Jenna Ortega

Jenna Marie Ortega (born September 27, 2002) is an American actress. Known for her work in horror, Ortega has been dubbed "Gen Z's scream queen" by media publications. She has also been featured on the Power 100 list from The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 and the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2024.

Ortega began acting professionally at age nine and received recognition for her role as a younger version of Jane in The CW comedy-drama series Jane the Virgin (2014–2019). She then played a leading role as Harley Diaz in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle (2016–2018), for which she won an Imagen Award. She expanded into more mature projects afterwards, playing Ellie Alves in the thriller series You (2019) and co-starring in the horror-comedy film The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020), both for Netflix. She received praise for her performance as a traumatized high school student in the drama film The Fallout (2021).

Ortega rose to wider prominence as a scream queen after co-starring in the successful slasher films Scream (2022), X (2022), and Scream VI (2023). She gained international recognition and critical plaudits for her portrayal of Wednesday Addams in the Netlix horror comedy series Wednesday (2022–present), for which she received nominations at the Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild awards. She has since starred in the blockbuster fantasy film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) and the ill-received thriller film Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025). Aside from acting, Ortega has been noted for her goth glam style in addition to supporting various charitable causes.

Early life

Jenna Marie Ortega was born on September 27, 2002, in Rancho Mirage, California. Her father, Edward Ortega, a former sheriff who works at a California district attorney's office, is of Mexican descent, and her mother, Natalie Ortega, an emergency room nurse, is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent. She is the fourth of their six children. Ortega's maternal great-grandmother was an undocumented immigrant from Sinaloa, Mexico, and her maternal grandfather relocated from Puerto Rico to the Bronx, New York, before moving to the Western United States. Ortega grew up in La Quinta, California, and has described her childhood self as "loud and extroverted".

Ortega wanted to act from the age of six after watching Dakota Fanning in the 2004 thriller film Man on Fire. Ortega was unable to understand how a young child could perform in a way that could scare her so much; she analyzed the film several times and decided she wanted to be "the Puerto Rican version of [Fanning]". Ortega later said that acting served as an escape from the pressure she placed on herself due to being a "very existential" and worrisome child. She begged her mother for three years to let her pursue that career path. Her mother attempted to distract her with activities including soccer and schoolwork. Soccer almost convinced Ortega to quit pursuing acting. Ortega's mother bought her a monologue book when she was nine and posted a video of her performing online. A casting director saw it and signed her to an agency.

Ortega's mother began driving her to Los Angeles as often as five days per week for auditions, a journey that could take six hours round trip. She struggled to land roles, because few parts existed for Latinas and she "didn't look [a certain] way". Such rejection challenged her self-esteem. She considered dyeing her hair blonde in an attempt to book more roles. For the first year, with no connections in the film industry, Ortega only auditioned for TV commercials. She managed to secure parts in 12 national campaigns, including three for McDonald's. During the school week, she would act in Los Angeles for a few days and subsequently return home to attend school. She attended public school, including Amelia Earhart Elementary School and John Glenn Middle School. She stopped attending public school during eighth grade to act in Disney productions and got an apartment in Los Angeles after booking a role in Stuck in the Middle (2016–2018). During that time, Ortega acted in Los Angeles during the workweek and returned home on weekends. Ortega has said that her early teenage years were "full of tension and fear" due to being terrified of making mistakes while working.

Career

2012–2017: Early acting roles and Disney

Ortega made her acting debut in the sitcom Rob (2012) and later made a guest appearance in the CSI: NY episode "Unspoken". In 2013, she made her film debut in an uncredited role as the vice president's daughter in the superhero film Iron Man 3. In the same year, Ortega appeared in the horror film Insidious: Chapter 2 as a part of the supporting cast. From 2014 to 2019, Ortega had a recurring role on The CW comedy television series Jane the Virgin as a younger version of Jane Villanueva, who is portrayed by Gina Rodriguez as an adult. Declan Gallagher of Entertainment Weekly commended Ortega's performance, writing that she avoided "the trappings of a typical child actor". She also starred in the direct-to-video comedy film The Little Rascals Save the Day (2014) and the Netflix sitcom Richie Rich (2015). Ortega appeared in the comedy-drama film After Words (2015) as Anna Chapa, the daughter of a male escort. The Los Angeles Times praised her as "adorable", whereas The Arizona Republic found her "horribly cloying".

From 2016 to 2018, Ortega led the Disney Channel sitcom Stuck in the Middle as Harley Diaz, an aspiring inventor who is the middle child of the seven siblings. Ortega drew inspiration from her own family and relationships with her siblings; she felt her experience starring on the show was akin to reality television. Common Sense Media praised Ortega's performance, saying she "commands this role, pleading her case as a long-suffering middle kid while finding the humor in the many calamities that befall her efforts to shine". Ortega garnered three Imagen Award nominations for Best Young Actor – Television, including a win in 2018. She also voiced Princess Isabel in Elena and the Secret of Avalor (2016) and Elena of Avalor (2016–2020).

2018–2021: Transition to mature roles

In 2018, Ortega starred in the film Saving Flora in the lead role of Dawn, a circus owner's daughter. After Stuck in the Middle ended, she aimed to act in more mature projects but found people assumed Disney roles were "all you can do, or all you were meant for". She considered quitting acting several times, saying that she "was too old for the young roles and too young for the older roles". In 2018, she was cast as Ellie Alves in the second season of the Netflix thriller series You, which was released on December 26, 2019. Like the show's first season, the second season received positive reviews; The Hollywood Reporter's Robyn Bahr noted Ortega as "a standout performer". Ortega was slated to return for the third and fourth seasons but was unable to do so due to scheduling conflicts.

Ortega played Phoebe, the love interest of Judah Lewis's character, in Netflix's horror film The Babysitter: Killer Queen, which was released in September 2020 to negative critical reviews. She also voiced a travel vlogger named Brooklynn in the Netflix animated show Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous (2020–2022). In 2021, she made her writing debut with the book It's All Love: Reflections for Your Heart & Soul, which contains a series of quotes and statements regarding faith and love. She starred in the Netflix comedy movie Yes Day (2021), portraying a stubborn teenager who wants more independence from her parents. It was released in March 2021 to mixed reviews. IndieWire lauded Ortega as "very capable", and the Associated Press referred to her as "an impressively poised young actor".

Ortega had a leading role in the high-school drama film The Fallout, starring as a student who is navigating her emotional trauma after a school shooting. To prepare for the role, she looked at photographs and watched videos and interviews about school shootings; processing such events afterward "kind of came naturally". She also participated in the March for Our Lives movement, which led demonstrations in support of U.S. gun control legislation. The Fallout premiered at South by Southwest on March 17, 2021, and was released on HBO Max on January 27, 2022. The film received a positive response from critics, and Ortega's acting was applauded. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times described her performance as "grounded and deeply moving", while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her "beautifully nuanced turn understands the nothing-to-look-at-here façade and the chinks in the armor".