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Jenna Ortega nationality: Where is the Wednesday Addams star from?

Jenna Ortega stars as the title character in the new Wednesday series on Netflix. Where is the Wednesday Addams star from?

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Wednesday has just arrived on Netflix and the drama follows the gothic teen as she joins Nevermore Academy. Actress Jenna Ortega said she was keen to accept the role as it shone a light on her heritage. Express.co.uk has all you need to know about the star’s nationality.

What is Jenna Ortega’s nationality?

Jenna, 20, began her career as a child actress in the series Jane the Virgin and Stuck in the Middle.

In more recent years, she appeared as Ellie Alves in the second season of Netflix’s You.

Viewers may also recognise her from The Fallout and the slasher film Scream.

The actress is American, having been born in Coachella Valley, California, in September 2002.

However, her father is of Mexican descent and her mother is Mexican and Puerto Rican.

Jenna Ortega: The star plays Wednesday Addams
Jenna Ortega: The actress is American (Image: NETFLIX)

The star said she was excited to explore Latina culture in the Wednesday series.

She said: “Honestly, a big part of the reason why I did the show in the first place is because Wednesday is a Latina character, and that’s never been represented.

“Any time that I have an opportunity to represent my community or give other girls that look like me some relatability or connection on screen, I think that’s really important.

“Not only just for building confidence and self-esteem, but for anybody who has a creative mind or is an artist of some sort.”

The actress said it was vital to bring parts of herself to the character.

Jenna Ortega: The star embraced her Latina heritage (Image: WIREIMAGE)

Speaking to Refinery 29, she said: “We both love our families very much.

“I’ll do absolutely anything for them, but we’re very rough on each other.

“It’s very common for Latine families to kind of be aggressive with one another, but you know the love was there, and respect is there, and that plays into my Wednesday.”

She said the iconic role has helped her understand how her portrayal impacts the Latina community.

The star added: “As someone who struggled to see themselves represented in film and TV growing up, anytime I can take the chance to do a character like this and have her represent my community like Raúl Juliá in the ‘90s, that’s really empowering.”

Jenna Ortega: Wednesday is close to Jenna’s heart (Image: NETFLIX)

The role of Wednesday Addams has previously been played by Christina Ricci, who had Italian relatives four or five generations back in her family.

Lisa Loring played the role in the 60s and she is American.

Nicole Fugere, from Oregon, played the character in The New Addams Family and Addams Family Reunion.

Showrunner Alfred Gough explained how important it was to explore Wednesday’s Latina culture in the latest adaptation.

He said: “It was very important to us that we make the character authentic.

“Given that her father is called Gomez, we wanted to explore the idea of Wednesday’s Latino heritage.

“Although Wednesday was born in America, the culture of her father resonates through her life and the series.

“We see glimpses of that culture in subtle ways. For example, in some of the records Wednesday plays on her gramophone.

“This aspect of the show is something we discussed with Netflix very early on and allowed us to focus our casting choices.

“Once we found Jenna Ortega we brought her into the creative circle.”

Wednesday is on Netflix now.

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