Jenna Ortega's Journey to Fame

IMDB has recently released a ranking of the 100 most popular stars of 2023. I noticed that Jenna Ortega ranked fourth, which is a remarkable achievement for the Gen Z girl who was born in September 2002! This makes her the youngest Latinx woman on the list.

Jenna Ortega's rise to fame has been like a storm that took Hollywood by surprise. Personally, I started noticing her a couple of years ago when she took on the role of an innocent girl brutally killed in the horror movie "X". Her popularity skyrocketed last year, perhaps due to her roles in the movie "Scream 6" and the TV series "Wednesday". While the former was a moderately successful horror film (admittedly not in the top ten of the year), the latter became a viewership record-breaking hit.

I was not the only one who got amazed by her. In 2023, an article in Harper's Bazaar described her as "quiet and contemplative." This calmness and wisdom beyond her years set her apart in the entertainment industry. In 2022, Who What Wear commented that Ortega is "poised, mature, and wise beyond her years". Megan Park, the director of "The Fallout" in which Ortega starred, praised her ability to know "when to give her all and when to hold back", considering it rare for someone so young to understand her abilities as a performer. Tim Burton even compared Ortega's acting style to those in silent films, highlighting her ability to express emotions through her eyes without the need for words.

Standing at 5'1" and weighing less than 110 pounds, her smallish figure doesn't fit the traditional beauty standards. How did she become a Hollywood sensation?

After conducting extensive research, I've compiled her entire journey from childhood to stardom. It takes a lot of effort to put this together, so feel free to like, bookmark, and follow me.

The Small Town Girl's Step into Showbiz

Jenna Ortega was born on September 27, 2002, in Chula Valley, California, to a large family with Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage. Her father, of Mexican descent, was a former sheriff in the California District Attorney's Office. Her mother, who has Mexican and Puerto Rican roots, worked as an emergency room nurse. A middle child in a big, inherently shy family, she is the one challenging conventions. At school, despite facing some bullying, she always sweeps away haze of the mean comments with her passion.

It was Dakota Fanning's performance in "Man on Fire" that inspired her to pursue acting. Young Jenna was amazed by Fanning who managed to freak her out simply with a performance. In Jenna's own words, after analyzing the movie multiple times, she "decided to be the Puerto Rican version of Fanning."

One day, at the age of eight, she came home from school and told her mother about her desire to participate in a local talent competition. However, her mother didn't support her at first and tried to divert her interest towards school activities like soccer. Two years later, seeing Jenna's unwavering determination, her mother finally agreed to help her create a social media account and posted a video of her as a young girl on Facebook. To their surprise, in just two weeks, a casting director saw the video and quickly reached out to her. That's how she successfully signed a deal with her first agent.

Getting Started

After signing with the agent, Jenna had some appearances in TV shows like CSI: NY, where she played a gunshot victim, but they didn't create a significant impact.

It wasn't until 2013 that she took her first step into Hollywood with a brief role in "Iron Man 3": as the vice president's daughter. In another popular movie of that year, "Insidious: Chapter 2," she also had a few scenes in a minor role. Although both films were blockbuster hits, her limited screen time couldn't leave a lasting impression on the audience.

Breaking Through

From 2016 to 2018, Ortega starred in the Disney Channel sitcom "Stuck in the Middle," playing Harley Diaz, an ambitious inventor and the middle child among seven siblings.

It's worth mentioning that she chose to drop out of school to be a part of this sitcom. It wasn't a difficult decision for her because it seemed she knew that the days playing the role would be among" the best ones of her life." It turned out to be true, as she later recalled. Drawing inspiration from her own family and relationships with her siblings, she compared this filming experiences to that of a reality show. This show won her the Best Young Actor Award - Television category in Imagen Award in 2018, along with three other nominations.

Following the success of "Stuck in the Middle," Jenna lent her voice to Princess Isabella in the Disney animated series "Elena of Avalor," becoming the first Latinx actress to voice a Disney princess. Aside from the character's Latinx heritage, Jenna takes pride in the role of a female inventor, hoping to send a positive message to girls interested in STEM subjects.

In 2019, Jenna appeared in the second season of the Netflix series "You," marking a breakthrough in her career. In the show, she portrayed Ellie Alves, a smart and perceptive fifteen-year-old girl with independence and resilience.

Since 2020, Jenna has begun exploring horror movies, starring in "Scream 5," "Scream 6," and "X". Because of her enthusiasm, passion, and professional acting skills, she received considerable praise and is considered one of the most outstanding "Scream Queens" of the past decade by fans of horror movies. When asked why she enjoys the horror genre in an interview, Jenna expressed her fascination with horror movies since childhood, particularly loving the twists and turns in the plot. She said, "I like having blood on my face, I like screaming, running, crying. It's an amazing experience." These roles, however, are all victims of murders. People's love for her at this time derives from the desire of seeing young female being killed, not who she really is.

Real Success

What truly propelled her further was her role as Wednesday Addams in Netflix's series "Wednesday", which made her a sensation.

Through Jenna's portrayal, Wednesday, with her sharp tongue and eccentricity, epitomizes intimidating qualities with hints of cuteness and gentleness. In the fourth episode, during a dance party set to The Cramps' "Goo Goo Muck," she showcased a quirky dance that perfectly matched her personal style. Interestingly, she choreographed it herself and admitted lacking confidence initially, but everyone around her highly appreciated it.

An icy and piercing gaze is one of gloomy Wednesday’s unforgettable characteristics. At first, it's hard to understand what makes the character so captivating, but upon closer observation, it becomes evident that Ortega doesn't blink. That's right, throughout all eight episodes, she never closes her eyes on screen. Jenna seems to have found her own unique style in "Wednesday". She is no longer the girl trying to please the audience in her previous works; she now possesses a distinct personality that is irreplaceable.

"Wednesday" truly set off buzz around Jenna, According to Netflix's statistics, it amassed a total of 341 million hours of viewership in just five days, breaking the previous record for the highest-rated English-language series in its debut week set by "Stranger Things."

In 2024, Jenna Ortega will team up with Tim Burton for "Beetlejuice 2" in addition to rocking the second season of "Wednesday" starting in late April. This flick, ranking second in my article "Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2024", is totally worth the hype!