Jenna Ortega may still be wearing a pleated skirt on screen, but behind the scenes, she's rewriting the script for how Hollywood treats former child stars. The "Wednesday" breakout, who's part actress, part spooky teen icon, and now producer, is getting candid about the uphill battle of growing up in an industry that likes to keep you exactly as it found you: young, sweet, and wearing knee socks.
In a new Harper's Bazaar profile, Ortega opened up about the infantilizing stereotypes she's long been up against, even as she breaks into more mature territory at 22. "I relate to [being treated like a child] so immensely, and it's always been really annoying because you just don't feel like you're being taken seriously," she said. "It's like how you're dressed in the schoolgirl costume… There's just something about it that's very patronizing. Also, when you're short, people are already physically looking down on you."
© JONATHAN HESSION/NETFLIXFrom Disney Darling to Gothic Icon
Before she was delivering deadpan zingers as Wednesday Addams, Ortega was firmly planted in Disney territory. "I've always been into dark things or been fascinated by them," she admitted, "but I was a Disney kid, and the whole thing is being bubbly and kind and overly sweet." But with Wednesday, Ortega finally got the chance to let her inner weirdo out to play.
Still, the role isn't without its complications. "I'm doing a show I'm going to be doing for years where I play a schoolgirl," she said. "But I'm also a young woman." That paradox of playing a teen while living as an adult is something many former child actors wrestle with. It's no coincidence that Ortega's now tight with fellow ex-wunderkinds like Winona Ryder, Natasha Lyonne, and Natalie Portman.
And when Portman commented that her height often causes people to treat her like a kid forever, Ortega couldn't have nodded harder.
© Jamie McCarthyFighting the Typecast Curse
Ortega's Wednesday Addams is not your average high schooler. She's an outcast, an outsider, and, thanks to pop culture's obsession with all things spooky, an icon. But success as a gothic teen queen has its traps.
So what's her plan? "Finding that balance of doing movies that they might be interested in and then doing movies that I'm interested in," she explained. That could mean fewer haunted mansions and more character-driven indie flicks—or maybe even directing. Ortega revealed she's been sitting on a script for nearly a decade and is determined to direct it. "I've known that I was going to make for almost 10 years," she said.
© HELEN SLOAN/NETFLIXWhat sets Ortega apart isn't just her onscreen presence. It's how actively she's shaping her career from behind the camera, too. As a producer on Wednesday's second season, she's not just starring; she's steering.
