Jenna Ortega Says She ‘Definitely’ Misses the Anonymity She Had Before Fame

Jenna Ortega’s star rose extremely fast.

The actress chatted with The Weeknd for V Magazine, where he asked if she craves the “anonymity” she had before fame.

"Oh, most definitely," Ortega said, explaining that landing the lead role in Netflix’s Wednesday is when her life changed. "I mean, that was just a few years ago. I’d done some shows and was working in film, but it wasn’t until that show, the day of the week [Wednesday], that just catapulted everything."

The 22-year-old continued:"As grateful as I am, and it was a dream role, it was so nice to have had way less pressure. I love the hustle. There’s something about the actor’s come-up and struggle that I really enjoyed."

Ortega reminisced on the early days of her career, which involved, "Sleeping in the cars, driving all around LA for auditions, and waiting for weeks, feeling sick to my stomach that I wasn’t going to get the job I really wanted. The adrenaline rush of it all was so exciting."

"I don’t know if it’s common, or if you can relate to this, but it kind of feels like you’re perpetually in this loop of anxiety," she described to The Weeknd. "I hold so much more pressure and weight in my body than I ever did, and I think it’s just kind of the expectation of it all."

Ortega appeared in Jane the Virgin from 2014 to 2019, as well as Stuck in the Middle, the Disney Channel’s Elena of Avalor, and the second season of Netflix’s You. She also appeared in Insidious: Chapter 2, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, and Yes Day.

Wednesday arrived in 2023 and was an instant success. Ortega plays the titular character, Wednesday Addams as she attends Nevermore Academy. The show was quickly greenlit for Season 2, for which Ortega will serve as executive producer alongside Tim Burton. The pair also worked on the 2024 Beetlejuice sequel.

In addition to Ortega, Wednesday also features Luis Guzmán, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Victor Dorobantu, Steve Buscemi, Joanna Lumley, Christopher Lloyd, Joy Sunday, Hunter Doohan, Fred Armisen, Thandiwe Newton, Billie Piper, Haley Joel Osment, and Heather Matarazzo.

Season 2 is slated to arrive on Aug. 6 via Netflix. Ortega and The Weeknd are also set to appear in the musical psychological thriller film Hurry Up Tomorrow, which The Weeknd co-wrote and co-produced. The movie arrives on May 16.