When Ari Aster burst onto the horror scene with Hereditary back in 2018, Jenna Ortega was an established child star but hadn’t yet broken into the horror genre or become the big time Hollywood superstar she is today. It would be a handful of years before films like The Babysitter: Killer Queen, Scream and X made Ortega a household name on the horror scene, with Netflix’s “Wednesday” soon thereafter making her a household face around the world. But did you know that once upon a time, Jenna Ortega actually auditioned for Hereditary?!
Jenna Ortega revealed this little horror fun fact in a chat with the Big Bro with Kid Cudi podcast, admitting to her X co-star that she was definitely not right for the part at the time.
“I didn’t understand it… I was so young when it came in. But I think I auditioned for Hereditary,” Ortega explains. “Which obviously I wouldn’t have made any sense for… especially my disposition as a kid. And I didn’t know what I was looking at…. they gave us barely any sides… it was like two pages of just ominous words that, as a 12-year-old, kind of went over the head.”
“But I remember seeing it, looking at it, and thinking, ‘I feel like this is an important movie.’ And it was. Incredible movie,” Ortega continues. “Yeah, it’s funny to think that I went in for that.”
“Because again, I just didn’t make any sense for it.”
We can only assume that Jenna Ortega had auditioned for the role of Charlie Graham, which was unforgettably played by Milly Shapiro in Hereditary. It’s hard to imagine literally anybody else other than Shapiro in that role, so some things really do work out for the best.
Jenna Ortega will be back in the horror genre in the upcoming third season of “Wednesday,” while she’s also set to star alongside Taylor Russell in a remake of Single White Female.
Check out the snippet from Big Bro with Kid Cudi below.
Kid Cudi: “I auditioned for Get Out. I was, [in] one of those situations where I read the script and I knew it was about to go.”
Jenna Ortega: “I auditioned for Hereditary … I remember seeing it, looking at it, and thinking, ‘I feel like this is an important movie.'”
Kid Cudi… pic.twitter.com/GfR0IWJz78
— Big Bro with Kid Cudi (@bigbrocudi) April 9, 2026