Jenna Ortega recently opened up about her ongoing time on the Netflix series Wednesday, and why she wasn’t initially a fan of the show’s school uniform and the fame it brought.
What did Jenna Ortega say about her career and Wednesday?
Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar as part of a recent profile, Ortega opened up about the level of fame the show brought her. Ortega, who is now a household name thanks to her status as a horror “scream queen” and Wednesday, said she became an “unhappy person” after the show catapulted her into superstardom.
“To be quite frank, after the show and trying to figure everything out, I was an unhappy person,” Ortega said. “After the pressure, the attention — as somebody who’s quite introverted, that was so intense and so scary.”
Ortega also opened up about how the character of Wednesday, a schoolgirl, often leaves her conflicted. She believes playing Wednesday might limit what Hollywood believes she can do, and can often feel like she isn’t taken seriously as a result, especially in a “patronizing” costume like Wednesday is often seen in.
“I’m doing a show I’m going to be doing for years where I play a schoolgirl. But I’m also a young woman,” said Ortega. “You know, 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… girls, if they don’t stay as this perfect image of how they were first introduced to you, then it’s ‘Ah, something’s wrong. She’s changed. She sold her soul.’ But you’re watching these women at the most pivotal times in their lives; they’re experimenting because that’s what you do.”
(Source: Harper’s Bazaar)