In an interview with The Daily Beast, Johanna Mason actress Jena Malone talks about her career in Hollywood and her upbringing, exhibiting her incredibly positive attitude towards life.
Jena grew up in 27 places by the time she was 9, raised by her mom and her girlfriend.
“They were lovers,” says Malone. “I had two moms, and it was awesome. Double the pleasure! The more love you have as a child, the better.”
“We were just so poor,” she recalls. “We’d hop out of apartments, lose jobs, find a cheaper place, get kicked out, live in cars, and live in hotels. It was glorious.”
She adds, “I don’t think it was a tough childhood. I actually found it quite pleasurable, and it prepared me for this strange, gypsy lifestyle of an actor. It’s a beautiful thing to give children diversity of where to live and how to live; it makes you believe that security is built within instead of four concrete walls that you call a home. It was a unique way to grow up, and to see life in a different way.”
But throughout all this, Malone describe herself as “oddly responsible,” wanting to help her moms pay the bills as young as 10. And it was that age that she booked her very first audition ever—a UCLA film student’s senior thesis short calledSunday’s Child, which paid her a small sum. The 10-year-old looked her mother dead in the eye and said, “I’ve got a job, so let’s give it a year and see what happens.”
Her recent roles, such as Johanna in The Hunger Games movies and the rumored role of Robin, are more aggressive, unlike her.
“It’s not a place that I naturally live in,” Malone says. “I’m much more klutzy, soft-spoken, and responsible.”
Jena has six films lined for release in the coming year.
“It’s a really inspiring time, so it always makes me thankful to think of how I was raised, the things I was given, and the lessons I was taught, because it all becomes who you are,” she says. “It’s been an incredible journey, and I feel very blessed.”
Read the full article here.
@AmyWhita Jena Malone my queen is the best of Hollywood cuz she’s so multi-tasking, nobody tops her on that!!!
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An amazing talented and real person. She is so right.
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