Parents of child stars are known for blowing all their kids’ money, often leading to court battles over finances and legal guardianship. Stepmom actor Jena Malone was no exception and wound up suing her mom when she was just 14 years old. Fortunately, they managed to salvage their relationship, but not without a lengthy legal battle.
Jena Malone sought emancipation from her mom at 14
In 1999, Jena Malone pursued emancipation from her mom, Debbie Malone, and sued her for mismanaging funds.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Debbie lived off her daughter’s paychecks for years, blowing money on business schemes and down payments on homes for four relatives. She even emptied her daughter’s college savings account and took money from her trust fund. As a result, Jena owed $20,000 in back taxes.
“Financially, I had come to a sink-or-swim situation,” the actor told Index Magazine in 2003. “I ran into some strange tax problems, and the only way out of them was to get to my trust fund. … To get out of my financial problems, I petitioned the courts to become emancipated.”
Debbie also threatened to move Jena to Las Vegas, which would have ended her career. Fortunately, the judge legally prevented her from doing so and froze all of the actor’s bank accounts. While many people wouldn’t be able to recover their relationship with a parent after this kind of experience, Jena claimed things with her mother only improved.
“We have a better relationship now than ever before,” she told the magazine. “As with any change, you learn a lot. You see things more truthfully.”
Growing up homeless was ‘glorious’ according to Malone
Growing up, Jena moved around a lot. In fact, by the time she turned 9, she had already lived in 27 different places.
“We were just so poor,” she recalled in a 2014 interview with The Daily Beast. “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.”
Despite moving around a lot, the actor claimed she didn’t have a difficult childhood. Instead, she feels it “prepared her for this strange, gypsy lifestyle of an actor.”
During this time, Jena lived with Debbie and her girlfriend.
“They were lovers,” Jenna shared. “I had two moms, and it was awesome. Double the pleasure! The more love you have as a child, the better.”
As the product of a one-night stand, Jena didn’t have a relationship with her father growing up. However, according to her interview with Index Magazine, she never felt like she missed out. She shared that her father was once nicknamed “Deadbeat Dad of the West by the Reno Gazette,” as he failed to pay child support for seven children.
As of 2021, Jena still had a strong relationship with her mother, giving her a shoutout on Instagram in honor of Lesbian Visibility Day. Her heartwarming post thanked both Debbie and her partner, Donna, calling it “the ultimate gift having so many women raising me up.”
Jena Malone stars in ‘feminist horror’ film
Jena’s latest project, labeled a “Feminist possession thriller” by Indie Wire, was released in February. In Consecration, she plays a woman searching for answers after her priest brother dies under strange circumstances from an alleged suicide. According to the actor, the portrayal of society’s fear of empowered women in the script drew her to the role.
“Any sort of empowerment or superpower femininity has ever had, it’s instantly bad,” she told Indie Wire. “I think it’s so interesting to explore a re-imagining of a second coming as a feminine vessel, that of course, everyone thinks it’s this negative thing, but really it’s just an empowerment of creation, of being able to give life, take life. It’s a real feminine apparatus, in a way.”
Consecration is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
