Jenna Ortega says she won’t shy away from big risks, even as the Netflix series Wednesday cements her as a global star. In a wide-ranging profile published in Esquire’s September 2026 issue, Ortega — now 23 — describes an actor in motion: juggling the darkly comic lead on a streaming juggernaut with a slate of mainstream and offbeat film projects.
From Dublin sets to an experimental phase
At the time of the interview, Ortega was in Dublin, where she has been filming season 3 of Wednesday since February. The piece captures the actor between takes on a rare sunny day, noting how the bright weather offered a contrast to the brooding sensibility of her character, Wednesday Addams.
“We mesh pretty well,” Ortega says. “But while I’m in production, going over scripts over and over again, and I’m there all day, every day, and in every scene . . . yeah, there’s times where I think like her. Maybe she peeks out a bit more, here and there.”
The interview portrays Ortega as both protective of her craft and curiously adventurous. She describes the past year as an "experimental phase", a period in which she has been intentionally choosing varied projects to stretch her range and steer her career beyond the Wednesday persona.
Big franchises, indie impulses
The Esquire feature lists a mixture of titles that illustrate Ortega’s careful balancing act. She has taken roles in established franchises while also pursuing original and offbeat films — a strategy that has helped vault her into the A-list of her generation.
- Mainstream franchises: Scream, Beetlejuice
- Indie and experimental work: Miller’s Girl, Death of a Unicorn
- Upcoming major roles: the title role in Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun and a part in J. J. Abrams’s The Great Beyond
These choices reflect a deliberate mix: large-scale visibility from franchise films and creative risk-taking in more experimental pieces. Ortega’s description of being immersed in production explains how her approach to character and scene work can make Wednesday’s traits surface in her off‑set manner — without allowing the role to define her entirely.
What this means for her career
For South African viewers who have followed Ortega’s rise from earlier TV and film roles, the trajectory is familiar: a breakthrough on a cultural phenomenon followed by a period of diversification. The Esquire profile frames this as a conscious shift — Ortega has been using the momentum from Wednesday to explore different forms of storytelling and challenge audience expectations.
That experimentation looks likely to continue. The combination of high-profile studio projects and smaller, riskier films is a common play for actors seeking both commercial reach and artistic credibility. Ortega’s own words in the piece suggest she is aware of the stakes but unfazed: she wants to keep learning and to take roles that test her.
Selected film and TV highlights
| Title | Type |
|---|---|
| Wednesday | Netflix series (season 3 filming in Dublin) |
| Scream | Franchise film |
| Beetlejuice | Franchise film |
| Miller’s Girl | Original thriller |
| Death of a Unicorn | Surrealist/experimental film |
| Klara and the Sun | Taika Waititi’s robo‑girl drama (title role) |
| The Great Beyond | J. J. Abrams sci‑fi fantasy film |
Ortega’s career choices will be watched closely by both fans and industry observers. Her ability to move between mainstream visibility and idiosyncratic projects offers a roadmap many young actors aspire to emulate: maintain broad appeal while protecting opportunities for artistic growth.
For South African audiences who stream global hits and follow international cinema, Ortega’s evolution is a reminder that breakout television success can be a launchpad for eclectic and ambitious career moves — as long as the actor is willing to take the occasional risk.
