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Hunger Games Star Jena Malone On Growing Up with Two Moms
Over the last two decades, Jena Malone has taken the entertainment world by storm. At age 11 she landed the lead role in the Anjelica Huston's engaging and brutal Bastard Out of Carolina and followed that performance up with a tear-jerking turn in Stepmom. She blossomed into an indie darling with starring roles in cult classics Donnie Darko and Saved!, and now has made waves in the franchise world as punky, revolutionary scene-stealer Johanna Mason in the Hunger Games. Now, in addition to her music duo The Shoe and a solo photography show she just debuted in L.A., her film career continues its extensive impressiveness with a role in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice and perhaps coolest (and most under wraps) of all, a turn as Carrie Kelly - aka probably the female Robin - in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Now, Jena has become of the most fascinating actresses of our generation, and a recent interview with The Daily Beast proved even further just how special and unexpected her rise to stardom has been.
In the piece, Jena is incredibly candid about her past, discussing how she didn't really have a relationship with her father growing up since he had impregnanted her mother while married to another women. Instead, Jena was raised by her mom and her mom's partner. "They were lovers... I had two moms, and it was awesome. Double the pleasure! The more love you have as a child, the better," Jena raves, and she even stays incredibly positive when the situation got bleak. "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...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."
With six films coming out in 2015 and a flourishing music/photography career, Jena certainly knows how to keep busy and keep us entertained. She also doesn't seem to take her success for granted, saying, "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...It’s been an incredible journey, and I feel very blessed.” We certainly can't wait to see what she's got in store for us in 2015!
