Jenna Ortega Nearly Quit Acting Before Joining Netflix’s 5-Part Psychological Thriller

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Jenna Ortega is now a huge star, but she nearly stopped acting before getting a breakthrough role on a hit Netflix show.

Jenna Ortega started her career with roles like young Jane on Jane the Virgin and Harley Diaz on Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle. She became a major star playing Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series Wednesday, which remains the platform’s most-watched season ever. More recently, she’s been recognized for her roles as Tara Carpenter in Scream and Scream VI, and as Astrid, the daughter of Winona Ryder’s character Lydia Deetz, in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

In a recent interview on the Big Bro with Kid Cudi podcast, Jenna Ortega shared that she almost gave up acting before her recent success. After finishing Stuck in the Middle, she wasn’t sure what to do next or if she even wanted to continue pursuing a career in the industry, and felt it was a good time to stop as she began high school. However, landing a role in Netflix’s You reignited her passion and made her realize she wanted to keep acting. You can hear her talk about it below.

As a teenager, I finished working on a kids’ TV show and felt lost about what to do next. I needed to establish myself and introduce myself to casting directors who didn’t know my previous work. I considered quitting at that point – I was starting high school, and it felt like a natural ending. My team and I had been discussing it for a few months, but then I landed the show ‘You.’ Once I started working on that set, I absolutely loved it and realized I couldn’t give up acting.

In season 2 of the hit psychological thriller You, Jenna Ortega played Ellie Alves, a neighbor of the main character, Joe Goldberg (played by Penn Badgley), and the sister of Delilah Alves (Carmela Zumbado). The show, which ran for five seasons and was critically acclaimed (with an 89% rating from critics and a 70% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes), is known for its high body count. However, Ellie was one of the few characters to survive Joe’s schemes, though Jenna Ortega’s growing career prevented her from returning to the show in later seasons.

Jenna Ortega quickly rose to prominence with roles in several popular projects. Following her work on the series You, she voiced Brooklynn in Netflix’s animated Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and starred in The Fallout, a film about the impact of a school shooting, where she played survivor Vada Cavell. She then appeared in Scream, the horror film X, Wednesday, Scream VI, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Death of a Unicorn, establishing herself as a leading actress in the horror genre. Notably, Wednesday made her a pop culture icon, largely due to her dance scene in the first season becoming a viral trend.

Jenna Ortega’s continued dedication to acting has led to exciting opportunities, including several major projects on the horizon. Her new film, The Gallerist, debuted at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and will be in theaters later this year. Fans can also look forward to season 3 of Wednesday, where she’ll reprise her role as Wednesday Addams. This season will see Wednesday on a road trip searching for her friend Enid, following the events of the season 2 finale. The new season will also delve deeper into the Addams Family’s mysterious past, particularly with the surprising reveal that Aunt Ophelia (played by Eva Green) is still alive.

Jenna Ortega, known for her role in Wednesday and the Scream movies, will star in The Great Beyond, a new film directed, written, and produced by J.J. Abrams. This marks Abrams’ first directing project since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker came out in 2019. She’s also appearing in the upcoming science-fiction movie Klara and the Sun, based on the 2021 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, where she plays Klara, a robot character. The cast of The Great Beyond also includes Glen Powell, Samuel L. Jackson, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Merritt Wever.

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2026-04-09 04:58