Asking Daniella Pineda to trace her roots in Oakland is to unwittingly fall down a rabbit hole of rich family lore. There’s her grandfather, Jimmy Delgadillo, whose professional boxing name was Baby Tarzan, who worked for The Chronicle in the newspaper plant and was a major community activist working alongside Cesar Chavez.

There’s her family’s difficult relationship with the East Bay city, after they were displaced from their generational West Oakland home to make way for the 980 freeway and forced to relocate to the east side (embedded in there is another story about how the move was even possible in a redlined neighborhood) on Laguna Avenue.

And then there’s of course, Pineda, who grew up in the Town, went to Mills College with a vague hope of being a war correspondent, and somehow ended up becoming an actress. Entering a bare job market in 2009, she detoured into an internship in New York at a production company, in the hopes of working behind-the-scenes in entertainment.

Instead, Pineda almost unwittingly became a star onscreen, leading to parts in the “Jurassic World” franchise and most famously in the lead role of Faye Valentine in the live-action “Cowboy Bebop” adaptation, an ultimately axed Netflix production that she spoke openly about now, a year removed from its cancellation. The 35-year-old actress will be seen next playing flight attendant Bonnie Lane in “Plane,” a pulpy action romp starring Gerard Butler and Mike Colter that feels like a throwback to a bygone era.

“这是一个老式的经验,”皮说。“I hope that the people will enjoy it enough to rekindle their love for going out and seeing an old-school action movie in a theater.”

Pineda spoke to The Chronicle about her unlikely acting career, her viral video that set off a backlash from “Bebop” fans and what’s next for her.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: You entered into the industry in the hopes of writing and directing. How did you get into acting?

A:I auditioned to be a comedy writer on this Comedy Central show. And the woman who was acting as the unofficial casting director, this woman named Kirsten Ames, said, “I’ve been trying to track you down and I want to represent you and I think that you should be an actress.” I was initially very opposed to the idea.

My real dream was to work for “The Daily Show,” because I felt like that was an appropriate use of my journalism degree, (mixed with) comedy. I created this character who was this third-generation Mexican American Republican from Texas. I got really far with it and I tested, but I think it was down to me and Jessica Williams, and Jessica Williams got it. But then I started booking dramas. It’s just been the most unpredictable journey ever.

Q: Had you any experience with acting prior?

A:I did theater in high school. I was in the choir group. I got kicked out of choir because I pretended to be possessed by a demon onstage when we were doing a gospel piece.

Review: ‘Plane’ is an entertaining, old-school action thriller

Q: What drew you initially to “Plane?”

A:It read like an old-school ’90s action movie and (Gerard Butler’s) got such a good track record. I was like, I think I’d be crazy not to do this movie.

It really does feel like a throwback — a mid-budget thriller that’s not an adaptation or a superhero movie, just a guy having to save people on a plane. And it’s being released in theaters. That feels rarer than ever.

I know it makes me really sad. I hope it’s not going to die off. It’s changing form, but it’s changing form really quickly. Obviously we’re children of the ’90s, and going to the movies on a Saturday, Friday night was our way of hanging and having a good time. I grew up on that. So if I could be in a movie that still puts butts in seats, ultimately that’s all I want.

Q: Does doing an action film like this feel different than being part of these massive properties like “Jurassic World” or “Cowboy Bebop?”

A:It does feel different. “Bebop” was a show; it feels very measured. “Jurassic World” — it’s a machine, and you come in, you do your job and then you leave. Whereas this film was different and felt old-school, because everyone did a good job of experimenting and thinking on the fly, but still getting all of our shots done at the end of the day. It just felt a little more loose.

Q: What was it like taking on the lead role for something like “Cowboy Bebop,” where it’s so high-stakes and you have a major fandom with so many expectations?

A:It was exhilarating and also at times frustrating. I had a tremendous experience and I learned a lot. That was a lead female part, it was an action role and it was also funny. I tried as much as I could to put my spin on that character. So after, when it was over, even though it didn’t go on to make a second season, for me that was sort of a feather in my cap.

It was also the first time where I worked on a project and I got introduced to toxic fandom, which I had not been accustomed to before. And I really made a mistake. Everyone thinks that they know how they’re going to be a public person. And it’s like, no, you have no idea. You want to do something, and it gets totally interpreted in a completely different way.

Q: A viral video, in which you jokingly addressed responses to an early look at your character, seems like the perfect example of that. Do you wish you handled it differently?

A:My message box on Instagram from people was putrid and terrible. People telling me I look like a fridge and I don’t look like the character. So as a joke I made this video.

我犯了一个错误是,r的视频是吗esponse to all of the trolls, not the fans, but I used the word “fans.” And my God, to this day that is the biggest regret ever. Because then that got interpreted as Daniella’s attacking fans. And it’s like, no, I’m not attacking fans, obviously. I want to make the fans happy. This was my cheeky way in response to the male misogyny that’s overflowing my DMs right now.

So that was new, but also that’s kind of a beautiful experience in itself: All right, I’ve experienced that, I got through it and I came out the other side and it was a learning experience. But it was weird managing expectations on something that is so beloved and so massive.

Q: It was a huge adaptation with big expectations. What was your reaction to its sudden cancellation?

A:It was shock first and foremost, because we had already gotten picked up for season two, so there was no question whether or not we were actually going to shoot season two. I signed my contract — that was going to happen. So when that got pulled, it was a shock.

That was the hardest project I’ve ever done. I think I can speak for (fellow leads) John (Cho) and (Mustafa Shakir), that project was tough and partially because it was happening during COVID and it’s happening during a time when we didn’t really know much about the virus. And that was scary. Was everyone telling me your life’s about to change? Of course. And I was like, “I don’t know, it’s entertainment, you never know.” And then what happened happened.

Q: Has experiencing this much instability in the industry now changed your hopes of writing and directing?

A:Especially now, where the power lies in producing and making anything and anything being greenlit, it’s such a conundrum. I wrote a comedy pilot that I think is fantastic and it’s gotten really good feedback. I’ve shopped that out and it’s a no. And then I have a passion project that’s a horror film that’s very much in the vein of an Ari Aster movie, tonally. It’s a very female-driven story, and I can’t get that made.
I don’t know, I’m trying. (Laughs.) My want to direct and write will never go away. But now being on the other side of having so many big productions under my belt, I know there are a lot of chefs in the kitchen.

“Plane”(R) opens in theaters on Friday, Jan. 13.