Latin Times: Tell me a little bit
about yourself, where you grew
up, and about your family.
Jaina Lee Ortiz: Well I grew up in
Bronx, NY and I have such small
family, I am the only child, I am
the only grandchild. I only have
one uncle and my dad was an
only child too, no first cousins, total opposite of a big Latino family.
Growing up in the Bronx my mom
put me in dance when I was nine,
I originally wanted to do gymnastics and since my mom couldn’t
afford it she put me in dance instead, so I danced Mambo and
Salsa from the age of nine thru
twenty and by sixteen I was already a professional Salsa Dancer traveling the world internationally performing and teaching
which lead me to be interested in
the acting.
ed from scratch with the little train- Latin Times: Do you l
ing I had from New York. Then even- ike Cuban Sandwiches and
if so – who makes your favorite?
tually I booked Rosewood.
Jaina Lee Ortiz: I do love them,
Latin Times: Tell us about your role but I haven’t had one in a
while, but I do love them.
on the hit series Rosewood?
Jaina Lee Ortiz: We started in
2015, and We shot the pilot in Miami, which we just finished season
one and are working on season two
which is going to come out in September 2016. It was really challenging moving out here to LA, it is so
competitive and having little experience, but in this role I felt a connection and it was very much me and
I just brought myself into character
with my experiences growing up in
New York as a Daughter of a Homicide detective and Latina. It is hard
work and very demanding, long
hours of work. I just really love it and
I love my character.
Latin Times: How did you end up
in show biz?
Jaina Lee Ortiz: The salsa led to
acting, then at sixteen performing
in the Bronx these students from
NYU asked me if I wanted to be
in their thesis film and I said of
course I would love to, I had no
experience whatsoever. Then
I went to the screening and remembered how horrible I was and
I just threw myself in there having
no clue what to do, I thought “Oh
yeah you just mesmerize these
lines and say it out loud.” and I
truly liked that experience and I
decided at the age of twenty-one
that I didn’t want to be a dancer
for the rest of my life and decided
to hang up the dancing shoes and
just do acting and study, because
I said to myself if I am going to do
this then I am going to do it right.
I then studied two years in New
York, took a conservatory program and I studied the Meisner
Technique. Then straight out of
that I got Scream Queens which
was a reality show for aspiring actresses and competed for a role
in the Horror Film Saw 7.
That was a good foundation to
start off with and was able to get
a good demo reel from
it. I then moved to LA with no
credit, no training, basically start-
Latin Times: How do you like working with Morris Chestnut?
Jaina Lee Ortiz: OMG, you what
drives me crazy about him… Yes,
he’s hot, Sexy, Eye candy, and on
top of that, he is a gentleman and
he is very nice. I love working with
him, he is so great and everyone
else that is in the cast are great, we
all love and respect each other.
Regarding Morris Chestnut
“OMG, you what drives me crazy
about him… Yes, he’s hot, Sexy,
Eye candy, and on top of that, he
is a gentleman and he is very nice.
I love working with him, he is so
great and everyone else that is in
the cast are great, we all love and
respect each other.”
Latin Times: What is next for you?
Jaina Lee Ortiz: Rosewood Season two is my primary focus, my
husband who is a screen writer and
we are creating a production company that will create short films, and
TV shows. I would love to produce
my own version of “Whiplash” Incorporating my dance background
and training, something physically
active.
Latin Times: Who is your
role model?
Jaina Lee Ortiz: That is
really hard but, Jennifer
Lopez who started off as
a dancer and performer
and she comes from the
Bronx also, she has been
a huge role model for
me growing up.
This Issue of Latin Times Magazine is sponsored by
17