Jenna Ortega believes she may have auditioned for dune.
In a new interview with BuzzFeed published on Monday, August 26, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice The 21-year-old actress shared why she believes she would have been nominated for the role in 2021, which ultimately went to Zendaya.
About halfway through the nearly 12-minute clip, the young star (who played with a group of dachshund puppies throughout the conversation) was asked what role she was surprisingly auditioning for.
Buzzfeed
“I think I auditioned for dune when I was about 15,” Ortega said with a smile.
She added that she is a huge fan of the franchise and is “really excited” because Denis Villeneuve “is one of my favorite filmmakers.”
The You Alum admitted that although not many details were available at the time, she is pretty sure that she and the challenger The 27-year-old star was in talks for the same role.
“I think it was Chani. I think it was Zendaya's – but they didn't say that. Everything was top secret,” Ortega said.
It is not uncommon for an actor to not know what role or film he is auditioning for on some projects and may be assigned a completely different scene or character.
dune was originally released in December 1984. Directed by David Lynch, the film starred Patrick Stewart, Sting, and others. Actress Sean Young was the first to play Chani in the sci-fi drama.
In the 2021 remake, Zendaya took on the role of Chani alongside Timothée Chalamet, who was cast as Paul Atreides. The pair reunited for Dune – Part Twowhich was released in March 2024.
The second part grossed $711.8 million at the box office.
Elsewhere in the BuzzFeed interview, Ortega recalled her favorite memory from behind the scenes filming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — the sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 film Beetlejuice.
In the remake, Ortega plays Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Winona Ryder's Lydia.
Warner Bros. Pictures
“I really like the climax of the third act, just because we have a big scene in a church. There was so much going on. We shot for about three weeks, everyone's involved,” she said. “It was a lot of fun to shoot, but it was also a first visit to the underworld and we understood that we had to go down a slippery slope in some way.”
She also admitted that she felt “strangely shy” when she first met the film's lead star, Michael Keaton.
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“But he's so sweet, he's so funny, he's so charming, so professional – I feel like I learned so much just by watching him,” Ortega said. “It was really strange to see him become Beetlejuice because he was unrecognizable.”
The actress continued: “I think it was the first time I saw someone really disappear completely. No part of themselves was there, so that was pretty special.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is scheduled to hit theaters on September 6, 2024.
