Actress Jenna Ortega said she often neglected her basic health needs while working as a child actor in Hollywood [1].
Her reflections highlight the psychological pressures child performers face to appear professional and unobtrusive, often at the expense of their physical well-being.
In an interview conducted on Aug. 11 and published in the September 2026 issue of Esquire, Ortega discussed the habits she formed early in her career [1, 3]. She described a pattern of avoiding food and hydration during long production days [2, 3].
"I wasn't asking for a sip of water. I would go all day without eating, drinking, whatever," Ortega said [1].
Ortega said her behavior stemmed from a fear of being "in the way" [2]. She wanted to protect her fledgling career by remaining as low-maintenance as possible for the production crew and directors [2, 1]. This desire to stay out of the way led her to skip essential meals and water breaks [2].
She later characterized this lack of self-care as a "rookie mistake" [1].
While Ortega spoke about these struggles, other reports have presented a different view of her early career. Some sources indicated she was so grateful to be on set that she remained focused and could not recall making such mistakes [1].
Despite those contradictions, Ortega's account emphasizes the internal pressure to perform without complaint. She said that the drive to succeed in the competitive Hollywood environment often overrides a child's instinct to ask for basic necessities [2].
“"I would go all day without food or water when I was a child actor because I feared being 'in the way.'"”
Ortega's comments bring attention to the precarious nature of child labor in the entertainment industry, where the power imbalance between a minor and production staff can lead to self-neglect. By framing her experience as a mistake driven by fear, she underscores how the pressure to maintain a professional image can manifest as physical deprivation in young performers.
