Jenna Ortega: The New “It Girl”
If you’ve scrolled on TikTok or social media or even watched a few Netflix shows, then you've probably heard of Jenna Ortega. You might have even recently heard of her because of her role as Wednesday Addams on the new Netflix show “Wednesday.”
Jenna has steadily risen to popularity through this role and many others. She has been in movies and shows such as “You,” “The Fallout,” “Jane the Virgin” and “Stuck in the Middle,” to name a few. So, her popularity comes as no surprise. However, it was a bit hard to get a start in the beginning of her career. Ortega found it difficult to find roles that suited her and felt like they were meant for her.
Oretga has said, “As a Latina, there are not as many roles out there for me. When I first started out, it was hard. I was constantly shut down because I did not have the look they were going for.”
Ortega turned down roles that only fed into the stereotype of Latinos. She wanted to show that Latinos could play roles that were more than the stereotypical role. In the long run, it paid off. Ortega has since gone on to star on various shows and movies such as “Scream” and, most recently, Netflix’s hit show “Wednesday.” 2022 was definitely her year.
Ortega has stated countless times that she is proud of her roots. She was born in California, but her great grandmother on her mother’s side was an undocumented immigrant from Sinaloa, Mexico who wanted to give her daughters a better life.
When Ortega took the role of Wednesday Addams, she explained that she wanted to give other girls the opportunity to relate to a character on the big screen. “As someone who struggled, and still struggles to this day, with some sort of feeling of representation or relatability in mainstream media and film and television,” she saw “Wednesday” as an opportunity to do this.
Jenna Oretga does an amazing job of representing Latinos on the big screen. She has been able to become the representation for other girls that she looked for as a child.
Jenna Ortega being the new It Girl is kinda iconic, and we’re here for it.