The fabulous Wednesday Addams: this is Jenna Ortega
The series 'Wednesday' has become a phenomenon since its first week on Netflix. The story revolves around the daughter of the Addams Family, brilliantly played by Jenna Ortega.
It was the creative mind of Tim Burton that brought back one of TV's most beloved and darkest families. And the protagonist's performance captivated audiences of all ages. 'Wednesday' surpassed 'Stranger Things' season 4's record of most hours watched in a week in Netflix history.
The key to making the series work would be finding the perfect Wednesday. Jenna Ortega was a gift to the entire production. According to Tim Burton (photo), in interviews made by Netflix for the promotion of the series, Jenna is like a silent film actress. Se has the ability to communicate only with her eyes.
In fact, many viewers have noticed that Wednesday doesn't blink at all. Jenna Ortega demonstrated during a rehearsal that she was capable of keeping her eyes open, and the director liked it so much that he asked her to continue doing it in every scene.
In interviews by Netflix, Jenna says that she used to watch 'The Addams Family' as a kid and she was always physically compared to Wednesday. She also talks about the experience to play this role, and how nervous she was about it because she wanted to do justice to the character.
To do so, the actress took fencing and cello classes twice a week. She even held onto the character's posture and way of walking while she was off the film set!
In addition, it was important for Jenna to reaffirm the origins of the character. She points out that Wednesday is technically Latina and has never been portrayed as such before. For Jenna Ortega, it is important to take every opportunity to represent her community - without falling into stereotypes.
Jenna Marie Ortega was born on September 27, 2002 in Coachella Valley, California. She is the fourth child of six siblings and both her father and mother are of Mexican descent.
None of her family worked in shoe business, and the desire to act came from Jenna herself when she was six years old. In 2012, she had her debut as an actress in occasional episodes of series such as 'Rob' and 'CSI: NY'.
Jenna's first role in a feature film was 'Iron Man 3', where she played the Vice President's daughter.
Despite the small roles, Ortega did not give up on her dream of being an actress. She had the support of her mother (photo) and father, who accompanied her on long car trips to Los Angeles and always maintained good communication with her managers.
In 2014, she got her first recurring job. In the series 'Jane the Virgin', Jenna Ortega played the young version of the protagonist Jane (Gina Rodrigues) in 30 episodes.
In addition, some may remember that, in 2015, Jenna appeared in the series 'Richie Rich' as one of the best friends of the protagonist Richie (pictured).
By that time, the actress began to draw the interest of producers, and in 2016, she was chosen to be the protagonist of the Disney Channel series 'Stuck in the Middle'. Its two seasons told the story of Harley Diaz, the middle sister of a family of seven children, who invented eccentric gadgets and objects to deal with her family.
Jenna Ortega is a versatile actress. She demonstrated her potential beyond comedy when, in 2019, she appeared in the second season of the psychological thriller series, 'You', on Netflix.
In 2020, Ortega united her talents for comedy and horror in the film 'The Babysitter: Killer Queen'. It was the sequel to 'The Babysitter' from 2017.
In 2021, Ortega acted alongside Jennifer Garner in the family comedy 'Yes Day', a film based on the children's book of the same name by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.
In the same year, she put her enormous talent as an actress to the test by starring in the film 'The Fallout', a drama about a mass shooting at an American school.
Yet, Jenna Ortega's greatest year was 2022. First, she drew attention with her spectacular performance in the fifth installment of 'Scream.' The film grossed 140 million dollars.
In March 2022, Jenna starred in the film 'X.'
At the end of 2022, 'Wednesday' made an enormous impact. Several scenes with Jenna Ortega went viral on social media. It is clear that we have a great star here.
After its great success, the second season of 'Wednesday' has already been confirmed. In addition, we will see Jenna Ortega again on the big screen in 2023: 'Scream 6' is scheduled for March 10, and the thriller 'Finestkind', shot between March and May 2022, is also coming up.