Jenna Rosenow is both bombshell and brains. Jumpstarting her career on Australia’s iconic TV show Neighbours, Rosenow is on her way to becoming one of the most promising actresses out there. Recently starring in Netflix’s hit series Firefly Lane, Jejune was so excited to hear about Rosenow’s path, her commitment to nonprofit Seeing Eye Dogs, and her love for good food. No doubt about it, she’s here to stay. To learn more about Jenna Rosenow and for a surprise recipe, read below.

Where are you based?
I’m currently based in Los Angeles!

Who or what inspired you to become an actress?
I have an older sister who has Asperger’s Syndrome (which is on the autism spectrum).

My parents became aware she was struggling socially at primary school and, among other things that they did to help her, they enrolled her in private Speech & Drama lessons with the hope of developing her social skills. When I was younger I wanted to do everything that Lauren did, so when I saw her doing this I was like ‘well I want to do it too!’ I was 6 at the time. So that’s originally how I got started and I just fell in love with it. As far as inspirations when I was younger though, I really loved Nicole Kidman and aspired to be just like her.

You were on Neighbours, Australia’s longest running TV series - how was your experience on set? In what ways did your time on Neighbours influence and train you for a career in acting?
I loved my time there. I feel like it was an invaluable time for me where I learnt an incredible amount. There’s an outstanding wealth of knowledge in that place from long standing cast members and crew members who have been there from nearly the start of the show, so I feel very lucky and grateful to have been a part of that family. Neighbours has a very quick episodic turn around; they film six episodes a week, which means you’re moving at a pretty quick pace filming wise. You learn pretty quickly that you need to make sure you’re on top of everything! It’s the perfect learning environment for this industry though. I feel like if you can work at that pace and can keep track of your character’s storylines while filming that many different episodes at a time then you’re prepared for anything!

Jejune is super excited about your latest project, Netflix’s adaptation of the best-selling novel Firefly Lane. Could you tell us about the series and about your character, Kimber Watts?
Firefly Lane is a story about two unlikely friends, Tully and Kate, that spans over the ups and downs of their decades long friendship. It’s equally a coming of age story and a growing old together story that delves into relationships, family issues, first loves, careers, marriage, divorce and everything in between! So I play Kimber Watts, who is the editor of Seattle Digest and Kate’s new boss. She is a young socialite who is trying to make a name for herself in the journalism world so she’s constantly looking for that next big story that’s going to put her on the map. She’s very preoccupied with herself and is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she needs and she doesn’t care who she has to step on to get things done! So she causes some big issues for Tully and Kate toward the end of the season. In the beginning of the season, though, she’s just a nightmare boss for Kate! Getting her to perform menial tasks that are way below what Kate is qualified for.

From Mako Mermaids to Firefly Lane, you’ve played many different roles. What are some commonalities every time you approach a character? In what ways does this process vary?
My process with building characters always starts off much the same, lot’s of research and then developing their backstory from the given information from the script and character descriptions and then building from that to form a complete backstory for them. I think it’s important to understand why people are the way they are! Obviously with roles like Mako it’s slightly different when you’re playing a role in something in a fantasy genre you have a little more room for imagination!

What do you look for in the projects you take on - whether that be when reading a script or being on set?
I like to trust my gut instinct when I read something if I feel like it’s something I would love to be involved in or not! Being passionate about telling a particular story and being surrounded by other people who are also passionate about telling that story. I love when I’m working on things that you know that everyone involved in truly cares about the project.

Off screen, you are an ambassador for Seeing Eye Dogs Australia. Could you tell us about this organization and what drew you to it?
I was an ambassador for SEDA when I lived in Australia but I’m not actually currently! I’m still always happy to talk about them whenever I get the chance, though, as I think they’re an incredible organisation. They originally approached me and asked if it would be something I was interested in doing and, obviously, I said yes, without hesitation.

What were some of the responsibilities that you take on as an ambassador?
My role as an ambassador was basically just to help raise awareness of the organisation and what they do. Using my social media platform was obviously a big one. Attending events, doing interviews and photoshoots - the usual things one would expect in this type of role!

Seeing Eye Dogs is a division of Vision Australia, an organization dedicated to providing resources for blind and low vision individuals. How can we raise awareness for organizations such as these and their causes, and why is it so important to do so?
What most people probably don’t realise about SEDA is that they are not government funded at all, they run solely on donations and one Seeing Eye Dog puppy alone to train costs upwards of $50,000! So they rely heavily on community support. Supporting doesn’t always mean monetary donations, though that is still obviously important! People can help out by giving their time, skills or contacts.

You’ve often spread awareness for Aspergers Syndrome. How can we follow suit and use our voices to advocate for these individuals, and are there any resources you could share?
A neurological condition like Aspergers isn’t as visible to the eye, like most physical disorders are and I feel that generally, those interacting with someone on the Spectrum are less understanding and more dismissive of such people because they’re unaware that there is something else going on. I think this is an important question and with things like this when a lot of people out there might feel like they’re not sure what they could do to help - I think on the most basic level, the best advice I could give here is to take a look at ourselves and how we treat other people that we come into contact with in our day-to-day lives. I know with my sister, she can be very misunderstood by people because they have no understanding that she has Aspergers, so she gets treated as though she’s ‘strange’ or a bit odd. I think we can easily forget that everyone is dealing with different circumstances in their lives and at the end of the day you have no idea what someone might be going through so treat everyone with the basic kindness and respect that they deserve because that goes a long way.

You’re also a bonafide foodie - so are we! What’s one recipe we can try out this week?
I do love my food! I love to cook pastas a lot so here’s a super simple, DELICIOUS recipe for a Prawn Pasta with a Brown Butter & Lemon sauce -

For Pasta:
-300g uncooked spaghetti
-Cooked & pealed prawns/shrimp
-90g Butter
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
-Zest of 2 lemons
-Juice of 1 lemon
-Fresh basil
-Toasted panko crumb

For Crumbs:
-1 cup of Panko crumbs
-2 tablespoons of olive oil
-A pinch of sea salt

Heat olive oil and panko crumbs in pan until toasted, toss with salt and set aside
Cook pasta and set aside
Gently heat up butter, garlic and chilli until lightly golden
Add lemon zest, juice and pasta & cook for 3 minutes
Add the cooked prawns and toss to gently heat the prawns
Serve with toasted Panko crumbs and fresh basil

Quarantine became a time where foodies baked and cooked more than ever. How did you experiment in the kitchen? Did you try out any new recipes, and if so, which ones?
I tried out A LOT of new recipes haha. The above pasta was one of them that I developed. I also did prawn ravioli, a lobster and crab ravioli, I made my own potato and sweet potato gnocchis with some different sauces, a duck and prosciutto ragù, I taught myself to make peking duck pancakes! I spent a lot of time in the kitchen…

How are you staying positive during these crazy times?
I think mental health is an incredibly important issue to talk about and to keep talking about. While it is improving, I think there’s still a stigma around talking about it! I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t struggled mentally over the last year due to the pandemic. Then you have people out there who were already struggling before it even started and my heart goes out to everyone who is just trying to keep their heads above water. I don’t think there is a ‘one size fits all’ solution to staying positive in times like this but one thing always sticks out for me when I start feeling stressed or down about something. My dad always says to me “If it’s something you can’t change it’s not worth stressing about. If it’s something you can change, change it.” Now obviously this doesn’t apply to everything, but it is a great thing for small mindset focuses. We can get caught up in little things and let them stress us out and get us down and when that happens for me, I think of dad and think ‘ok can I change this? No? Ok well I’m not going to focus my energy on that.’

What is your motto in life?
This ties back into what I was saying earlier, it’s a nice simple one: “Be kind.” Its really not hard to do and it costs nothing. Sometimes even the smallest smile or interaction can makes someone’s whole week.

To keep up with Jenna Rosenow, find her on the platforms listed below.
Instagram: jennarosenow
Twitter: @jenna_rosenow

Photography by Storm Santos.

Jenna Rosenow's Recipe for the Soul