Jenna Ortega wants to get behind the camera to direct a script she’s worked on for 10 years

After years of bringing a smoldering dark light to screens, Jenna Ortega could be getting behind the camera for a long-gestating passion project. While speaking with her Hurry Up Tomorrow co-star, The Weeknd, Ortega revealed she’s thought about bringing a script she’s kicked around for 10 years to life as the project’s director. Speaking with V Magazine, The Weeknd (whose real name is Abel Tesfaye), who directs and stars in Hurry Up Tomorrow, asked Ortega if she’d be interested in directing any original stories.

“I have a script that I’ve known that I was going to make for almost 10 years,” She told Tesfaye. “It’s weird because it’s something that I thought of when I was younger and when I first started out in this field, and it’s only now that I’m actually starting to take the steps to get it made, which is really interesting.”

While working on Tim Burton’s Wednesday, Ortega, who has a production credit on the mysterious and spooky series, says she’s picked up a trick or two about filmmaking while working on the production. Ortega says that “learning how to produce and being a part of projects in that way has informed me so much. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that I wasn’t aware of. I’m just putting the puzzle pieces together in my head. So I think I needed a few years of that under my belt to understand the order of doing things,” she said. “Everything that I’ve done in my career, I feel like there’s a reason why I didn’t make this story at an earlier time, but I’m really excited about it. Then there are a couple of other things I’m trying to develop right now, but it’s strictly off of being inspired by another actor or a writer, characters that I’ve never really gotten the opportunity to play before.”

When asked if she’d star in the would-be project, Ortega said that while she could see herself in the role, her priority is to direct. “This one in particular, I see myself in it, but I really want to direct. That’s probably the main thing that I want to do. I see that for myself. I just feel that’s the way my brain wants to work and think, and that’s how I even view my acting sometimes.”

She continued, “I don’t want to be in the things that I create in the future, but starting out, because I’ve created more leverage for myself with a name as an actor, I may as well use that as a stepping stone.”

What genre do you think she has in mind for her directorial debut? Is it something sinister, otherworldly, psychedelic, romantic, or all of the above? I’m 100% down for seeing what Jenna Ortega can do from a director’s point of view. We’ll watch for any details or updates about this promising development.

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