Jenna Ortega's Journey from Child Acting to Hollywood Stardom
Sarah Silva
Published May 17, 2026
By Published Apr 8, 2026, 9:48 PM EDT Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2026, became a news writer in 2026, a senior staff writer in 2026, and an editor in 2026. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
has become a massive star, but she almost quit acting before landing a role in a popular Netflix series.
Ortega's early roles included a young Jane in Jane the Virgin and Harley Diaz in Disney Channel's Stuck in the Middle. Her stardom reached new heights with her portrayal of Wednesday Addams in Netflix's Wednesday, with season 1 still the streamer's most-watched season of all time, as Tara Carpenter in 2026's Scream and Scream VI, and as Astrid, the daughter of Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
On the podcast, Ortega reveals that before much of this success, she seriously considered quitting acting. She was unsure of what to do next after finishing Stuck in the Middle and of whether she could continue in the industry, and it seemed like a natural point to walk away as she started high school. This changed when she was cast in Netflix's You, which helped her realize that she wanted to continue acting moving forward. Check out her comments below:
When I was a teenager, I'd gotten off of a children's show. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had to prove myself and meet all these new casting directors who didn't know who I was. It felt like a good time to call it quits if I was going to. I was starting high school, it was a good run sort of thing, and then we had talked about it for a few months, my team, and then I booked that show You, and then I went on that set and I loved it and had the best time and I thought, "Yeah, there's no way I could let this go."
Ortega is a series regular in You season 2, where she plays Ellie Alves, who is a neighbor of the charming, obsessive serial killer Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) and sister to Delilah Alves (Carmela Zumbado). The popular psychological thriller series ran for five seasons and was well-received, holding an 89% score from critics and a 70% score from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Unlike the many characters who die at the hands of Joe throughout , Ellie survives, although she was never able to return due to Ortega's increasingly busy schedule.
After You, Ortega voiced Brooklynn in Netflix's animated Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous series and starred in The Fallout, a movie that explores the aftermath of a school shooting, with her playing survivor Vada Cavell. Then came Scream, A24's slasher film X, Wednesday, Scream VI, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and , cementing her as a go-star in the horror genre. Wednesday in particular solidified her as a popular culture icon, especially with her dance scene in season 1 becoming a viral sensation.
Thanks to Ortega's decision to continue acting, she not only has these experiences, but multiple upcoming high-profile projects. Her new movie The Gallerist premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and will release in theaters later this year. She has coming up, where she will play the titular character again. Instead of another chaotic school year at Nevermore Academy, the season 2 finale sets her up to be on the road searching for her best friend Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers). There are also more dark Addams Family secrets to be unearthed, especially now that it's been revealed Aunt Ophelia is alive, with Eva Green taking on the role for season 3.
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Beyond Wednesday, the Scream star is cast alongside Glen Powell, Samuel L. Jackson, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Merritt Wever in The Great Beyond, a movie directed, written, and produced by J.J. Abrams. It is the first film Abrams has directed since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released in 2019. Jenna Ortega is also in the upcoming dystopian science-fiction movie Klara and the Sun, based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2026 novel with the same title, where she plays the eponymous robot named Klara.
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