3 days ago
Jenna Ortega Says It's Patronizing to be Known for Playing Wednesday
It's no mystery that Jenna Ortega's breakout role was Wednesday , but she had been trying her hand at getting more mature roles even before she was cast as the icon of goth culture with projects like X and Miller's Girl . As it turns out, Ortega has been feeling 'unhappy' about the sudden success of Wednesday , and says it's been tough for her to be taken seriously since she's playing a schoolgirl despite being in her 20s. In a recent talk with Harper's Bazaar, Ortega says:
'… Ater the show and trying to figure everything out, I was an unhappy person… After the pressure, the attention — as somebody who's quite introverted, that was so intense and so scary.'
For context, Wednesday was such a breakout hit that it managed to get more views than the last season of Stranger Things . Now the actress is expecting to play Wednesday Addams for a few more years, but it's going to be tough on her since the role is for a pretty young girl, and being short, Ortega is already kind of put into a box. Ortega continues:
'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.'
For now, Ortega is still thankful for her global fans, but she's trying her best to 'give back to them' while at the same time finding projects that are 'creatively fulfilling' for her.
Catch Ortega back in Wednesday when Season 2 comes out Aug. 6 on Netflix.
