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Jenna Ortega says she used to perform autopsies on dead little animals as a kid

23 November 2022, 12:00

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By Katie Louise Smith

"I'm a weirdo in the 'used to perform autopsies on little animals when I was younger' kind of way."

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Over the past couple of years, Jenna Ortega has established herself as one of this generation's ultimate scream queens. With Scream, X and Wednesday all under her belt – and Scream 6 on the way! – Jenna's penchant for dark and twisty projects is truly flourishing.

As well as on-screen, Jenna also loves the macabre in real life too. Last week (Nov 16), Jenna revealed to Jimmy Kimmel that she and her mother used to listen to murder podcasts while driving 7 hours to auditions when she was a kid.

And now, in a new Autocomplete Interview with WIRED, Jenna has confessed her some-what disturbing childhood hobby – and it involves performing autopsies on dead creatures.

Jenna Ortega confesses she used to cut up dead animals as a kid. Picture: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage, Netflix

Confessing her penchant for cutting tiny dead lizards open, Jenna was in the middle of answering a question about her friend and The Fallout co-star Maddie Ziegler.

"Are Jenna Ortega and Maddie friends?" Jenna said. "I'm assuming they're talking about the beautiful, wonderful, baby angel face Maddie Ziegler. And the answer is yes."

Jenna continued: "She's one of my greatest friends ever, she was somebody that I instantly clicked with We did a movie called The Fallout a couple of years back and I feel like Maddie and I are the same person in different fonts."

Jenna described Maddie as "such a weirdo", adding that she too is a weirdo, in the sense that she "used to perform autopsies on little animals when I was younger". "Like little lizards that I found that were dead in my backyard," she said.

Wednesday Addams, as we live and breathe. Literally.

Jenna Ortega Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions | WIRED

In another interview with Olivia Rodrigo for The Face, Jenna also explained why she's so drawn to darker projects and how she low-key feels connected to serial killers.

"There’s some invisible string that’s connected to serial killers, monsters, creatures and myself. No matter where I go. I feel like it’s something that’s always been attractive to me since I was younger, something I was always into," Jenna said.

She continued: "It’s what feels right to me and it tends to be the scripts I’m into. I love things that are a bit off-putting, things when the closer you look, really aren’t that pretty. I love things that are disturbing."