Jenna Marie Ortega is a celebrated American actress who started her acting career as a child actress. She became well-known for her role in a comedy-drama series Jane the Virgin (2014-2019) where she starred as Jane. Her breakthrough role and debut award came following her leading role as Harley Diaz in Stuck in the Middle (2016-2018), a Disney Channel series.
The famous actress later gained international popularity with the lead role Wednesday Addams in Wednesday (2022- ), a Netflix horror-comedy series. Following her acting prowess in the series, Jenna won nominations for Primetime, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Age and Birthday
Jenna came to the world on 27 September 2002 in Palm Desert, Coachella Valley, California, USA. She is 21 years old as of 2024.
Jenna Ortega Family
Ortega’s parents are Edward and Natalie Ortega. Edward a former sheriff and entrepreneur is of Mexican descent. His wife Natalie who works as an emergency service nurse is a Mexican and Puerto Rican descent.
Jenna is a fourth born in a six-sibling family. Her siblings are namely; Isaac, Mariah, Mia, Markus and Aaliyah.
Jenna Ortega Career
Growing up in La Quinta, California, Jenna had already developed a passion for acting as early as the age of six. When she was nine, Ortega won the attention of a casting director who signed her to an agency after he watched a video of her performance.
At first Jenna struggled to get opportunities with no connections in the film industry. She was only limited to auditions and commercials. Ortega would eventually get a breakthrough, securing a role in Disney’s Stuck in the Middle (2016-2018). This prompted her to drop out of school while in Grade 8 and relocate to Los Angeles.
Acting debut and early roles (2012-2014)
Jenna made her acting debut in Rob in 2012. The following year, she made her film debut in the superhero film Iron Man 3. Here she took a minor role as the vice-president’s daughter. The film ranks among the all-time highest-grossing films. Later in 2013, she was part of the supporting cast in the horror film, Insidious: Chapter 2 which was also a big success at the box office.
The star actress had a recurring role on Jane the Virgin, a CW comedy television series from 2014 to 2019. She as well starred in comedy film The Little Rascals Save the Day in 2014 and Richie Rich, a Netflix series in 2015.
Disney and debut Award win (2014-2018)
Between 2014 and 2018, Jenna had a lead role in the Disney’s sitcom Stuck in the Middle. Here she acted as Harley Diaz, an investigative middle child of a seven-sibling family. The role won her three Imagen award nominations which included a Best Young Actor-Television win in 2018.
Mature projects (2019-2021)
After Stuck in the Middle, Ortega decided to take up more mature roles. She was cast in the second season of the Netflix series You released in 2019 as Ellie Alves and did extremely well. She later played in other successful films including The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020), Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous (2020-2022), Yes Day (2021) and The Fallout (2021).
International success (2022-present)
2022 proved to be the most fruitful year with regard to Ortega’s career. She played Tara Carpenter in the film Scream which became the 2022 28th highest-grossing film. She received a lot praise across all quarters for the prowess she portrayed in the film. Jenna as well won the MTV Movie Award for Most Frightened Performance.
Ortega starred in X (2022) deemed her best performance of the year and American Carnage considered her final; film release of 2022. The talented actress was cast in Netflix comedy-horror series “Wednesday” as Wednesday Addams. It earned her international fame and nominations for a number of awards. These include Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award as well as Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Ortega starred in the crime thriller film Finestkind (2023), as Mabel a drug dealer’s daughter looking for her own path in life.
Jenna Ortega Net Worth
The gifted actress has an estimated Net Worth of $5 million as of 2024.