Jena Malone was born on November 21, 1984 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where she lived until she was ten. She credits her mom's own acting experience in community theater in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, as a major influence. She moved from there to Las Vegas, where she resided for six months - she "absolutely hated it!". From there, Jena persuaded her mother to move to L.A. After doing various commercials and music videos, Malone made her feature debut at the Cannes Film Festival in Showtime's "Bastard Out of Carolina," which was directed by Anjelica Huston and based on the bestselling book by Dorothy Allison. She went on to play major roles in other movies including Contact, Stepmom, and For Love of the Game.

After a year in L.A., Jena moved to New York, and is now attending the Professional Children's School in New York City after years of being taught at home. In January 2000, Jena won a lawsuit against her mother whom she accused of "squandering" money from her bank accounts and mismanaging her career (charging mismanagement of her earnings, failure to pay taxes, and seeking emancipation). She has now attained emancipation from her mother who is now barred from interfering with Jena's career and earnings.

In her future, Jena sees a possible career as a director or screenwriter, because she says she would like to learn from each movie she takes part in. In her more immediate future, besides acting, she has said that she definitely wants to go to college. She either wants to study literature or business.