Jenna Ortega, the queen of creepy-cool roles (we’re talking Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice—did I just summon her?!), recently took a trip down memory lane, and things got…awkward. But in a funny way! We’re talking classic Disney Channel weirdness here.
Now, if you’ve been living under a rock (or just haven’t paid your internet bill), Jenna and Cameron Boyce both came up through the Disney Channel machine. Cameron, who was basically everyone’s favorite ball of sunshine, tragically passed away at 20 in 2019. But in the glory days of Disney, he and Jenna were just two young stars trying to navigate…kissing auditions. Yep, you read that right.
During a French interview with Canal+ (because why spill your most awkward tea anywhere but in an exotic French setting, right?), Jenna took us on a rollercoaster of cringe. Apparently, she had to audition with Cameron for a project, and, drumroll, please…they were supposed to smooch. I mean, is there anything more mortifying than having to lock lips with someone you’ve known since you were, like, 12? Spoiler: the answer is no.
So there they were, Jenna and Cameron, now older, supposedly playing “love interests.” But instead of sparks flying, it was like two siblings trying to high-five in the dark—complete confusion and a little bit of “what are we even doing here?”
Jenna shared that she was around 16 at the time, and things got real weird, real fast. Cameron, being the gentlemanly goofball we all know and love, looked at Jenna, Jenna looked at Cameron, and they both had the same internal dialogue: “Nope. Nope, nope, nope. This is not happening.” Imagine two cartoon characters backing away from each other, hands up, awkward giggles—yep, that was the vibe.
“It was so sweet,” Jenna said, “because I was sitting there like a human pretzel of awkwardness, and Cameron was like, ‘Yeah, this isn’t gonna work. We’re not doing this.’” In that moment, Cameron basically became the knight in shining armor of cringey auditions, saving them both from a level of weirdness only teenagers forced to kiss on command can understand.
And then, like the true professionals they were (or at least like two people who needed to escape the situation ASAP), they wished each other well and noped right out of there. Because, sometimes, the best way to handle a Disney-level awkward moment is to pretend it never happened.
Jenna talking about Cameron Boyce ❤️ pic.twitter.com/3fENFJTbdI
— Eloise 🕷️ (@cairoswife) September 10, 2024