Despite working in the entertainment industry for years, Jenna Ortega just recently got introduced to fame after her Netflix show Wednesday went global. However, while the premiere of her show surged her follower count on Instagram, Ortega claimed to be nowhere close to being famous.
While admitting how she never expected her Netflix show to get uber-popular and turn into a pop culture phenomenon, Jenna Ortega recalled her time when she was on Disney’s Stuck in the Middle. Confessing her difficult time with fans, the actress claimed that she lacked a backbone during her initial years in the industry.
Jenna Ortega Recalled Being Hackled By Fans
Although audiences are currently being introduced to Jenna Ortega through Netflix’s Wednesday, the young actress has actually been working with Disney for half of her life. Certainly, her Disney show, Stuck in the Middle, didn’t really help her boost her fame in the industry. However, it definitely got her some unwanted attention.
During an interview with Olivia Rodrigo for The Face outlet, Jenna Ortega recalled her horrible time with fans, before being a pop culture icon due to Wednesday. Discussing some of her intense fan moments, before appearing in the spotlight as the goth icon, Wednesday Addams, Ortega recalled her Disney and Scream era.
“My strangest ones are from our Disney days, where I’d go to the restroom, and someone would talk to me from underneath a stall” the actress stated.
Reminiscing her fair share of awkward fan encounters, the 20-year-old confessed how she was hackled by her followers in public places for autographs. “I was washing my hands, and someone grabbed me by the arm and took me to their son’s birthday party.” the actress shared. She further added, “and you don’t have enough of a backbone to say no!”.
Jenna Ortega Discussed Her Overnight Fame
While discussing how she previously lacked the backbone to refuse her fans, The Fallout actress claimed it didn’t change much since she still doesn’t consider herself popular. Well, to be precise, audiences streamed the comedy-horror series Wednesday for billions of hours, turning it into the second most popular English language series of all time. So if that doesn’t count as popularity, we don’t know what does.
However, the actress later admitted that she never expected the show to become a pop culture phenomenon, that would end up turning her into an overnight heartthrob. “I didn’t realize it at the time, and maybe that’s me being naive and lame because Tim Burton is attached to it, but I didn’t realize that so many people were going to care about the project,” Jenna Ortega shared.
In the end, irrespective of her Wednesday fame, the actress insisted that she still doesn’t consider herself famous. “In terms of being in public… I have nowhere near the attention that you do, so I don’t know how you deal with all that pressure” Ortega explained. She then added, “I’m not famous. I will say I think I’m getting recognized a bit more often, which is really weird. Really weird.”
Explaining why she doesn’t consider herself famous despite being a popular goth icon as the pigtailed teen Wednesday Addams, Jenna Ortega mentioned she has a long way to go.
Catch up with the comedy-horror series Wednesday on Netflix.
Source: The Face
