Jenna Ortega

Jenna Ortega is an American actress who has become one of the most recognisable young stars of her generation, building a career across television, horror, comedy and major Hollywood films. Born Jenna Marie Ortega on 27 September 2002 in Coachella Valley, California, she began acting as a child before transitioning into more mature roles that established her as a leading name in modern film and television. Ortega started pursuing acting at a young age and made several early television appearances before gaining wider attention as the younger version of Jane Villanueva in the hit series Jane the Virgin. She later landed a leading role in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle, playing Harley Diaz from 2016 to 2018. As Ortega moved beyond her Disney years, she began taking on darker and more challenging material. She appeared in the second season of the Netflix thriller You in 2019 as Ellie Alves, demonstrating a different side to her acting and helping introduce her to an older audience. Horror would become a particularly important part of Ortega's career. She appeared in The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020) before starring in Scream (2022) as Tara Carpenter. Her performance helped make her a standout member of the franchise's new generation of characters, and she returned as Tara in Scream VI (2023). She also starred in Ti West's X (2022), further strengthening her association with modern horror. The film was a critical success and helped establish Ortega as one of the genre's prominent new faces. Her biggest television breakthrough arrived with Wednesday in 2022. Ortega took on the title role of Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series inspired by the characters created by Charles Addams. Her deadpan delivery, distinctive physical performance and interpretation of Wednesday quickly became a major part of the show's identity. Wednesday became a global phenomenon, turning Ortega into an international star and introducing the Addams Family character to another generation. Her performance also earned major awards recognition and cemented her position as one of Hollywood's most in-demand young performers. Ortega continued her connection with gothic cinema when she joined Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024). She played Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Ryder's Lydia Deetz, connecting a new generation of characters to Burton's original 1988 film. Her other film work includes The Fallout (2021), Studio 666 (2022), American Carnage (2022), Finestkind (2023) and Miller's Girl (2024). The variety of these projects has allowed Ortega to move between independent drama, horror, comedy and larger studio productions. Although her image has become closely associated with horror and gothic characters, Ortega has shown a willingness to take on very different material throughout her career. Her performances often blend dry humour and confidence with more vulnerable, emotionally complex moments. From her beginnings as a child actress to Scream, Wednesday, and the world of Beetlejuice, Jenna Ortega has become one of the defining young performers of contemporary horror and popular culture. With an expanding career across both television and cinema, she has already established an identity that extends well beyond the roles that first made her famous.