Jenna Ortega on Transitioning Out of Child Stardom: “I Play a Schoolgirl” in ‘Wednesday’ “but I’m Also a Young Woman”

Jenna Ortega is opening up about the stereotypes she’s faced in Hollywood as a child star to role as a “schoolgirl” in Wednesday. 

During a (coincidentally) Wednesday profile with Harper’s Bazaar, the Wednesday star said “it’s been so beneficial and so cozy” for her to form friendships with fellow former child actors Winona Ryder, Natasha Lyonne and Natalie Portman. The latter actor also told the outlet that because of her short height, “people will often treat you like a child forever,” a sentiment Ortega agreed with. 

“I relate to that 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.” 

Before she got the opportunity to portray Wednesday Addams in Tim Burton’s Netflix series, Ortega said, “I’ve always been into dark things or been fascinated by them, but I was a Disney kid, and the whole thing is being bubbly and kind and overly sweet.” 

Now, at 22, the Emmy nominee is grappling with the notion of portraying a “schoolgirl” as she continues her ascent into adulthood. She explained, “I’m doing a show I’m going to be doing for years where I play a schoolgirl,” adding, “But I’m also a young woman.”

Ortega noted that with Wednesday, despite her character being “an outcast and an outsider — she’s also a pop-culture icon,” which has led her to “become a pop actor — if that makes sense. And that’s something I never saw for myself.” 

To combat being pigeonholed into the horror genre, she’s been “finding that balance of doing movies that they might be interested in and then doing movies that I’m interested in” and is next looking for roles that are “older and bolder and different.” 

As the star and now an upcoming producer for season two of Wednesday, Ortega wants to continue to add more diverse credits to her entertainment résumé. She recently said she wants to direct “a script that I’ve known that I was going to make for almost 10 years.”