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9 Jenna Ortega Fun Facts For Wednesday Fans

She's the best thing about the show... but there's a lot more to the star of Wednesday than you might expect! Check out these fun facts to see for yourself!

We all know that the best thing about Wednesday isn't Lurch or the Thing - it's Jenna Ortega's acting! As well as coming up with that dance, Jenna has proven herself to be the perfect actor for the show. But how much do you really know about her? Wednesday makes a lot more sense when you know where Jenna came from and where she's headed… so let's swot up on a few Jenna Ortega fun facts!

Let's go!

1. She's been acting a long time

Jenna has been in the business since she was only 9 years old! Her mum actually posted a video of her acting on Facebook and an agent got in touch... From there, she's worked on loads of Disney channel shows, before getting her big break. So even though she has a long career in front of her, nobody can say she's not got any acting experience!

2. She was Disney's first ever Latina Princess

Jenna made history by voicing the character Isabel in Disney Channel's animated series, Elena of Avalor. The show features Disney's first Latina princess. As someone descended from immigrants, Jenna Ortega is passionate about showing how Western countries like the USA and Britain are improved by people moving here.

3. She was a "weirdo" as a kid

Weirdo was her word, not ours! Jenna has said in interviews that she always felt like the odd one at school. And to be fair, she did have some quite strange hobbies. One of them was dissecting dead animals, especially the lizards she would find around her house. Woah! It probably is quite interesting, you know, for science - but wow Jenna. That's intense. No wonder she got cast as Wednesday Addams!

4. She was vegan before Wednesday

On the subject of Wednesday, Jenna was actually vegan for a long time before she started filming the Netflix show. But as the filming took place in Romania, she found it really hard to get nice vegan food... so ended up eating fish again (this makes her a pescatarian). She said she'll probably go back to a vegan diet again soon.

5. She has a lot of brothers and sisters

A family watching Disney +
Disney

Jenna is one of 5 kids - that's a big family! So as well as mum and dad, there's brothers Isaac and Marcus, and sisters Aaliyah, Mariah, Mia (and Jenna of course). She has brothers and sisters older and younger than her. In one of her early TV shows she played a kid who was the middle child of the family, so she miust have had lots of personal experiences to draw on.

6. She does a lot of charity work

A heart shaped piece of card being dropped into a piggy bank slot

Jenna is an Ambassador for UNAIDS, the international AIDS charity. Her grandfather actually died of AIDS, so there is a personal and family reason she feels so involved. With her job she has lots of opportunities to raise the profile of UNAIDS and help drum up support. She is passionate about lot of other issues too, and has even written a book that talks about some of them.

7. She learned lots of new things for Wednesday

Wednesday | MGM | Tim Burton Productions | Netflix

Lots of people know that Jenna choreographed her own dance scene in Wednesday - but that dance wasn't the only thing she learnt off her own back! She also learnt how to speak German, play the cello, learn how to canoe... and do sword fighting! Very impressive.

8. She likes Stranger Things (and chocolate)

It's no surprise that Jenna like scary TV shows - and Stranger Things is at the top of her list of favourites. So she must have been extra excited when Wednesday beat season 4 of Stranger Things to be Netflix's most watched show! And that was just one of the records that Wednesday broke. Oh, and she also wants everyone to know how much she likes chocolate. Fair enough.

9. She's winning lots of awards

She's been nominated for the 2023 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy TV Series. She’s being recognised alongside loads of other big stars like Quinta Brunson Kaley Cuoco, Selena Gomez and Jean Smart. We're sure that this is just the start for her too - and lots more awards will soon start heading her way. Oscar, maybe? One day!

Vampire Chair

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