Tim Burton hosts 'The Tim Burton Nightmare Show' with special guest Jenna Ortega in this Hollywood Reporter cover video. Jenna reveals what changed her mind after initially being reluctant to play the role of Wednesday in the Netflix series while Tim Burton shares his favorite scene to film from season one. Plus, they reveal if they watch any of their work, what job they would pursue if it weren't showbiz and much more!
00:00Hey, Tim, I mean, I'm just curious, being here on your show, what's the worst nightmare you've ever had?
00:05Here we are.
00:06I'm Tim Burton for The Hollywood Reporter, and welcome to my talk show, where I'll be interviewing Jenna Ortega.
00:34Thank you for being on my show tonight, Jenna.
00:36Thank you for having me, Tim.
00:37Such a pleasure. Your first episode, I believe.
00:40Well, no, I've been doing this talk show for a long time.
00:42But my first question to you is, you were originally reluctant to take on the role of Wednesday.
00:48Yes.
00:48Or so I've been told. So why did you decide to do it?
00:50Because I had a chat with you, and I thought, okay, it might be all right.
00:54That makes enough sense.
00:56Next question. Okay, what was the first movie of mine that you saw, and why?
01:00Great question, Tim. First film of yours that I think I ever saw had to have been Kiwi's Big Adventure.
01:08And then why?
01:09Because it was on TV.
01:10It was on TV. Okay, good.
01:12It looked like this.
01:16As an actress, do you watch your own work?
01:19I watch them as an audience.
01:21No, but you don't.
01:22I don't. I don't. I can't. I think I would never act again.
01:25Yeah, no, I understand that in a strange way.
01:27I mean, in fact, I like working with people who don't, because you just enjoy the process, and you, you know.
01:35Yeah, also, there's no point in, I'm going to dwell on something already.
01:38First time I was on TV, my mom invited everyone in the living room to watch, and I wouldn't come out of my room.
01:42And she said, Jenna, come watch. This is exciting.
01:44And I said, I was there.
01:46I shut the door, and I went to bed.
01:47And I think that's my...
01:48Yeah, well, I mean, it's, it's, I find it's, there's a freedom.
01:54That's why I like working with people that don't really like watching themselves, because there's the freedom, then, to their work.
02:00You know what I mean?
02:01And they're focused on that, and so I get it.
02:03I do understand that.
02:04It's like you start checking the monitor and getting in the middle of all that.
02:06You're too in your head, and then you're not getting attention.
02:08Yeah, exactly.
02:09Does watching your stuff ever get easier, because you have to see it a million times?
02:12No, I never watch.
02:14Well, I know you walk out of the screenings.
02:16I think the last screening of Beetlejuice, I had my eyes closed the whole time.
02:20People thought I was asleep.
02:21I went into, like, a kind of a coma.
02:23And I like parts of things.
02:25I just, I feel very vulnerable when I watch something I did.
02:28It's funny.
02:28I wish I could enjoy it more.
02:30Right.
02:30I enjoy making it, but I don't often revisit.
02:33I don't often watch them.
02:34Would you say your favorite part of actually making something, then, is the shooting process, or is it editing?
02:39Yeah, I do.
02:41I do.
02:41Right.
02:41Because it's something, I mean, it's, as you know, it's the hardest, but it's the most collaborative.
02:46And it's the most where all sorts of things can go on.
02:48And I just, I do enjoy the sort of, even though you plan everything, the spontaneity of it and working with, you know, talented people and, you know, the back and forth of all of that.
03:00I find that's the most inspiring to me.
03:02And, you know, it's funny.
03:03I sometimes wonder, like, making a movie because it's like, it feels so private and personal and that it's meant to be shown to people.
03:10So I always kind of felt very strange about why I do things.
03:14It doesn't belong to you.
03:15Yeah, I know.
03:15It's strange.
03:16And so, but that's why I get with you, you know, not really watching your work.
03:20You know, I can tell, you know, seeing you on the set that you just enjoy the process of making something.
03:26What's your favorite thing that we filmed?
03:28I did enjoy the dance sequence in episode season one.
03:32Just because it was quick and simple and clear and we just sort of made it up as we went along, which is, you know, when it works out, it's always fun to do something like that.
03:51What kind of a job would you think you could have done if you weren't in this business called show business?
03:56I would be, I think about this sometimes.
03:58I would love to be an art historian of some sorts and focus on one really niche subject and just be so entirely knowledgeable about it.
04:07I also used to say I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was younger.
04:11I want an archaeologist.
04:12I didn't, that's strange too.
04:14It's so interesting.
04:15You know what?
04:16I just, I wanted to do that until I found out how much school you had to do.
04:19Yeah, no, me too.
04:20And I got over it.
04:20Because I just thought, oh, I'd love to go dig up dinosaur bones.
04:23It's funny, I had the exact same thing.
04:25Yeah.
04:25In what ways do you think Hollywood has changed since your first film?
04:29Well, it's kind of more corporate, I would say.
04:31I would say that so.
04:32You think?
04:33Yeah.
04:34I mean, you know, I mean, I remember when I worked as an animator at Disney, you know, it was a building designed for animators.
04:40And by the early 80s, I was like the last artist in there.
04:45They got all the artists and moved them into a warehouse in Glendale.
04:49And then all the sort of business people took over the building that was designed for animators.
04:55So that was a very sort of telling moment to me where the industry was going.
05:01Right.
05:01Okay, now, you know I'm a dog person, right?
05:05Right.
05:06And I have, by the way, for everybody, I have a dog.
05:09And the first minute I met Jenna, she barks at her, whether it's London, Romania, Ireland, no matter when she sees you.
05:19She can sense me from around the corner.
05:20She's like, she could be working for a postal office.
05:23She barks at you more than the mailman.
05:26I don't know what that's all about.
05:27But you got a, you got a dog.
05:30I did get a dog.
05:31She's very good.
05:32I've got a dog in Ireland, right?
05:33Yeah, in Ireland that looks like a little black deer while we were shooting in season two.
05:37And she's actually very quiet.
05:39So I don't know what it is about.
05:41I got the loud one, you got the quiet one.
05:44Jenna, we have my musical guest, Barry Manwell, is coming on.
05:49So I think, I think that was very nice to talk to you.
