Netflix's You Helped Restore Jenna Ortega's Faith In The Casting Process

At only 20 years old, Jenna Ortega has already accomplished a goal that not every former child star can boast: she's built up such an exciting filmography, that the world seems to have collectively forgotten she was once a Disney Channel starlet. Much of this is owed to her extremely eventful 2022. In the span of 12 months, Ortega has been making the rounds as the star of two different successful slashers, an animated "Jurassic World" spinoff, a meta-horror-comedy about the Foo Fighters, and the titular role of Netflix's (allegedly) record-breaking series, "Wednesday." Any one of those roles would be a major accomplishment all on its own, but becoming a bonafide scream queen in the same year that she dons the twin braids of the beloved Addams family daughter? Ortega has a lot to celebrate.

Given the fact that her career originated on the Disney Channel, it's pretty wild that Ortega's resume includes a horror movie about homemade pornography. And nobody's happier about that than her. Having such a diverse lineup of opportunities has always been the goal but early in her career, didn't seem entirely possible.

While chatting with Complex earlier this year, Ortega explained: "A lot of times being a child actor, especially a Latina, they're hiring to play the daughter of someone or the younger version of someone and those are typically white actresses." Indeed, the early days of Ortega's career included roles like Vice President's daughter in "Iron Man" and young Jane Villanueva, the child version of Gina Rodriguez's character in "Jane the Virgin." Her child star days continued with her Disney Channel role in "Stuck in the Middle," but outside of that, she seemed trapped in the loop of similar roles. It wasn't until landing a role on Netflix's "You" that the tides began to change.

"You" is not the kind of show where you expect to see a Disney Channel star. The series follows a bookish sociopath named Joe (Penn Badgley) who stalks his way into the lives of unassuming women and commits several murders in a poorly thought-out attempt to make them fall in love with him. When not busy with the all-consuming tasks of burying bodies or locking people in his basement cage, Joe has a tendency to befriend neglected children who secretly remind him of himself. In the second season of "You," Jenna Ortega plays the latest target of his savior complex: 15-year-old Ellie Alves, who inadvertently gets wrapped up in his murder-y antics.

Ortega is a major standout of that season. The whip-smart teen is forced to undergo some serious emotional turmoil because of how terribly Joe wrecks her life and Ortega's performance is brutally effective. Though Ellie was only fifteen, the role is a far cry from Ortega's previous gigs — much darker and more mature. Here's what she had to say about it during her interview with Complex:

"Doing projects like 'You' on Netflix and things like that where I think people saw me in an older light or in a different light, I started to get more opportunities."

Jenna Ortega has since flexed her range elsewhere, like Megan Park's emotional rumination on the impact of school shootings, "The Fallout," along with the many films and TV series that arrived in 2022. She went on to say that exploring different roles and genres is very much part of her path forward, adding:

"A big fear for me is I've never wanted to be pigeonholed. I never want to be seen as one thing. So if I can get my hands in as many bowls as I possibly can or have all of my projects not really resemble one another, that would be really, really, cool."

Some actors work their entire lives to be considered scream queens, but thanks to the doors that opened after "You," Ortega became horror's "It-girl" before her 21st birthday. Next up, Ortega is set to return to the world of horror via "Scream 6" with a bigger role for her cold open character, Tara Carpenter. The film is set to arrive in theaters on March 10th, 2023.