Jenna Ortega Opens Up About Hollywood: ‘I Don’t Want To Belong to Anyone or Anything’

Jenna Ortega seems to be on top of the world. From starring on the new cover of ELLE to exploring executive roles, the young Latina actress is a promising talent.

At just 20 years old, Ortega has won over fans of dark humor and on-screen gore.

Her secret? Observation and a guilty pleasure for the gore genre.

In a new interview for ELLE magazine, where she is also the cover star, Jenna Ortega talked about her creative process and what has led her to be “Gen Z’s reigning scream queen.”

Jenna Ortega’s talent is observation

Jenna Ortega is no stranger to recording sets. Since her debut as young Jane on The CW’s comedy-drama series, “Jane the Virgin” (2014-2019), the actress has always been busy.

“From ‘Action’ to ‘Cut’ is the only reason I like my job,” she says. Between those two directions, she says, “It’s like I pass the fuck out.”

Her passion for acting was born after watching “Man on Fire,” Denzel Washington’s kidnapping thriller. Dakota Fanning’s performance — which gave her nightmares “for months” — made her wonder how a character can affect the audience’s emotions so much.

It was this constant reflection, as well as her talent for observation, that has helped her hone her acting skills.

“She has an inquisitive nature,” said her “Wednesday” costar Gwendoline Christie. “It almost feels like a paradox in her character, where she seems to consume life seriously, but she also appreciates all of its absurdity, and she has this unabandoned imagination alongside it.”

“Scream,” “The Fallout,” “You,” and finally, “Wednesday” have been just a few of the opportunities her talent has brought her.

“I’m definitely the actress who’s like, ‘More blood,'” Jenna Ortega said in her interview with ELLE. “If I’m going to speak up about anything or put my two cents in about anything [it would be that].”

Early family support can change everything

Though her mother feared the Hollywood effects, she finally agreed and shared a video of little Jenna on Facebook doing a monologue. The rest is history.

“It was the guilt of, Okay, well, if this doesn’t work out, I’m screwed, I guess,” she says. “I just put my entire family through this because that’s a lot of money and time that we did not have.”

Endless hours on the road to get to auditions and money spent finally paid off.

Ten years later, Jenna Ortega is one of the most sought-after actresses in the industry. She can pick and choose her roles and has quickly made the leap to the next step.

Ortega is the producer and star of her first romantic comedy, “Winter Spring Summer or Fall,” which has no release date yet.

‘I don’t want to feel like a walking billboard’

Finally, for Jenna Ortega, introversion and shyness have won her a close circle of friends, but it also collides with her new life.

As she told the magazine, although she knows how to act in front of a camera, her creativity is more productive in intimacy.

“If I want to make films so badly and I want to play characters, or I want to direct and write film scores, I could do that all in my backyard,” she said. “I don’t have to be doing it on a grand scale like this.” 

“But ultimately, all the other side stuff that comes with my job sometimes makes it feel like it’s almost not worth it. I don’t want to feel like a walking billboard, which is a really scary feeling because then you feel less and less in control of your life.”

“I don’t want to belong to anyone or anything.”