Jewelianna Ramos-Ortiz was just a kid when she realized how much her parents inspired her. Her family owned a few karate schools in Miami, so she had been introduced to martial arts when she was only three years old. It was the life she knew and the career she wanted to pursue.

“I was born and raised on the mats,” Ramos-Ortiz, 25, told Remezcla during a recent interview. “I’m super inspired by my parents’ work ethic and all the things they instilled in me. They raised me a little differently and taught me that passions come first.”

Ramos-Ortiz’s passion for karate led her to a successful career in martial arts tournaments, including winning world championships, as a teenager and young adult. Her and her husband managed karate schools in Tennessee and Georgia. Hollywood, however, had different plans for Ramos-Ortiz.

Today, Ramos-Ortiz, who is Puerto Rican, is a stuntwoman in the film and TV industry. Some of the projects she has worked on include movies like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Blue Beetle, and TV series like Ms. Marvel, Mayans M.C., and Cobra Kai.

In her latest film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, she serves as the stunt double for actress Jenna Ortega, who plays Astrid Deetz, the daughter of the original film’s main character Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder). In the sequel, Astrid opens a portal to the Afterlife and releases the mischievous ghost known as Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton). Along with stunt doubling for Ortega, Ramos-Ortiz got into costume to play one of the “Shrinkers,” the characters with shrunken heads, in the movie.

“I did quite a bit of stuff on [Beetlejuice Beetlejuice], including a lot of bike riding,” Ramos-Ortiz said. “I have a [stunt] where I have to burn rubber and drift the bike. We rehearsed that for three weeks. I end up hopping a curb … and crashing through a fence and going down a really steep hill. And then, I slam myself into a cement tree.”

Ramos-Ortiz said Ortega gave her a “super tight hug” after she saw the footage of the stunt and wanted to know if she was OK. “I was like, ‘I’m fine. Nothing hurts,’” she explained. “And she was like, ‘It looks so good! You’re insane! You slammed yourself into a cement tree!’”

Ramos-Ortiz’s career as a stunt performer almost never happened. When she was 14, she damaged part of her spine after getting into a bad car accident. Doctors didn’t think she was going to walk again. “After that, I made big goals for myself to keep me out of this deep, dark depression,” she said. “Laying in that hospital for a week, I thought everything was being ripped away from me.”

Luckily, Ramos-Ortiz recovered. She now continues to be ready for any challenges that come her way. As a Latina in a male-dominant industry in Hollywood, she wants to prove to everyone that she belongs.

“My heart leaps and gleams when I see other Latinas because there’s only a few of us,” Jewelianna Ramos-Ortiz said. “When a bunch of us are together, it’s like we’re the Powerpuff Girls!”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens at theaters nationwide on September 6, 2024.