Jenna Ortega interview. In their Actors on Actors conversation, Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) and Elle Fanning (The Great) get real about Jenna Ortega’s struggle with publicity after the success of ‘Wednesday.’ Elle Fanning and Jenna Ortega bond over putting on a producer hat for their respective shows. Elle Fanning talks about growing up through her character, Catherine, in ‘The Great’, and Jenna speaks about collaborating with Tim Burton and having more influence in her second season.
Jenna Ortega has not been one to hide her truths, but sadly she can struggle with being open out of fear of being misunderstood. A former Disney Channel child star, Jenna’s career exploded last year when she starred in Netflix’s Wednesday, a new tale about Wednesday Addams of The Addams Family.
As her star rose, though, Jenna Ortega found herself occasionally in mild controversy for her comments about working on the series. For example, in May, she said she acted “almost unprofessional” by changing her character’s lines in the series. Last year, Jenna also sparked a bit of an outcry for revealing she had COVID-19 while shooting the now iconic Wednesday dance.
It turns out that backlash to her honesty has impacted Jenna. So much so that, in a recent sit-down interview with Elle Fanning for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, she began to tear up while discussing the heightened attention she experienced after Wednesday became a hit.
Jenna Ortega told Elle Fanning that she’s “really, really” nervous to be herself online after the show’s success. “Because I tend to be sarcastic or dry, it’s very easy for me to find myself in trouble,” Jenna said.
The actor then explained that, when she first started having a platform, she told herself she’d be funny, honest, and herself. “I want people to be able to watch movies and also get to know the people behind the camera and feel like they’re attainable or realize that people should never be put on a pedestal,” she said.
However, Jenna Ortega felt like people have taken advantage of her honesty. “The more I’ve been exposed to the world in a sense, people prey on that and take advantage of that. And they see your vulnerability and twist it in a way that you don’t always expect. It’s so, so strange. Sorry, I didn’t mean to do this,” she said, while tearing up.
Elle Fanning, who was there to represent her Hulu series The Great, quickly comforted Jenna Ortega before the Wednesday star continued explaining her struggle to figure out how to be honest while in the public eye.
“It’s such a hard thing to balance. Because how do you be honest without jeopardizing your own health and safety? It’s very easy to feel almost out of control of things,” she said. “Which is why it’s so important for people to get off the phone.”
Elle Fanning agreed, saying, “You just have to protect yourself, and also just know when to put it away and know it doesn’t matter. That’s not the real world.”
Thankfully, Jenna Ortega said she’s gotten better over the past few years about not being on her phone and reading comments. “I have this really, really intense urge to be human and honest and authentic,” she continued.
Elle Fanning ultimately thanked Jenna for her bravery in being vulnerable with her. “I hear you. It’s so beautiful that you are so open and honest about your feelings because I think not a lot of people are, and I think it’s so courageous for you to put that out there and say that,” she said. “I think it can also help so many people as well.”
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