Nearly a year after it was rumored Ortega was said to be dating the much older actor, the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star is setting the record straight.
Sometimes rumors are just that.
Nearly a year after reports began swirling that Jenna Ortega was dating Johnny Depp, the 21-year-old Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star is setting the record straight.
In a new video interview with BuzzFeed, Ortega was asked the “craziest rumor” she’s heard about herself, to which she replied, “Probably that I was in a serious relationship with Johnny Depp and I wanted everybody to leave us alone. It’s so insane to me. I never said anything like that.”
“I thought that that was pretty hilarious. I was on set with Richard E. Grant and he came up to me and he said, ‘Oh, so you and Johnny–‘ and I laughed because I don’t know that person,” she added.
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Jenna Ortega Denies Johnny Depp Romance Rumors: Report
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The rumors started after Deuxmoi, a celebrity gossip account on social media, claimed Ortega and Depp, 61, had been seen together while working on the upcoming Beetlejuice sequel.
At the time, there had been speculation that Depp might be making an appearance in the Tim Burton film after his name showed up in a Google search for the sequel’s cast, per the Daily Mail.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star’s representative denied the rumor.
“Mr. Depp has no personal or professional relationship with Miss Ortega whatsoever. He has never met her or spoken to her,” Depp’s rep told NME in August 2023. “He is not involved in any project with her, nor does he intend to be. He is appalled by these baseless and malicious rumors that are intended to harm his reputation and career.”
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They do share a connection, however, and that comes in the form of Tim Burton, with Depp partnering with the director and producer over the years on a series of films and animated projects including Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd, Corpse Bride and more, and Ortega making her mark with Burton first on Wednesday before signing on to play Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz in the long-awaited follow-up to 1988’s Beetlejuice.
Speaking to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show about appearing in the movie, Ortega said she was grateful for a chance to join the beloved franchise.
“Never in my wildest dreams. I just never could have anticipated something like that happening,” she gushed. “Lydia is the coolest character on the planet. Just everything about it, I was terrified.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hits theaters September 6.
