Jenna Ortega

Jenna Ortega (birthname: Jenna Marie Ortega) has built her rising young career by straddling both film and TV careers, playing lead roles in series like Stuck in the Middle (2016-2018), Elena of Avalor (2016-2020), and her attention-grabbing starring role as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix horror-comedy series, Wednesday (2022) as well as movie franchises like Scream, while expanding her professional profile into producing.

Ortega’s feature debut was a small role in Iron Man 3 (2013), followed by a supporting role in Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013). Ortega’s first significant theatrical feature role was in writer-director Juan Feldman’s After Words (2015), with Ortega co-starring with Marcia Gay Harden and Oscar Jaenada. After a small role in writer-director Christopher Winterbauer’s Wyrm (2019), premiering at Fantastic Fest and the Netflix streaming films, The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020) and Yes Day (2021)—for which she was nominated for Best Actress in the Imagen Awards—Ortega had her first starring role in a film in the New Line/HBO Max feature on streaming, The Fallout (2021), which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival.

Jenna Ortega’s breakthrough feature role was as Tara in the series relaunch of Scream (2022), co-starring Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell, and earning a strong $140 million worldwide, far surpassing $24 million costs. Ortega’s next horror stint was a supporting role in Studio 666 (2022), starring rocker Dave Grohl, Will Forte, and Jeff Garlin, followed by Ortega earning a co-starring role in Ti West’s striking ‘70s-era horror film, X (2022), starring Mia Goth, Martin Henderson, and Brittany Snow, grossing ($15 million) 15 times its budget ($1 million). Ortega returned to co-star in Scream VI (2023), co-directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.

In a genre and professional turn, Ortega was one of the lead producers and co-starred with Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, and Toby Wallace in Brian Helgeland’s crime drama, Finestkind (2023). Ortega co-starred and executive produced the tentatively-titled Untitled Trey Edward Shults Film, co-starring The Weeknd (who also co-wrote with director Shults and writer Reza Fahim) and Barry Keoghan. Ortega starred, with Percy Hynes White, in writer-director Tiffany Paulsen’s indie relationship drama, Winter Spring Summer or Fall (date to be announced), and then co-starred with Martin Freeman in writer-director Jade Halley Bartlett’s academic comedy-drama for Lionsgate, Miller’s Girl (date to be announced).