Jenna Ortega reveals she nearly quit acting after Disney Channel run

Jenna Ortega, now one of the most recognisable leading ladies in Hollywood, has revealed that she was prepared to abandon her acting career following her stint as a child star.

The Emmy nominee confessed that she nearly "called it quits" after her run on the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle ended in 2018.

Speaking on Kid Cudi’s Big Bro podcast, the 23-year-old explained that the transition to more mature roles felt like an uphill battle.

"I didn’t know what else I was gonna do," Ortega admitted. She described the pressure of starting high school while simultaneously trying to "prove" herself to new casting directors who were unfamiliar with her work.

"It just felt like a good time to call it quits if I was going to. I was starting high school, and, ‘it was a good run’ sort of thing," she noted. Ortega revealed that she and her team had discussed the possibility of her retirement for several months.

The turning point arrived when she booked the role of Ellie Alves in the second season of Netflix’s You. Working alongside Penn Badgley changed her perspective entirely.

"I went on that set and I loved it and had the best time. I thought, ‘Yeah, there’s no way I could let this go,’" she said.

Following this pivotal moment, Ortega achieved global fame through the Scream franchise and her titular role in Wednesday. She can next be seen in The Gallerist, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026.