Jenna Ortega says Cameron Boyce once prevented “uncomfortable” audition

16 September, 2024

Jenna Ortega and Cameron Boyce

Jenna Ortega has recalled how Cameron Boyce once intervened during an “uncomfortable” audition in which they were supposed to kiss.

The 21-year-old actress knew Boyce from a young age when they were both Disney Channel stars. The actor, who starred in the series Jessie and the film Descendants, died in 2019 at the age of 20 after suffering a seizure while he was sleeping.

Speaking about the audition, Ortega told Canal+: “The last time I saw my friend Cameron Boyce – I’d known him since I was like 11 or 12. This is a few years later, 15 or 16, we came in and we were supposed to be love interests. But because he obviously felt weird and he was a bit older, he was like – we both just kinda looked at each other and we were like, ‘No, we can’t do this.’

“She added: “And it was so sweet because I was uncomfortable and I was having a hard time at the audition. And then, we wished each other well. I remember being really thankful and grateful that he did that.”

Ortega is currently starring in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. She recently opened up about the big dance scene at the end of the film to NME.

Speaking about the moment, co-star Catherine O’Hara explained that their moves were created by themselves, with the help of a choreographer.

“You were the inspiration behind the performance art aspect of it,” Ortega then said of her co-star. “I think it read on the page as a proper dance, and you sparked an idea.”

O’Hara elaborated: “I wanted the more… illogical to my mind… dance moves that kind of mean nothing in all modern… not all modern dance, modern dance is amazing.”

“We were in a tent right off set and we were like, ‘Oh it’s funny when you do that,'” Ortega recalled, O’Hara adding that her fellow star “laid down on the floor and did” a dramatic pose, and they “went for it”.

In NME‘s four-star review of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, we said the film is held together by director Tim Burton’s “wicked imagination” and is “filled with brilliantly ridiculous moments”.

“This film has its flaws, not least some unnecessary CGI sandworms that clash with the kitsch practical effects elsewhere, but its sense of fun never lets up. It’s silly, giddy and a little bit disgusting – just what we want from Beetlejuice.”

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