and was so captivated that she informed her team within two hours that she would be collaborating with Tim Burton again, although she kept the details of the project under wraps. As anticipation builds for the sequel, Ortega's candid reflections on her past fears and her excitement for the new film highlight her growth as both an actress and an individual, bridging her childhood experiences with her current career in the horror genre.