This Denzel Washington Revenge Thriller Got Jenna Ortega Interested in Acting

Few of our younger stars have made as quite an impression on the industry as Jenna Ortega, whose scream queen status was quickly cemented by performances in Scream (2022) and Ti West‘s X before Tim Burton‘s Netflix series Wednesday became a worldwide sensation. Ortega was energized at a young age to act by watching movies that made a lasting impression. However, Ortega’s key inspiration may come as a surprise.

Jenna Ortega Was Inspired by Dakota Fanning in the Violent Thriller ‘Man on Fire’

The film that Ortega cites as sparking her interest in performing is Man on Fire, directed by Tony Scott and starring Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Ortega shared that seeing Man on Fire as a young girl was a formative experience. “[Man on Fire] changed the entire course of my existence,” Ortega said of Scott’s thriller. After watching the film, Fanning’s performance led Ortega to big aspirations: a career in acting.

Ortega’s talent and dedication clearly paid off, with featured roles in Iron Man 3 and Insidious 2 following minor TV credits. After a few smaller parts in a variety of projects, Ortega’s career has exploded, with her reuniting with Burton for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice this year. Man on Fire being a key part of her story may be a surprise, but the film was noted and praised at the time for Fanning’s impressive ability to hold her own on screen alongside an acting titan like Washington. This makes it clear why Ortega would have been so enraptured by the film.

Denzel Washington Seeks Revenge in ‘Man on Fire’

Man on Fire is one of Scott’s best films, following Washington as John Creasy, a mercenary who is enlisted to act as the bodyguard to Pita, a young girl played by Fanning. Creasy and Pita clash at first, but he begins to warm up to her over the course of the film, until Pita is kidnapped by a ruthless gang that leaves Creasy near death. Creasy embarks on a violent, destructive journey to retrieve the girl who has become a surrogate daughter of sorts.

Scott’s film is a relentless exercise in vengeance. It is as though Creasy is traveling through the depths of Hell itself to rescue Pita, lowering himself to the status of the criminals he kills because it is the only way to save her. Creasy’s disregard for their lives is never played for entertainment. You’re watching a man destroy his soul in an effort to save someone else’s, because only then can he possibly redeem his own.

Dakota Fanning’s Performance in ‘Man on Fire’ Is Impressive

Dakota Fanning is the beating heart at the center of Man on Fire. Creasy is a depressed, invulnerable shell of himself before the two begin to click, and the scene where they first start to understand each other is where Man on Fire really jolts to life. Fanning plays off of Washington’s stoicism with a precocious, endearing energy that finally cuts through his cynicism, when she is able to make him smile and even laugh after a while. From this point, Creasy sees that there is still good in the world.

Fanning commands the scenes between them with an impressive level of emotional maturity. At only ten-years-old, Fanning is able to go head-to-head with Washington in scenes that are funny, dramatic, and heart-wrenching. Their dynamic would not work in the hands of a child actor with any less charm or poise. Fanning’s performance is heavily burdened, as she is the one source of light in an otherwise bleak, uncomfortable world of violence and death. Seeing how well she commands the screen in this stylish, masterful thriller, it is easy to understand why Ortega was so enthralled. Fanning’s work inspired an actress who has come into her own as a genuine star, and there’s no doubt that Ortega will have a similar effect on the actresses of the next generation.

Man on Fire is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.

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