Video by Leon Bernstein
Jenna Romanin has been staying at the creepy Bates Motel, the well received new A&E series based on Hitchcock’s Psycho starring Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore, and it looks like she’ll be a ‘guest’ through to the end of season one. “I filmed 6 out of 10 episodes, so I did make it through the first season…So excited!” Jenna shares. Anyone watching the show knows that the world in the series is rather different from the terrifying black and white classic starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. While the film is dated to 1960, this prequel updates the action to a contemporary setting, observing Norman (Highmore) in his seminal years, both at home with Mother (Farmiga) as well as in high school. And that’s where Jenna and her “group of girls” comes in.
Jenna’s arrival at the Motel was serendipitous to say the least. “The initial audition went really well…I was really lucky, they wanted me in the series, they just didn’t know where to put me.” After being put on hold for close to a month, she learned she got the part she initially came in for: the role of…Jenna. Happy coincidence? “It’s really cool,” she says. “I was like ‘I’m totally gonna book it, cuz it’s my name!’”
But the actress and the character share little other than a first name. “[Jenna] is kinda blunt, kinda mean,” the actress observes. “[Our group of girls] take such an interest in Freddie’s character, Norman. [But] our opinion of [him] changes throughout the season…I can’t really say too much more.”
The fresh faced but darkly beautiful young actress is thrilled to be part of such an exciting series, so early in her career. She especially loves observing how the production puts together the complex sequences involving stunts to create the dangerous, sometimes foreboding tone. For a pivotal car wreck scene in episode 2, “they crashed the car and didn’t tell us, so we were freaking out!” she reminisces.
With the first season of Bates Motel coming to an end soon, Jenna is looking forward to resume filming for season 2 this summer near her hometown of Vancouver BC.
—Dan Heching