Jenna Ortega under fire for saying she was ‘an unhappy person' after ‘Wednesday' fame: ‘Cry me a river'
She doesn't bury hatchets; she sharpens them.
Jenna Ortega has come under fire for saying she was 'an unhappy person' after getting famous for her role as Wednesday Addams in the hit Netflix show 'Wednesday.'
The 22-year-old actress opened up about the role and the fame it brought her during an interview with Harper's Bazaar published on Wednesday, May 28.
'To be quite frank, after the show and trying to figure everything out, I was an unhappy person,' Ortega admitted. 'After the pressure, the attention – as somebody who's quite introverted, that was so intense and so scary.'
11 Ortega on the cover of the June 3 issue of Harper's Bazaar.
Willy Vanderperre for Harper's Bazaar
11 The scream queen said that playing Wednesday Addams can feel 'very patronizing.'
Willy Vanderperre for Harper's Bazaar
Ortega, who began filming the first season of 'Wednesday' in 2021, added that she felt 'incredibly misunderstood' upon getting popular from the show.
'I feel like being a bully is very popular right now,' she added. 'Having been on the wrong side of the rumor mill was incredibly eye-opening.'
11 Ortega previously came under fire for other comments she made about 'Wednesday' back in March 2023.
Willy Vanderperre for Harper's Bazaar
11 Some critics slammed Ortega for what she said during her interview with Harper's Bazaar.
Willy Vanderperre for Harper's Bazaar
11 Other fans defended the 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' starlet.
Willy Vanderperre for Harper's Bazaar
Elsewhere in her interview, the scream queen said that being Wednesday Addams is 'very patronizing' because she is stuck playing a schoolgirl on the screen despite becoming a young woman in real life.
Ortega, whose birthday is Sept. 27, will turn 23 shortly after the second season of 'Wednesday' premieres on Netflix on Aug. 6.
'I'm doing a show I'm going to be doing for years where I play a schoolgirl,' Ortega explained. 'But I'm also a young woman. You just don't feel like you're being taken seriously.'
11 Jenna Ortega opened up about her role on 'Wednesday' and the fame it brought her during a new interview with Harper's Bazaar.
JONATHAN HESSION/NETFLIX
'You know, it's like how you're dressed in the schoolgirl costume,' she added. 'There's just something about it that's very patronizing.'
But Ortega's remarks created a serious backlash, with several of her critics rushing to social media to bash the former 'Scream' star over her surprising comments.
'I bet the huge 6 and 7 figure paychecks she took for the role weren't that patronizing though,' one person tweeted after the interview.
11 Ortega said that she felt 'incredibly misunderstood' upon getting popular from the show.
Getty Images for Netflix
'Cry me a river,' someone else added, while a third critic commented, 'So sick of people complaining about easy jobs they made millions on.'
'Then she could have passed on the role,' a fourth person wrote on X. 'I like her but this seems like biting the hand that feeds you.'
However, Ortega's supporters defended the 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' starlet over what she had to say about her role on 'Wednesday' and the popularity it brought her as an actress.
11 Ortega as Wednesday Addams in the first season of 'Wednesday.'
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
'She isn't wrong,' one supporter wrote.
'Fair play to her,' another added, while a third fan tweeted, 'She looked nice as Wednesday.'
'Yall need to leave this girl alone,' a fourth fan commented.
11 The second season of the hit Netflix show is set to premiere in August.
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Meanwhile, Ortega also clarified that she remains 'very grateful' for the fandom she has received because of 'Wednesday.'
'I want to be able to give back to them,' she said of her fans. 'But I also want to do things that are creatively fulfilling to me.'
The 'Death of a Unicorn' star received similar backlash for comments she made in March 2023.
11 Ortega at the premiere of her newest film, 'Hurry Up Tomorrow,' on May 13.
Getty Images
At the time, Ortega revealed that she had changed parts of her 'Wednesday' script when certain lines 'did not make sense for her character at all.'
'I don't think I've ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on 'Wednesday,'' she said during a podcast interview with Dax Shepard at the time.
Ortega later backtracked on those remarks, admitting that she 'could have used my words better' when talking with Shepard about the show.
11 'I want to be able to give back to them,' Ortega said of her 'Wednesday' fans. 'But I also want to do things that are creatively fulfilling to me.'
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
'To be fair, I think I probably could have been — I probably could have used my words better in describing all of that,' she told Vanity Fair in September 2024.
'I think, oftentimes, I'm such a rambler,' she added. 'I think it was hard because I felt like had I represented the situation better, it probably would've been received better.'
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