Jenna Ortega

• Breakthrough television role: Portrays Wednesday Addams in Netflix's Wednesday, which premiered on November 23, 2022 and became one of Netflix's most-watched English-language series; the role brought Ortega her first Emmy nomination.
• Award nomination: Nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards (2023) for Wednesday; per Entertainment Tonight, the second-youngest woman ever nominated in that category. Also nominated for a Golden Globe (2023) and a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role.
• Film role: Played Tara Carpenter in Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023); won the 2022 MTV Movie + TV Award for Most Frightened Performance for Scream.
• Film role: Played Astrid Deetz in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024); won the 2025 Saturn Award for Best Younger Performer in a Film.
• Early career: Starred in Disney Channel's Stuck in the Middle; won the 2018 Imagen Award for Best Young Actor - Television for the series.

Performance style

• Deadpan delivery and comic timing — Critics have highlighted Ortega's "steely deadpan and hilarious, sardonic one-liners" (TheWrap, via Rotten Tomatoes' critics roundup), Radio Times noted she has "further honed it to perfection, especially when it comes to minute changes in the character's incredibly stoic physicality", and IndieWire described a performance "as precise as her character is pliable".
• Stillness and physical control — Ortega has described treating posture, chin tilt, stillness, and not blinking as deliberate character choices; Tim Burton told The Hollywood Reporter that her sense of "how far you can go" with the character is crucial to keeping the show from veering away from who Wednesday is.
• Physical preparation for the role — For Season 1, Ortega learned cello (performing a solo arrangement of "Paint It Black" on screen), fencing, and German, and told a Netflix Q&A (reported by Variety and republished by ScreenRant and SlashFilm) that she was "adamant about being as well prepared as possible" so her own face could be used instead of doubles.

Reception

• Wednesday Season 1 (2022): Ortega's performance received critical acclaim and earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award (Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series), the Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild Award; journalists have credited the show with garnering Ortega international recognition.
• Wednesday Season 2, Part 1 (2025): Mixed-to-positive: Variety's Aramide Tinubu praised Ortega's "commanding control" of the character and wrote she is "leading the charge"; The Guardian's Sarah Dempster wrote her "charisma could power a thousand hearses"; The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg argued the star gets "lost" in the season's overcrowded Addams Family ensemble.

Cast they appear alongside

• Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair (Wednesday) — Wednesday's roommate; identified by The Hollywood Reporter as the first season's other breakout.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams (Wednesday) — Plays Wednesday's mother.
• Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams (Wednesday) — Plays Wednesday's father.
• Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin (Wednesday) — Season 1's central antagonist reveal.
• Victor Dorobantu as Thing (Wednesday) — Plays the Addams family's sentient hand, Wednesday's constant companion.
• Christina Ricci as Marilyn Thornhill (Wednesday) — Played Wednesday Addams in the 1991-1993 Addams Family films; her casting connects the series to the franchise's earlier era.

Who plays Wednesday Addams in Wednesday?

Jenna Ortega, an American actress who began her career as a Disney Channel child actor, portrays Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series. She was cast in 2021 and the series premiered on November 23, 2022.

Did Jenna Ortega win an Emmy for Wednesday?

No. She was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards (2023), becoming the second-youngest woman ever nominated in the category, and also received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for the role. Her awards for playing Wednesday include the 2023 MTV Movie + TV Award for Best Performance in a Show and a Saturn Award.

What movies has Jenna Ortega been in?

Her best-known films include Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023) as Tara Carpenter, X (2022), The Fallout (2021) as Vada, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) as Astrid Deetz.

When did Jenna Ortega start playing Wednesday Addams?

The series premiered on Netflix on November 23, 2022. Ortega reprised the role in Season 2, which was released in two parts on August 6 and September 3, 2025, and the series has been renewed for a third season.

What did Jenna Ortega learn for the role of Wednesday?

For Season 1 she learned cello (performing a solo arrangement of "Paint It Black" on screen), fencing, and German, and said she was "adamant about being as well prepared as possible" so her own face could be used in place of doubles in performance scenes.

• Wednesday — show hub
• Wednesday cast guide
• All Actors & Cast
• Adam Scott
• Billie Piper
• Britt Lower
• Catherine Zeta-Jones
• Christina Ricci
• Christopher Walken
• Dichen Lachman
• Emma D'Arcy
• Emma Myers
• Evie Templeton
• Fred Armisen
• Georgie Farmer
• Gwendoline Christie
• Hunter Doohan
• Isaac Ordonez
• Jamie McShane
• Jen Tullock
• Joanna Lumley
• John Turturro
• Joy Sunday
• Justin Hartley
• Luis Guzman
• Moosa Mostafa
• Patricia Arquette
• Percy Hynes White
• Riki Lindhome
• Sarah Bock
• Steve Buscemi
• Thandiwe Newton
• Tramell Tillman
• Victor Dorobantu
• Zach Cherry