Jenna Ortega

When people sort of freaking out over it or I started to recognize there is a sudden burst and Sort of explosion and everything. I just it really felt like some sick mind There's no way like that's still to this day. I am a little Confused expensive prank to put on youth were three seasons in we're still we're still stringing this out just for the long con against I just love to never be confident Prepare your ears humans happy sad confused begins Hey guys, it's Josh welcome to another edition of happy sad confused today on the show She's kind of a big deal. You ready for this Jenna or tega is on the show talking Wednesday choir and the Sun and more Thanks guys as always for checking out the podcast remember hit that subscribe button on YouTube on Spotify However, you're doing it. That is up to you. I In Devor every week to give you one or two usually two great conversations and today we have a really special one because general or tega is Yes, she's ginormously famous, but beyond that she is exceptionally talented has such a bright future ahead of her and in front of her right now She is absolutely killing it. She of course starred in the first two seasons of Wednesday Don't worry a third season is in the books coming soon. She's currently starring in Clara and the Sun Directed by none other than Tyka white TT check it out. It's in theaters. If you're watching this on the day that this episode drops I think it's out tomorrow. So check it out Tyka white TT directing based on a bestseller co-starring Amy Adams Clara and the Sun tells the story of a Artificial friend of sorts that a mom gets for her daughter And that artificial friend is played by none other than Jenna or Tega It is a different kind of Jenna or take-up performance than you've seen forget to dry a stir bit kind of goth Thing going in Beetle juice Beetle juice and Wednesday this shows off new colors And I know that's why it appealed to her among many other reasons I'm really excited this happened. This has been a long time in the making. I've won a Jenna on the podcast for years We've been kind of talking about this for a while and finally it happened I think this is her first podcast in maybe four years. She really doesn't do long form conversations like this So as always I have to say I am so indebted to her to her folks for trusting me with this great chat and I had a blast She is 24 going on 44 she just seems like the most Sophisticated young woman out there has great taste in movies and music and pop culture We had a lot of on talking about the things we're into in terms of film especially. I've sent her over an action movie cheat sheet because that's Relatest obsession is to try to learn from the uvra of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and if there's an uvra I know it is Arnold Schwarzenegger So this was a fun chat. Of course this talks about her beginnings kind of her evolution from Disney star to Wednesday and beyond kind of becoming a Horror icon in her own right in recent years choir and the sun and her her hopes and dreams going forward She's about to play a gymnast in Mary Braunstein's new film which I'm really excited about. This is of course the filmmaker that did if I had legs that kick you So you know, it's going to be special anyway. That is the main event today Jenna Ortega thrilled that she's on the podcast at last if you like what I do I will remind you guys check out our patreon patreon.com/happysec infused for early access to every single episode we do here access to our live events in New York City. We have a ton of really really cool ones coming up I don't know if there are any that are officially on the night to why website or in the notes yet But they are coming very soon probably four or five in the next few months that are like high-profile major events So now is a good time to check out our patreon patreon.com/happysec Confused if you want to get in on live events and autographed merch and all that kind of fun stuff patreon.com/happy Sec confused Okay, main event time here we go. Enjoy this conversation She's like I said, she's a big deal guys strap in here. We go Jenna Ortega and me enjoy Jenna Josh we're doing the podcast. I'm so excited. I'm more excited than you. I think I don't know what bet you lost But you don't you don't do a lot of these. No, I don't do podcasts a lot There's just something about long-form interviews that makes me a little hesitant. I don't know why there's so much Opportunity to say the wrong thing and to nothing about saying the wrong thing. It's just I My social battery is naturally very low right and then I go through really intense spurts and then I crash so I just have a fear even if I head into an interview feeling. Hey, okay. I think I can do this Ten minutes later. I'm like oh, I I don't make any sense. I sound Drunk I these are these are my only conversations like I have no social battery outside of this podcast if I didn't have the podcast I would be a hermit a recluse like I know truly like this is my outlet of interacting with the world So thank you for that. This is really a service to me. Yeah, I understand that too We're talking about a great many things today. You're spending the good word of car on the sun. Congratulations Thank you very much. How's the press tour? It's just like you know, you're doing a couple cities doing the room the one didn't touch of things It's been really great the press that we're doing so far because it's in A majority of it has been film festivals or film heavy cities. So London Film Festival I'd never been to the Rome film festival. I hadn't been to and I was really surprised by the Italians and how much they love Cinema and their passion and how engaging they were I just um Regardless of whether or not I'm promoting something going to film festivals feels like such a treat So I've been really lucky this tour. It's the best film festivals are the best I am it's the best part of my job is like every year. I go to tell you right. I go to Toronto. Oh my god Sundance a lot You've done some of those some dance I assume at some point Sundance I just did for the first time this year Which I was grateful to do last one in Park City. Right. Yeah. Have you done the you haven't done tell your idea? Do you know? No, but I'm dying too. You're gonna love it. Yeah, I That's coming up. It came up over a way. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it's pet. It just happened. Okay You'll make it happen. You're gonna get there. It's a long career. Just getting started. Okay So what's got the important stuff out of the way I was obviously come the intern interwebs for Important research. IMDB claims. These are your nicknames. Are these your nicknames? I'm so scared. Riri Bonso dog and Bonso Yeah, they're not the main ones They're second tier. Yeah, so can you give me a little backstory on Riri Bonso dog and Bonso? Riri is because my middle name is Marie and my parents used to call me Jenna Riri And then they just started calling me Riri. It also took an adaptation Riri, Lychus And that was one that I gave to my parents because they were calling me from the room Like Jenna come over here. We need you for a second and I refused to come out and they started getting mad and they said Jenna Riri Riri Riri and I came out in these little plastic Heels that I had stolen from my doll sure and a feather boa, and I said it's not really. It's really delicious. I just reinvented Because I loved Fergie when I was six years old. It all makes sense now. Wait. This is six years old This is six. I may have even been five. Wow. I was really Adiment about them calling me Riri. Does anybody call you Riri, Lychus now? No It's bring it back. Maybe my mother every once in a while, but he's changed a professional name from Jenna or take it just to go by Riri, Lychus. Well, I'm kind of pissed that nobody told me that stage names were a thing Like I remember when I first got my sad card. Yeah, after I'd worked three union jobs and I went and filling out the form and it's a stage name And I asked my mom. I said, what's a stage name? She said I think it's just your name. Like what do you want to be called people have such great names? What's your favorite? What do you what do you jealous of? We Winona and I kind of talked about it a little bit. Winona writers and incredible Winona Horowitz. That's her real name. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's amazing. Drop the Laura like the whole Yeah, even my friend Mikey Madison, like I know her nickname was just Mikey, but the illiteration always helps. Yes, then again in hindsight I wouldn't have wanted to go by Riri or Tegar or something like that and at eight years old I wasn't coming up with anything Spectacular, I don't think I did I by the way I I hit up our mutual Winona trying to get some any kind of intel anything Yeah, she might be the worst texture on the planet earth though. She is she is she I'm gonna get it I'm gonna respond to nine to ten months. I know that it depends. She's either on it or she's not she's not on But when she sends it she's very sweet. Yeah, there's so many I've taken on a habit of hers that is just dot dot dot dot yeah like for no reason in the middle of a sentence It's just like she's thinking. Yeah, and now I do that all the time too and I think it I've I've stolen that no There's nothing better than getting just like a a black heart from Tone of those. Tone of those. Yeah, it's her favorite emoji, I think. It fits. Yeah, so okay, let's let's let's start on Clire Then we're gonna go backwards. Um, I mean, you've had the luxury and the opportunity the last few years to kind of like start to make Some big choices for yourself like most actors in their career. It's the luxury of choice, right? And this has kind of happened mostly to you in the last five years since Wednesday and of course ones They takes up a lot of time and space. Yeah, so what are you like where were you at when this one came around because I mean I can see from the outside looking and I can I can guess on why this appeal to you But in terms of contrast from Wednesday, et cetera. Yeah, well, honestly, it's it's I wouldn't Definitely You know, Wednesday came out and I had a lot more opportunity and that was so exciting and I'm so grateful for Everything a lot of what I've been sent or a lot of what's I had come my way it was just a lot of nasty teenage or nasty teenage or you know They told me about Claire on the Sun. I didn't know what that was said. It was based off a book They said it was based off of an issue girl book. I went oh Okay, it means the day never let me go. Okay, I'm listening. I read the book and I thought okay There's something here. His writing is very nuanced and Thought provoking and I like that he could take very simple simple storylines, but are so dense in theme and Emotional intelligence and nature. So I thought okay, well, this would be kind of there might be some interesting dynamics to play here and then Tyka reached out because It always actually puts to me in the same breath, but anyway, then I thought about Tyka and Tyka is so Optimistic and bright in his storytelling and I thought that that was a really weird pair for the book so then I thought okay, but sometimes that It does something quite nice. So I spoke to him and I understood that he wanted this Peppier kind of more naïve Clara and upon conversation with Him it started to make more and more sense, but for me I was just excited that something different was Coming my way 100% yeah, so yeah, what are the things you're seeing like is it just what I would expect like Goth young women got teenagers Goth teenagers, but he teenagers, you know, just got that on lockdown. You've like I've done it a couple times Yeah, I've done it a few times. Yeah, and you want something that kind of challenges you or you know on an on a set like Clara I don't really get to Be lazy about anything because Tyka also was very spontaneous and liked to come up with stuff and throw out concepts as you were shooting So he'd be there with a megaphone and you'd be in this wheat field and he would be shouting, you know, we'll Yeah, try to roll down the hill. Oh, okay. Well, now you're happy. No, you're not happy anymore. Now you're sad. Make this face Make that face say this instead you would look at sides and he would go Oh, sweetie like you throw those away like this is not what we're doing today Which was terrifying at first, but then you learn to kind of love it because it's a different way of working and forces you to Not overthink so much, right, but it's giving yourself over to someone and you need that obviously requires a lot of trust Yes, I mean, I've seen a few filmmakers do that. I've been on like some anime case sets He's influenced with like the bullhorn. Just like oh my god. Just throwing out the craziest shit at people and it sounds like a He is such a spontaneous live-wire of a human being. Yes, he is It like permeates all of his films like that energy that enthusiasm that optimism Yeah, and I think that's an interesting quality to have as a filmmaker too Yeah, it's like you see a Frame of one of Tyka's movies and you can kind of get adjust that okay. It makes a lot of sense Yeah, you know to so to be so obvious in your aesthetic and vision is interesting to me So like in terms of just the the broader picture of where you're at now like are you? How this is the wrong word but how calculated are you in terms of like crafting the career at this point like in terms of These are the next three roles I want to do and the in the kind of body of work. I want to start to You're still very young. I mean I've been doing this a long time But like is there a real need and want to kind of show off all the shades of you right now Yes, but you know what more than anything is and I don't know why I think because I started so young because I didn't have any Connection to the industry all of the advice that I had been told growing up was Take everything you never know when it's gonna be taken from you It's never gonna happen again, and it put me in I think in a very fear-based mentality. Yeah, that I wasn't aware that I had It was just I had been operating at such a pace for so long that I didn't know any different and for someone who's Worked since they were a kid, you know, there's a different sort of comfortability in sense now as you know I'm a bit older and I see things I'm more knowledgeable about myself and what I'm interested in. I think that's a big part of it too Just understanding myself as an individual a little bit better I definitely would like to be a bit more calculated or you know be more interested and Things that you know, it really feels like I want to watch it if I you know like which is weird when you think about it as a kid it was just I come in I fill this role. I do this job and I go home, you know, and it was what's pleasing other As opposed to kind of pleasing yourself. Yes, and I would like to please myself. Right. 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You're running the investigation from the comfort of your couch Welcome to murder she watched the podcast where we recap dissect and slightly over-analys Some of the best and craziest true crime documentaries on our favorite streamers Did the spouse do it? Why is the shady neighbor wearing leather gloves in July? Why did this guy agree to be interviewed in this documentary? We ask the tough questions that you're often just screaming at your TV So every week we break down the twists red herrings and absurd documentaries that have kept you up all night It's high drama cozy vibes and absolute couch detective energy Grab your throw blanket and hit subscribe search murder. She watched wherever you listen to podcasts and let's solve this thing together If I if I talked to your your family your siblings like growing up you by all accounts you were an extrovert like were you like You were one of six. Yes, it was was being an extrovert kind of just the way of getting attention like hey, I'm here I'm here to like what was I Genuinely cannot help it There's so yeah, I just and it's so funny because my family is very introverted. I'll see you're the outlier Yes, everyone was pretty quiet. Maybe my younger brother was kind of crazy Okay, and for two seconds he thought oh, well, maybe I'll act like my big sister and then someone handed him sides And he thought oh, this is so boring like I'm gonna go play soccer Yeah, no, I've always been very extroverted and we don't know where it comes from my Mom's father was a bit of an entertainer. He worked as like a bartender at these clubs and things like that But he used to perform in drag and That's how you'd make like extra money for the family. He loved his sing. He loved to just be on stage So my mom likes to say that oh, maybe maybe there's some sort of entertainment seed throughout there But really it just came out of left field so you I mean you were very vocal to your parents early on like I really want to try this out Just let me give me a shot. Do you remember like the early auditions because I mean auditions are tough for adults like Did you not feel exposed like rejection is tough for anybody little in a kid? How did you handle all that I was so headstrong as a kid? Yeah, everyone warned me when I first started acting, you know Okay, well, just know Sometimes you're gonna say no Sometimes it's not because you maybe they needed different hair color or maybe they needed someone older I did not care I was just so happy to be there. I was so happy to be around with other actors I loved sitting in the waiting room for three hours like back against the wall in these catacletal sessions like playing hand games with the girls I finished my homework. Oh, do you want to go here after well? We can't drive back to the desert yet because it's traffic So do you should we go for dinner and I would make friends in the casting you know like I was very Just in my element. It's not a competition you guys like we're all You're gonna do great and you're gonna do great. I was very You were chill. Yeah, I was I was like a pretty good present guys. This is a big deal. We'll get a next time Yeah, I was I think I was good for morale Where are you at now? I mean like are you as like I don't know chill about the ups and downs of a career now? Yeah, I mean I've gotten older. I've developed a stronger understanding and I'm definitely a Lot more self-critical or harsh on myself like it's easy for me to or it's not so easy for me to shake things off But it's less about what other people put on me and more about just internally feeling High pressure right being in this other phase, which is only human. I just kind of have to tell myself, and this year I've been really good about just telling myself to get over myself. It's not easy because you become so thinking about the same things over and over, and I have OCD, so it's really hard for me to stop the train once it goes. Spiraling. Exactly. So I'm just as soon as I start spiraling, I'm outside on a walk. Can you give me an example without, you know, reviewing too much of what you get in your own head about? Is it about, like, a bad day on set where you just didn't feel like you didn't nail it? Yeah, a bad day on set, staring up at the ceiling, thinking, "Oh, I should have done it this way, or why didn't I do it that way, or I have a conversation, and then I'm having the conversation again in the car." In minor conversations, not even sometimes it's work-based, sometimes it's not. I could be at like the supermarket or something, and I'm just like, "Oh, I should have said something." You know, just insane. And then the more tired I get to, the more it feels, and you've been working so much. My brain is just. And what about the aspect of, like, there's so many folks that see you, young people that see you, that want something out of you in the best possible way? They just want an interaction, they want to feel seen. Yeah. Do you feel, I don't know, that's a lot for anybody to take in, and especially, like, the volume you probably get at, like, I don't know, do you kind of give yourself grace, and like, I can't be everything to everybody all the time, or. Yes and no. When I was young and I was on Disney Channel, they took us to, like, media training, and they told us, you know, every time someone meets you, it's probably the only time they're ever going to interact with you. Like, that's a very special moment in their lives. You just see, where have that? No pressure. That has never left me, and sometimes I try to give myself grace, and I'm trying to have better boundaries, so maybe if I feel like it's not so safe of a situation, or maybe I don't want to stop and agree to take a photo with a random grown man, but kids and things like that, of course. Yeah, it is a lot though, and again, it's sweet, like, some of the interactions are so sweet, and then some of them are a little bit more embarrassing or aggressive, or mean, and it's hard to know what the balance is, but you just. I do what I can. Yeah, you're only human. So coming off of the Disney show, which was obviously kind of like a big moment in your career more than a moment, what were you. I mean, were you going up for a lot of things prior to Wednesday and scream, et cetera, and X that felt like they were going to set you on a new path? Like, did you have kind of a niche like in auditions, like a kind of role that you were going up for often? Like if I talk to you like in the year before Wednesday, where were you at in terms of. I was getting a lot of horror, but I also was seeking horror. Okay. I just signed to a new agency and they asked me kind of what I wanted to be doing, and I said, "I really want to get into horror films." And was that based on your own. I mean, it's a good opportunity for young actors, but it's also like a great genre in and of itself. They're having like a real. I mean, not that horror ever really left, but I would say in the last five to ten years, there's been a major boom in the production and like public value. That was just. Nobody had told me that. If anything, when I was younger, when I was really little, I was always interested in dark things, very fascinated, but I would freak myself up and not sleep for weeks. It freaked myself out and not sleep for weeks. And yeah, I got into them when I was a teenager, and it just was fresh on my mind, and I thought that it was a great opportunity for an actor to portray such high, intense, insane feelings, and yeah, the horror just seemed like a dream job. So which of those came around first of X-Scream Wednesday? I think. Scream came around first. I filmed my X-tap in the hotel room while shooting Scream right after we had shot the opening sequence. Booked that one, Ty West called me, and I was with Matt and Tyler, the directors at the time. So they all said hi because they were friends. So I thought, oh, this is sweet, they're handing me off to like the next horror director friend that they know. And then while I was on X, I had just shot the scene where my face got shot off. Classic. And I facetimeed him to audition for that. So they all were happening kind of simultaneously, but that was it. It was Scream X Wednesday and won that to the other. So it's interesting. I mean, you know, when looking back at Wednesday, I know you've talked about sort of that first season being it's a discombobiling experience. This is a very high profile show. You're working with Tim Burton. You're number one on the call sheet. And correct me if I'm wrong. In your own head, you're kind of like this doesn't feel like a home run at first. Like you're not killing it. You're not satisfying yourself maybe on those first days and weeks. Like you weren't getting the feedback. Maybe you were hoping for from Tim. I don't want to put words in your mouth. But like, I mean, give me a sense of sort of like, I don't know, was it a discombobiling experience being on Wednesday, being on a show that clearly worked, that maybe in your own head, you didn't think it was working at the time. Yeah, I didn't think that it was working at all. And that was me being in my own head. Perhaps, but also Tim, I had never worked with someone like Tim before and Tim is very, very shy. He's opened up a bunch, but when you initially start working with him, he does not. Speak like he was doing like hair and makeup tests. And he would look at, you know, they would try different bangs or try different lengths of braids. And he would call Colleen at Woodover and Colleen would, you know, whisper in his, he would whisper in Colleen's ear. Okay, I'm thinking this and Colleen would come over and like speak for him. Like he was very, and I think that was just him maybe being sensitive now knowing him as to when she's young girl. I don't want her to feel like, you know, I'm picking her apart to like come from a woman, you know, whatever, now I know Tim. Yes. But it was things like that that just felt like, okay, well, I'm not clicking with him. Right. He's not speaking to me. He also was just trying to give me spaces of performer to figure it out myself. Sure. But to be, you know, 17, 18 and a foreign country with this, you know, very big director. Yeah. And feel like I wasn't connecting. I was, I was very stressed out. So when that, when that show comes out and becomes what it does, was that, and that was then just bizarre on a number of levels, because I don't know if by then you kind of reconcile, okay, we'll be accomplished something where you, if you were still in your own head, like I don't know if it was, if I did my job, like what was it like to kind of see the world embrace the show when you, yourself maybe had questions about your own performance? I couldn't, I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe it. They had sent me like an episode or two to watch. Out of courtesy before the show came out and I couldn't make it through the first five minutes, 10 minutes. I just was so, and I don't really like to watch myself. I don't. So I think it actually was doing a bit of a hindrance, but just based off of them, yeah, not having any faith in myself. Right. I was mortified. So when people sort of freaking out over it, or I started to recognize, or there was a sudden burst and sort of explosion and everything, I just, it really felt like some sick mind. It's not the world. It's a major prank. There's no way, like that's still to the stay, I'm a little confused. It's a very expensive prank to put on youth. We're three seasons in, we're still, we're still stringing this out just for the long con again. I just love to never be comfortable waiting for, you know, is there comfort on set now having just wrapped season three, or are you still to a degree? Yeah, there's immense comfort. Yeah. That crew, the people, everything about it, they're so lovely and kind and work so well together. And yeah, the character, it's, you know, first met her maybe six years ago or something. So you definitely fall into the swing of things and it's nice to see everyone kind of at their peak, most comfortable iteration of, of the characters. Who got Winona involved? That's a Tim Cole. When you heard that Winona was coming for season three. I think it may have been a Tim Cole. I think there was somebody else. No, there actually was no other name mentioned for that. And I didn't think much of it when they first pitched season three and they mentioned Winona's name because, noting and I love each other, we would love to work together again, but we didn't talk about this. And she had just gone off a long stretch of a show. So didn't know she was going to be looking to do that again. And then suddenly she just was in Ireland. I was walking around on the trailers one day and I was like, oh my god. They got her. They got her. They got you. It's like, yeah. And it was sweet. That's awesome. Yeah. More happy, second views coming up. And then McNamara's podcast from beneath the Hollywood Sun. I pulled out a box and gives McHallister a ring saying, here's something to remember me by Daryl Zannick, hit the roof. Mary Astor has been keeping a diary. This torrid affair with George's Kaufman is chronicled on a daily basis. He's talking about the actors and actresses who won an Oscar on their very first film. [BLANK_AUDIO] your fix of old Hollywood on the podcast from beneath the Hollywood sign. There are vampires out there. They're beside you in the darkness, but what people don't understand is that they're not monsters. They're just going to work, living there on lives. But we are a dying breed. Those who came before me, they are fearful and are not content to sit back and just disappear. And they'll do anything to fix that. From the creators of Park Del Haunt comes a woodbine, a podcast about monsters, dreams, and changes, those you want, and those you never saw coming. The final season begins this fall, distributed by round. I mean, you've had a series of these amazing actresses, Amy Adams, and the way it is obviously that I don't know if by default they become mentors or kind of like you gravitate towards them. I mean, you also work with Natalie Portman recently. I mean, is that especially meaningful to kind of work with a series of actors who many of whom like grew up like Natalie was a child actor, like kind of has walked the path you did. When no one walked to your path, that must be invaluable to kind of have this series of like women in your life to call upon if needed. I've been so lucky with the actresses in my life, whether they've been, you know, mom, sister, scene partners, just anything. Like, I really am fortunate. And these actresses from previous generations who are still in the game, like Natalie, like Winona, like Catherine Zeta Jones, the Natasha Leone is great. You know, like I've just been so fortunate with women who really are supportive of other women in the industry. And I think they have a different understanding as to sort of the pressures that are put on them and how complicated it can be and feel and isolating. So anytime I'm able to, you know, be in a little tend on the side of a set at two in the morning with them on a night shoot or something, I just, I think I always have that moment of quite appreciation and so getting on this. The galorist is the one with Natalie that's coming out relatively soon, I don't know. Right? Over the meaningful performances of hers for you growing up, I mean, she did everything from the professional to Star Wars to. Yeah, that was, it's pretty surreal. You know, she's kind of one of the first actresses I probably knew. Yeah. Because I'd seen her in so many things. And obviously she's so talented, but to meet her and work with her and see how cool she is. Like she does not get enough credit. She's, she's got such a great balance in her life and understanding of her world and is very consistent in herself. And yeah, to, to work with her was just, I was trying to soak it all in and she's, makes everything better. Yeah. And has such great input on the shape of a scene and it's just really impressed by her. So who, who helped form your taste, do you think, growing up? I mean, was it your siblings, your parents, in terms of like your film taste, which, you know, I've heard you talk about everything from Shrek to the Joan of Arc. Like it runs the gamut. Like, did you find films on your own? Did people introduce films to you? I found films on my own. Yeah, pretty much. In my house, we watch like the same five movies over and over. There was like the Lion King 300. We would maybe watch. There was a movie called The Pacifier with Vin Diesel underneath you know, we really like the Pacifier. Like that was my movie range in the house that I grew up in. And then just when I was old enough to really get good at the computer, and I knew at that point I was already acting. So I just thought, oh, I should probably educate myself if this is something that I'm going to want to do forever. Right. So I just would look up super basic, okay, best romantic movie of all time, best, this of all time would watch it. And then, okay, well now I like this director. So I'm going to go down here and down here. Yeah. Yeah. Just went down a rabbit hole. And I'm still to this day. I'm in that rabbit hole. Just keep going. Going deeper and deeper. So what rabbit holes have you been down lately? What's give me a filmmaker and actor you've been kind of going down the path for? Okay. Well, recently, there's been a lot of Harvey Kaito movies. Great. Just can't explain it. I'm just really happy. I hadn't seen badly 10 or everything. Yeah. So I was able for error. That's another rabbit hole. You can go down. Yep. Oh, I'm down. I just watched a dangerous game. Yep. Yeah. So super into that. I'm doing that right now. Who else have I been into? This is left turn. But I've been really trying to get into action movies because I've been training for nasty, which is a gymnastics film that I'm doing. It's own kind of action film. Yeah. And it's been a lot of training and a lot of growing. So I'm trying to make it as enjoyable as I can. Yeah. So I've just been comparing myself to every action star whatsoever. Who's on the, yeah, who's the top of the mountain? Arnold Schwarzenegger. We've been doing a lot of Arnold Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. No, I haven't seen pumping iron. Yes, I'm going to get to it before I begin shooting. Tom Cruise. There's two people who operate at this. Yes. Athletic level that I'm on right now. And I think it's me and Tom going like, yes. One day, the day that I don't train, maybe he's on the up. Wait, wait, wait, wait. That's the whole second. Okay, let's Arnold. So what have you, what have you loved in Arnold's films? Have you done so to recall? Have you done, no, I haven't done, let me, yeah, what am I doing? It's something wrong. No, but I did watch junior with him and Emma Thompson, where he's, so much giving me the wrong advice. He's not so athletic in that one, but it's, that's a, yeah, he gets to say my body, my choice in that movie. That's pretty special. Yeah. Sorry, so that's Arnold. You went to junior first. Okay, no judgments. No, that's just the last one. That's the one that I can remember. That's okay. TC. So that's, that's your like stunt inspiration. He's the one. I've actually never seen a mission impossible movie. I don't know, but that's why I'm going to start. I'm going to start. I've only seen the opening. Yeah, I'm just, I don't know, I'm full in. Like, let me give you a list. Okay, please, this is my job. I would love, I would love a list from you. Please give me action movies. Don't see all of the equalizers now. Like, I just like a proper dad movie right now. I think something comforting. Okay, I can, I can, I can help you out there. Um, okay. So, and then you said before, so Shrek 2 was important to wreck the Shrek films for me. Is the Shrek 2 the best of the Shrecks? I think it is. That's, I need a hero. The gingerbread man scene. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. I also got the potions in that. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Trippy movie. Okay. Let's say we're bouncing around. Okay. So tell me more about the Mary Bronstein. Okay. So your, your playing a gymnast is this like whiplash style? Like, it sounds like, I mean, her last film was pretty intense. Yeah. It's, it's a big intense. I would say Roseburn will be playing my coach and obviously she's incredible. And to be able to work with that team together is something that I'm so excited for. But it's been really wonderful developing that one. I started first for the script like two years ago. So it's been a slow but short process. So I've never been a part of a script that early on. So being able to put the pieces together and recruit sort of this dream scenario of a production has been beautiful and everybody is working so hard and everything is looking so good. And I'm thrilled. So, yeah, you've gotten a collectic slate coming up. So the gaurse is coming soon. We're going to finally see JJ's movie. I'm always a JJ fan. Come on. The great beyond is coming. That's you and Gwen Powell. JJ's a great, I mean, as smart as they come. He's. He's so sweet. He's so sweet. He's like a really awkward dad sense, but he's so thoughtful and so informative. He knows absolutely everything. And I guess it's because he's writing the scripts as well. But it's so great asking him questions. And him just going on rants of answers because it really does to not only help your trust in the job and what you're meant to do that day on set because you just know you're in safe hands. Right. And somebody who has thought incredibly hard about everything. So um, and does it in such a kind way everyone loves him. Yeah. He's the best. So who are the actors right now that you're kind of obsessed with? Are there are there like who's the shortlist to manifest like you working with or just your fan of right now? Oh, that's so hard because I know I'm going to say people that, or I'm not going to say everybody that I want to just start with Harvey Kytel. Yeah. Harvey love to work with Harvey Kytel. Still doing it. Love to work with Kate Lanshot. Yeah. Um, would love to. I mean, who else is kind of I barely worked with Willem DeFoe in Beetlejuice, but I would like to work with him more. Yeah. You go down the Lars Montrere rabbit hole the Willem DeFoe. Oh, yeah. Don't get me started down there. Don't get me started. What do you mean? I just love, I love those um movies at some point last year was going through all the dog went any five stuff. Um, like are you are your comfort movies more? It sounds like you you can like to arrive comfort from a fucked up movie as much as you can like a classic like. Yeah. Yeah. I like them all. Just if it's if it's good movie, if I'm if I'm locked in, I'm locked in, it doesn't have to be yeah, bright and happy and with a button. Um, I mean, it must be so exciting right now because again, in the last few years, I would imagine whether they come to fruition or not. you're meeting with filmmakers that are really exciting and interesting. - Yeah. - Like, is that, I mean, this is what actors work towards. - Yeah. - You know, does it feel like right now you are, like, the level of material you're getting, the opportunities you're getting are, I don't know, like, are you engaged with the material you're seeing and? - Yeah, I'm definitely feel like I want to, I don't know, I have this sort of new sense of drive that I think for a while, for a few years, maybe I just, I wasn't feeling confident enough for feeling empowered enough, which is weird because I've been in a very fortunate position, but yeah, I have a new sense of drive and I think it's really important for actors to, and a day and age like this, where so much is being made for the sake of stuff being made, and, you know, people are binge watching things and projects come and go super fast, both the making process and the release. I'm learning that you have to be really invested and really thoughtful about every step moving forward just because it's very easy for good ideas to get. - Water down. - Yeah, just not given the right level on Karen, you have to do that as, it can be an actor's job too, you know? - Like, where are you at in terms of obviously Wednesday, I don't know what the future holds for Wednesday if they're going to be more seasons or not, but like, that takes a lot of your time. Like, are you, I would imagine like, franchises are interested in you, that you have those meetings that interest from both the fikes of the world, etc. Like, does that scare you to kind of get locked into an ongoing commitment of a franchise of that type, at this point? - Yeah, I actually haven't had a lot of franchise. - Really? - Conversations, I haven't. But, yeah, I never, what I'm meant to do will come and find me, but, yeah, maybe there is a little bit. Like, I think after Wednesday, I'll probably be off the TV for a while, you know, I had many years doing that. I was bouncing from show to show as a kid just to this, and, you know, I want to leave time for new things. - So, do you watch TV at all? My sense is you're a film watcher or bus, basically. - Yeah, if I'm, it's not, I watched so many movies, it wouldn't make a difference if it were TV and movies. I just feel like maybe I can get more stories and education. I'm like, okay, I have two hours, but recently I have been doing a rewatch of the Sipranos and that Alabama three songs is just always stuck in my head. I love that show, perfect television. - Perfect television. He's another one, Candle Fini was-- - Incredible. - He's so scary and true romance. So scary that fight with him and Patricia, okay, it's just, the first time I had seen that, I would have just a huge pit in my stomach. - Brad Pitt, maybe the best stoner performance also in that show. - Yeah, yeah. - Amazing. - Okay, we end every happy second fused with the profoundly random questions. You ready for some random stuff? - Yes, I love random stuff. - Okay, are you a dog or a cat person? - Both. - Okay. - Is that okay? - Yes, it's all permissible. Do you own, I know you own a dog. - I own a dog, yeah. But I always thought I was gonna own a cat. - Really? - Yeah, I love my dog, my dog is my child. I grew up with dogs. But-- - Is he she? Sorry, he or she? - She. - She, she. - She emotional support dog that she help you when you need her? - Yes, I know, she's also very independent, behaves like a cat. - Oh, she's a cat, really? - Yeah, like I'm so excited to see her after not seeing her for a long time, but then she really likes bald men. - Oh. - 'Cause she likes to lick the stubble. - Sure. - On their head. - Who does? - We could be having a nice moment, but as soon as someone who's bald walks by, she's on them. So it's like, is she that supportive of me emotionally? - Not if there's a bald man around. - Yeah, I know. - Would you address her up in clothing for Halloween? Does she do costumes? - We tried that, we put her in Chucky costume one time with a knife. - My dog was Chucky one. - Really? - It was great, I'll show you the video. - We did it, she hated the red wig, she tore it into bits. We did something else for her too, but I can't, I can't remember, but she really would prefer if you don't put anything on her. - Yeah, still there's nothing, if you can get it to work and the knife comes down to breathe with every step as she's going, it's. - It was amazing, the running legs down the front were perfect. - Genius. - Yeah, last of 30 seconds. - Yeah, would you collect, if anything? - Oh, what do I collect? I do collect things. I like, anytime I'm in a new city and I'm on productions, I find the best antique shops in the area, but that's not really a specific collection of sorts, it's just so, like I have this weird, this warm with wings turning, it's like called the Metamorphosis or something, and he's got this crazy smile on his face and it's made out of ivory and it's from World War One and I have another like, Soldiers Flask, just like weird, I try to find stuff that has weird stories to it. - That works. - Yeah. - Do you have a favorite video game of all time? - No, I don't play video games. - Never play video games. - Isn't that lame? - I think if I sat down, I could really get into a video game, but I don't. - There's only so much time. There are books, there are films, there's TV. - Yeah, I'm just-- - There are dogs. - It's true, that's what it is. It's like anytime I have free time, I think it's free time, but then I realize I've got to take the dog out. - Got it. - She's gone for her run. - She's got a horror guy telling a movie and take the dog out. - I've got to watch, I've got to do ten at two with Nicholas Cage. - That's a good one too. - The iguanas sequences. - Yeah, Val Kilmer, that's a rabbit. - We'll go down the Val Kilmer rabbit hole, that guy. - I will, I would be more than happy to. - So good, so much good stuff, okay. Dakota Johnson asked me this, I ask everybody, would you rather have a mouthful of bees or one bee in your butt? - Mouthful of bees are one of my butt. Probably one of my butt. - Yeah, yeah, that's the consensus. What's the wallpaper on your phone? - It's a woman suspended on the moon. She's like draped over, oh yeah. - That's cool. Last actor you were mistaken for. - What's it ever happened? - Maybe Taylor Russell. - Okay. - Yeah, I think so. - Wait, are you guys gonna be working together? What happened to the single white female? Things that happened? - We're still working on it, but yeah, we're really excited. It was scripted, we're working on drafts right now. - So is that a coincidence? You said the person I got mistaken for was Taylor Russell and then you might be essentially doubling each other in a film? - I think, well, it was her idea and she came to me and she said it because maybe she had just rewatched the film or something, but it was because I guess she was getting it on her side too. So she said, oh, okay, well, this actor looks like, you know, and then we started talking and it got on, yeah. - Well, something good can come out of the mistake and identity. What's the worst note a director has ever given you? - Worst note a director has ever given me. - We're generally what's not helpful. You don't have to out somebody. - Yeah, I'm trying to think of like what's not helpful. I just, sometimes I can get frustrated if I ask a very specific question. Like, is it this or is it this? And they say, I don't know, even if you don't know, I like just like throwing me in a direction and then I'll spiral. But maybe I shouldn't be giving them ultimatums. I don't know. - No, they are the director. They're supposed to at least fake that they have an answer. - Yeah, yeah, I don't like that. I don't know, I just like open up a conversation a little bit with me about it, if there's time. - What do you think? - Yeah. - It's like, I'm lost. - That's why you're reflecting me. - Yeah, what's more interesting to you now? - And in this sort of happy second fuse, who's an actor always makes you happy. Off top of your head. First actor comes to mind. You see the months when you're happy. - Well, it's probably willing to fo. - That's really says a lot about you. I agree. - Yeah, I'm thrilled. - Yeah. - Yeah. - What a light. It's a movie that makes you sad. - Brief encounter, David Lane. - Classic. - And a food that makes you confused. - Food that makes me confused. - You don't get it. Why do people eat that? - I get why people eat papaya, but it's just really not for me. I think I've got that nasty, just like. - You have an allergic reaction. - 30 feet thing, yeah. It's just the smell, the taste of it. There's just nothing about it that is exciting or inviting. - Right. - It's really upsetting. - Yeah, I can see you're going to a dark place. - Oh, it's just 'cause we were just talking about it earlier and it was really bothering me. It doesn't even go to salad. I was just never seen it make sense. - Yeah, well, you're just getting started. Maybe one day someone will find a useful papaya for you. - Nope. - No, okay, or not. - I don't think so. - Okay. - I think it's not for me. - You did it, Jenna. You've been podcasted on Happy Second Fused. - Thank you so much. - Do you feel lighter on your feet? Do you feel like you've accomplished something today? - I feel like that was very fluid and I respect your pacing and process. - Really? - Is how I feel. - There's a little random. - Is that okay? - No, but that's good because my brain operates that way. It's hard for me to even finish a sentence. That's why someone told me the other day, they said, you've got such a stuttered cadence. I don't know what kittens like this. it's because it's me trying to convince myself to stay on one path consistently. So this was perfect. So speed for me. Not to keep drinking game for Winona Ryder. But Winona has been on the podcast several times. And as you could imagine, it's just like it's going down a rabbit hole into a rabbit hole into a. It's my favorite thing about speaking to Winona just because she just I don't even know how we end up. Yeah, the two of you together, the three of us together, we should all do a podcast. It would go bananas. No, anytime her and I have gotten together, we stay set together in the same exact spot for like 10 hours. There's no moving. I believe it. I'll get you that Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie list. Please, please. Thank you for doing this. I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for having me. We did it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't. Did he spy, George? Do you love Disney? Do you love top 10 lists? Then you're going to love our podcast, Disney Countdown. Hi, I'm Megan the magical millennial. And biscuits, I'm Jeremy, AKA Jerandell. And we are the host of the hit Disney podcast, Disney Countdown. On every episode of our fun and family-friendly show, we count down our top 10 lists of all things Disney, the parks, the movies, the music, the food, the lore. There is nothing we don't cover on our show. Right, Jeremy? Oh, girl, you know we are famous for rabbit holes, dizzy themed games and fun facts. You didn't know you needed, but you definitely need it in your life. So if you are looking for a healthy dose of dizzy magic, check out Disney Countdown, wherever you get your podcasts.