Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ Star Jenna Ortega Says “Mexican People Are Considered A Risk” In Hollywood Due To America’s Current Sociopolitical Climate
In the opinion of Netflix’s Wednesday star Jenna Ortega, the current sociopolitical climate in America has grown generally unfavorable towards Mexican individuals.
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The actress offered her take on the current state of America while speaking to Vanity Fair‘s Michelle Ruiz in promotion of her upcoming starring role in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Reflecting on her incarnation of Wednesday Addams having Latino heritage, Ortega asserted that the reason she particularly liked how her character’s background was treated on the show was because it was “not being shoved down your throat.”
“There’s nothing worse than when they have the side Mexican character who’s carrying the flag on their shoulder,” she opined. “We’re so much more than that.”
Further delving into her thoughts on Latino representation in Hollywood, the actress then noted that, at least in her experience, the fact that actors from said background can actually carry projects “has not made it through studios’ heads”.
“There needs to be a little more faith in what we bring to the table,” Ortega told Ruiz. “Maybe that means all of us banding together a little bit more and creating these projects for ourselves. I would love to be able to craft stories that show how powerful we can be.”
Having turned to the topic of being Mexican in Hollywood, the actress then took a moment to criticize how, thanks to what she attributed to a growing anti-immigrant sentiment in America, “It’s so corny, but in terms of the land of the free, home of the brave…Mexican people are considered a risk.”
“Even the term ‘alien’ is insane when we’re speaking about human beings,” she added.
In an interesting aside, despite her above opinions clearly indicating that she holds very clear liberal leanings, even Ortega believes that ‘political correctness’, particularly in Hollywood, has gone way overboard.
“The business that we work in is so touchy-feely,” said the actress in defense of her vocal support for Palestine amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. “Everybody wants to be politically correct, but I feel like, in doing that, we lose a lot of our humanity and integrity, because it lacks honesty.”
“I wish that we had a better sense of conversation,” she concluded. “Imagine if everyone could say what they felt and not be judged for it and, if anything, it sparked some sort of debate, not an argument.”
Ortega’s next project, the aformentioned Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, is currently set to spook theatergoers on September 6th.
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