Jenna Ortega Was Safe From Set Misconduct as a Child Star Because Mom ‘Watched Over Me Like a Hawk,’ Says ‘Child Acting Is Strange’ and ‘There’s Times I Regret It’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jenna Ortega got her start in Hollywood as a child actor at age 9 and quickly gained a following with roles on hit series like Disney Channel’s “Stuck in the Middle.” She recently told The New York Times that she never endured misconduct as a kid on sets because her mother “watched over me like a hawk.” Ortega did not watch this year’s buzzy documentary series “Quiet on Set,” which included several stories of misconduct and harassment behind the scenes of Nickelodeon shows, but her mother did and “she called me about it.” “I think for her, it was more pain, because she had seen the way that other children maybe weren’t protected or weren’t as looked after,” Ortega said about her mother’s reaction. “She watched over me like a hawk, so I think for her, it was more empathizing and wishing she somehow could have done something to help.

She just called me saying she was so grateful that things were ok and that she was there to witness everything.” While Ortega was fortunate enough to be shielded from any harassment on sets, she did acknowledge to The Times that “child acting is strange” in general. “I see why my parents felt so hesitant about it, because you’re putting a child in an adult workplace,” Ortega said. “I think if I had just stayed growing up in Coachella Valley, I would be a completely different person.