Age, Biography, and Wiki
Ortega is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent and has spoken openly about her pride in her heritage and the challenges she faced as a Latina performer in Hollywood. Her career boasts more than 15 significant roles in television and film, where she often commands lead positions.
| Occupation | Actress |
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| Date of Birth | 27 September 2002 |
| Age | 22 Years |
| Birth Place | Palm Desert, California, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Libra |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Jenna Ortega stands at 5 feet 1 inch tall (1.55 meters). Her weight and body measurements are not officially confirmed, as she maintains privacy regarding these details, focusing public attention on her work and craft.
| Height | 55 m |
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Dating & Relationship Status
As of the most recent available information, Jenna Ortega is not publicly dating anyone and is not known to have children. She has kept her personal life relatively private, with little information available about past relationships or current romantic interests.
Her father, a former sheriff who works at a California district attorney's office, is of Mexican descent, and her mother, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, works as an emergency room nurse. Ortega's maternal great-grandmother was an undocumented immigrant from Sinaloa, Mexico, and her maternal grandfather was from Puerto Rico. Ortega grew up in La Quinta, California, and has described her childhood self as "loud and extroverted". She wanted to act from the age of six and begged her mother to let her pursue a career for three years. Her mother attempted to distract her with other activities, including soccer and school. Ortega almost quit pursuing acting to participate in the former. Her mother later bought her a monologue book and posted a video of nine-year-old Ortega performing. A casting director watched the video and signed her to an agency.
Ortega's mother began driving her to Los Angeles to attend auditions, a trip that sometimes took as long as six hours roundtrip, up to five days a week. She struggled to secure parts because few roles for Latinas existed and she "didn't look [a certain] way"; such experiences damaged her self-esteem. She considered dyeing her hair blonde in an attempt to book more roles. For the first year, Ortega, who had no connections in the film industry, limited her auditions to commercials; she secured parts in 12 national campaigns, including three McDonald's commercials. From Mondays to Fridays, she acted in Los Angeles for a few days and returned home to attend school. She enrolled in public school, attending Amelia Earhart Elementary School and John Glenn Middle School. She stopped going to public school during eighth grade to act in Disney projects and got an apartment in Los Angeles after securing a role in Stuck in the Middle (2016–2018). During that time, Ortega worked in Los Angeles during the workweek and went home on weekends.
Ortega played Phoebe, the love interest of Judah Lewis's character, in Netflix's horror film The Babysitter: Killer Queen, which was released in September 2020 to negative critical reviews. She also voiced a travel vlogger named Brooklynn in the Netflix animated show Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous (2020–2022). In 2021, she made her writing debut with the book It's All Love: Reflections for Your Heart & Soul, which contains a series of quotes and statements regarding faith and love. She starred in the Netflix comedy movie Yes Day (2021), portraying a stubborn teenager who wants more independence from her parents. She appreciated how people of color were shown in "a casual setting where it's acknowledged" in lieu of "shoving it down your throat". Yes Day was released in March 2021 to mixed reviews. IndieWire lauded Ortega as "very capable", and the Associated Press referred to her as "an impressively poised young actor".
Ortega began 2024 with a starring role in the drama Miller's Girl, opposite Martin Freeman. The film tells the story of Cairo Sweet (Ortega), a high schooler whose writing ability captures her teacher's interest, which leads to a complicated relationship between the two. She called her character "the most complex character that I've ever played" and described the material as risky since she thought it would provoke discussions on topics people may find disturbing. RogerEbert.com Christy Lemire found Ortega "magnetic enough" to maintain the viewer's interest, although she thought the character's motives were predictable and illogical; Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press dubbed the film "a pointless, awkward turn" in her career. Ortega appeared in and executive produced the romantic drama Winter Spring Summer or Fall, which premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Festival. Director Tiffany Paulsen described Ortega as the casting team's first choice for the role of Remi Aguilar, a driven genius who falls in love with a rebellious musician. She later starred in the music video for Sabrina Carpenter's song "Taste".
In the dark comedy Death of a Unicorn (2025), Paul Rudd and Ortega starred as a father and daughter who accidentally kill a unicorn, leading to brutal consequences. Ortega said she was drawn to the project because of its original and unique script. The film received mixed reviews. Peter Travers of ABC News said Ortega "takes this horror comedy into human territory and gives it a beating heart", bringing energy to the story despite its perceived shortcomings. Another review in IGN described her portrayal as a "wonderfully lived-in performance" of a withdrawn youth, praising her ability to "inject great thought and subtext into any scenario". She next featured in Trey Edward Shults' Hurry Up Tomorrow, co-starring alongside Abel Tesfaye and Barry Keoghan. Ortega played Anima, a troubled young woman who pulls Tesfaye's character into an existential odyssey. The film was panned by critics, but Ortega's performance was generally praised. Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com felt that she did "her best to uplift her half of the movie", while Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter commended her "intense" energy. IndieWire 's Charles Bramesco, however, dismissed her performance as "imitative and hollow".
In 2016, Ortega organized a meet-and-greet event for fans to raise money for a young girl with cancer. At the 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards, Ortega wore a jacket displaying the words "I Do Care and U Should Too" in response to the clothing First Lady of the United States Melania Trump wore on a visit to see immigrant children who were being housed without their parents. Trump's jacket read, "I Really Don't Care, Do U?". Ortega's protest gained significant media coverage; she told the Associated Press that Trump's apparel displayed a lack of judgement and as the first lady, she ought to show concern for migrant children. Ortega later said: "We should all care about each other and our country ... we are one country under God". In 2019, Ortega appeared at numerous We Day benefit concerts across the U.S. and Canada to raise funds for WE Charity.
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Net Worth
Jenna Ortega is highly active on social media platforms, including Instagram and Twitter, where she engages with fans, shares behind-the-scenes content, and discusses her projects. Her verified Instagram account has millions of followers, reflecting her widespread fame and influence as a Gen Z icon.
In March 2023, Ortega hosted an episode of NBC's sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. Ortega reprised her role as Tara Carpenter in Scream VI. She said her character had more personality in the film than in the previous installment, in which she "was screaming and crying the entire time". When creating Tara's personality, Ortega considered several of the character's traits, including her favorite color, fashion style, makeup, and sense of humor. Scream VI was released in March 2023 and grossed over $169 million on a budget of $33–35 million. Deadline Hollywood attributed its box-office success partially to Ortega's star power. In a review, Variety Owen Gleiberman praised her "surly spunk", and Slant Magazine said she "fantastically embodie[d] the role". In November 2023, Ortega exited the Scream franchise after her co-star Melissa Barrera was fired due to her pro-Palestinian comments on the Gaza war; she stated a subsequent film did not appear to be the "right move" due to the changing cast and crew. Earlier reports suggested that Ortega left the franchise because of scheduling conflicts with the filming of Wednesday second season and an unsuccessful request for seven-figure pay. In the crime thriller film Finestkind (2023), Ortega played Mabel, a drug dealer's daughter who is seeking her own path in life. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to negative reviews. Many journalists said Ortega had been miscast.
Education
Details about Jenna Ortega’s formal education are limited in public sources. She began acting at a young age and likely balanced her education with her acting career through homeschooling or a flexible school schedule, as is common for child actors. Ortega has spoken about the importance of education and self-improvement, but specific institutions or degrees she has pursued are not widely reported.
Ortega received praise for her performance as a traumatized high school student in the drama film The Fallout (2021). She gained wide recognition for portraying Wednesday Addams in the Netflix horror-comedy series Wednesday (2022–present), for which she received nominations at the Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. She also starred in the slasher films Scream (2022), X (2022), and Scream VI (2023), and the fantasy film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).
Ortega had a leading role in the high-school drama film The Fallout, starring as a student who is navigating her emotional trauma after a school shooting. To prepare for the role, she looked at photographs and watched videos and interviews about school shootings; processing such events afterward "kind of came naturally". She also participated in the March for Our Lives movement, which led demonstrations in support of U.S. gun control legislation. Ortega, who describes herself as "such an insecure individual", found it easy to portray her character as relatable. The Fallout premiered at South by Southwest on March 17, 2021, and was released on HBO Max on January 27, 2022. The film received a positive response from critics, and Ortega's acting was applauded. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times described her performance as "grounded and deeply moving", while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her "beautifully nuanced turn understands the nothing-to-look-at-here façade and the chinks in the armor".
Ortega starred in Burton's fantasy film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)—a sequel to Beetlejuice (1988) —playing Astrid Deetz, the cynical teenage daughter of Lydia Deetz. It opened the 81st Venice International Film Festival and received generally positive reviews. Rolling Stone said Ortega was an "unimpeachable" casting choice and commended the emotions she conveyed using a "world-class deadpan stare". In a more negative review, The Independent stated that she "can't help but seem a little bland and strait-laced" acting opposite Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse. The film has grossed $451 million worldwide; publications such as Boxoffice Pro and TheWrap credited Ortega for attracting younger audiences, particularly members of Generation Z.
