Over the years, the young actress has added substantially to her filmography by playing important roles in You, The Fallout, Scream, and Scream VI. Jenna achieved worldwide fame when she portrayed the titular role of Wednesday Adams in the Netflix series Wednesday.
She has been featured in the Forbes 2024 30 under 30 list and will be seen in the recently released sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The talented actress has many fun facts that her fans might not know. Therefore, those who love Jenna Ortega’s acting can check the list below for some interesting facts about her.
From being a UN ambassador to learning the cello, here are eight interesting facts about Jenna Ortega
1) Jenna Ortega gave her voice to Disney’s first Latina princess in the Elena of Avalor animated series.
The actress made history when she voiced the first Latina character, Princess Isabel, in the Disney animated series from 2016 to 2020. As a Latina herself, she is passionate about diverse representation in Hollywood.
2) Ortega is an ambassador for UNAIDS in honor of her grandfather, who died due to the disease
The Wednesday star is a proud ambassador for UNAIDS—the organization that helps provide life-saving services for HIV patients. She has a personal reason, as her grandfather died due to it. While speaking at the WE Day, a youth empowerment event, she said,
“I want to help eliminate the stigma of AIDS and get people talking about it…..Make it normal. Bring it up. It’s a disease that affects all of us.”
3) Jenna followed a vegan diet before Wednesday happened
The actress was a long-time follower of a vegan diet but had to eat fish as the Netflix show was getting shot in Romania, where she ran out of options to get vegan food. In an interview with Wired, she says,
“I was vegan for a really long time, but I stopped being vegan when I went to Romania to shoot ‘Wednesday’ actually, because the food is very different there, and I don’t think I was meeting my nutrition requirements, so I started eating fish again.”
4) Jenna Ortega has multiple skills
The young actress has a penchant for learning new things. Not only did she choreograph her viral dance scene on Wednesday, but she also knows how to speak German, can canoe, play the cello, and do sword fighting! In an interview with Wired, she says,
“I learned to play the cello for Wednesday. I started working on the cello about two months before we started shooting. I probably could not play too well now. It is something that I want to continue to pursue.”
5) Ortega caught the eye of an agent through Facebook
Thanks to her mother, who uploaded a video to Facebook, an agent soon approached Jenna Ortega, and the rest is history. The talented star has been working since childhood and has won various accolades.
She recalls during an interview at the Tamron Hall Show,
“She posted it just as a joke for her friends, because her friends on Facebook knew I was very dramatic.”
6) when she saw Dakota Fanning’s performance in Man of Fire attracted Jenna to acting
Now an established actress, Ortega revealed on the Tamron Hall Show in 2021 that she was impressed by Fanning’s portrayal in the Denzel Washington-starring film and decided to be “the Puerto Rican version of her.”
7) Jenna Ortega has an eclectic mix of favorite movies
During an interview with the film platform Letterboxd, the actress shared her four favorite films. Her first choice was 1995 French thriller, La Haine, Stanley Kubrick’s hit movie from 1975, Barry Lyndon, the silent movie from 1928, The Passion of Joan of Arc, and the 1984 neo-western movie, Paris, Texas.
She then stated,
“I feel like a dream character for me would be Joan of Arc”.
8) Ortega published her book in 2021
Jenna published her book in 2021. It is a collection of personal stories and quotes about her experience as a Latina in Hollywood. The book also discusses topics like friendship, faith, depression, and confidence.
She writes, “I love my craft, and I’m so grateful that I get to follow my passion. I let that love pour out in small ways and big ways: doing nice, thoughtful things for the people I’m working with goes a long way.”
