Jenna Ortega Recalls 'Sweet' Moment During Audition with Late Cameron Boyce: 'Last Time I Saw My Friend'

Mar. 15, 2025

Jenna Ortega attends the London photocall of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (left); Cameron Boyce attends A Legacy Of Changing Lives.Photo:Kate Green/Getty Images; Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Kate Green/Getty Images; Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Jenna Ortegais reflecting on her touching final moments with the lateCameron Boyce.

“The last time I saw my friend Cameron Boyce — I’d known him since I was like 11 or 12, and we were supposed to kiss [in an audition] and he knew me, since I was 11 or 12. This is a few years later, 15, 16, came in, we were supposed to be love interests,” Ortega said in aclipposted on X (formerly Twitter) about the late actor, whodied in his sleepin 2019 after having a seizure.

“But because he obviously felt weird and he was a bit older, he was like — we both just kinda looked at each other and we were like, ‘No, we can’t do this,'” Ortega recalled. “And it was so sweet because I was uncomfortable and I was having a hard time. .. And then, we wished each other well.”

Ortega added that she was “really thankful and grateful” that Boyce stepped in during the audition and voiced the weirdness she was feeling, and O’Hara called him a “gentleman” for it, to which Ortega agreed.

Cameron Boyce attends LA Family Housing Annual LAFH Awards And Fundraiser Celebration at The Lot on April 25, 2019 in West Hollywood, California.Jon Kopaloff/Getty

Jon Kopaloff/Getty

“All of his fans, all of his supporters, they still keep his legacy alive,” Victor said. “People still want to hold onto him. They don’t want him to be gone.”

“It was a very hard day, but it was also a very beautiful thing to see what he meant to so many people.”

Jenna Ortega and Winona Ryder attend a red carpet for the movie “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” during the 81st Venice Venice International Film Festival on August 28, 2024.Andreas Rentz/Getty

Andreas Rentz/Getty

Like Ortega, any Disney stars have similarly reflected on Boyce’s kindness. On his 25th birthday,Sofia Carson called him “our Angel"as she wrote, “I miss your smile and sunshine a whole lot extra today.”

Skai Jackson, his formerJessiecostar, wrote, “I’ll never forget you” as she shared a sweetphotoof them hugging.

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China Anne McClainalso recently reflected on the loss of Boyce as she told PEOPLE in a statement she was"apprehensive to revisit theDescendantsworld at first because losing Cam was the first heartbreak I’ve ever experienced.”

It was ultimately both “very fulfilling and healing” for the actress, though. “Once I saw how excited the new generation of kids were, it reminded me of myself when we created the original films. Everything came together beautifully.”

source: people.com