Jenna Ortega felt ‘patronised’ wearing a schoolgirl outfit for Wednesday

Jenna Ortega is opening up about her time on Wednesday and how the show changed her life, for better and for worse.

Jenna Ortega was far from an unknown when she appeared as Wednesday Addams in the first season of the eponymous series Wednesday on Netflix back in 2022.

Just 20-years-old at the time the series aired, Ortega was already known for roles in fellow Netflix show You, Netflix’s family film Yes Day, and the Scream horror movie franchise.

Yet Wednesday saw her become a certified scream queen and fully-formed Hollywood heavyweight. After its release, the comedy-mystery show swiftly became the streaming platform’s most-watched show of all time.

Ortega became Golden Globe, SAG and Emmy Award-nominated for the part, and turned into a global superstar. Yet the actress has now revealed that, despite the glitz and glamour, the aftermath of the show’s success left her “unhappy”.

“In TV, everything moves fast. They’re writing scripts, and you’re shooting episodes; everything’s mixed around. It’s very easy to feel like a puppet. You just feel very vulnerable,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in a new interview.

“I’ve been a series regular for multiple shows. I know what it’s like to feel in the dark as an actor… I didn’t really have a place.”

“To be quite frank, after the show and trying to figure everything out, I was an unhappy person,” she continued.

“After the pressure, the attention – as somebody who’s quite introverted, that was so intense and so scary.”

Though Wednesday helped the wider entertainment industry take note of Ortega as a main player, she admitted to being worried that the role might box her in.

“I’m doing a show I’m going to be doing for years where I play a schoolgirl,” she told the publication. “But I’m also a young woman.”

It’s particularly true, the actress explained, when you’re a woman of a certain height; Ortega is little over five feet tall. Add that to the fact she has to wear a schoolgirl outfit for her role on Wednesday, and it’s even harder to get people to take her seriously.

“… It’s always been really annoying, because you just don’t feel like you’re being taken seriously,” she shared.

“You know, it’s like how you’re dressed in the schoolgirl costume. … There’s just something about it that’s very patronising. Also, when you’re short, people are already physically looking down on you.”

She continued: “If [girls] 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.”

Since Wednesday season one, Ortega’s profile has only grown; in the last year alone, she’s starred in controversial teacher-student relationship film Miller’s Girl, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, fantasy comedy Death of a Unicorn, and The Weeknd’s film, Hurry Up Tomorrow.

Wednesday season two – which is set to feature an iconic Lady Gaga cameo – has been confirmed for release this summer, with part one airing on 6 August and part two on 3 September.

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