Some strokes of fate may seem more and more like a blessing as the years go by. Perhaps that is the case for Jenna Ortega: As she told GQ, Beetlejuice creator Tim Burton turned down her application when she wanted to act in one of his films several years ago. But then the film turned out to be a huge disappointment.
Tim Burton’s rejection triggered a brief crisis of meaning for Wednesday star Jenna Ortega
Ortega explains in conversation with her Beetlejuice 2 colleague Michael Keaton:
I auditioned for Dumbo. I was 14 or so [und] couldn’t believe that Tim Burton was filming again, his last film was a while ago. [Nachdem meine Bewerbung abgelehnt wurde]was I devastated for weeks. […] “What if I never get this opportunity again?”
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If Ortega’s timing is correct, her application was about seven years ago. After masterpieces such as Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood, Burton is considered a genius not only among Hollywood actors. Whether Dumbo justifies Ortega’s disappointment remains to be seen.
The film is now considered one of Burton’s worst, which is also reflected in various reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. The numbers fell short of expectations and the director himself described the shoot as “horrible circus“, which probably put him off working with Disney forever.
Accordingly, Ortega’s unsuccessful application could also be seen as a positive development for her career: thanks to the success of the Netflix series Wednesday and the good box office results of Beetlejuice so far, she is now at a professional peak at Burton’s side.