Jenna Ortega discusses being Latina & embracing her culture

Jenna Ortega is one of our most exciting young actors. The 19-year-old of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent talked about her experience growing up Latina, and how she spent her formative years surrounded by the Hispanic community. She also discussed her critcally acclaimed performance in the film “The Fallout,” and the heavy topics the film takes on.

In an interview with Deadline, Ortega discussed her heritage and what that has meant for her career. “Being Latina has always been really, really lovely for me,” she said. “It’s something that I’m very proud of. I grew up in a community [Coachella Valley, California] surrounded by all kinds of Hispanics, which was really wonderful because I never grew up with any sort of shame or any sort of fear of my culture.”

When discussing representation onscreen, Ortega mentioned how important it was early on in her career for her to get parts that show Latinos in roles that lean away from stereotypes. “I always got really excited when I got those jobs that were open ethnicity or maybe initially meant for a Caucasian actor… I do want to open the doors for as many Latin people as possible, just because we’re a beautiful community and we should be celebrated. The Latin community only take up three percent of all representation shown across television and film media. The TV world, the film world, should reflect what the real world looks like.”

Ortega also discussed her role in the film “The Fallout,” which depicts the aftermath of a school shooting and how that impacts the young survivors. It’s a grueling film, one that lingers on the impact of the violence on young people without focusing on the shooting itself.

“A project like this, it’s so relevant and it’s so unfortunately real that I think it was a bit nerve wracking because obviously I only want to be respectful to anybody who’s ever experienced anything like this before. It’s a very sensitive topic,” Ortega said. She also shared her experience growing up in a time when school shootings are an all too real experience for kids and teens, something they must face every day in school. “When I was in eighth grade, we had an active shooter drill that was supposed to take place after lunch. And as soon as lunch began, the alarm system went off and the teachers ushered all the students into our main auditorium,” she said. “We didn’t realize it was actually a real situation. And apparently a student had brought a gun on campus and was showing people. The police came, they escorted the student out and it was a whole big deal.”

“The Fallout” is streaming on HBO Max. Ortega will soon star in a variety of prestigious projects, including “Wednesday,” the Netflix series where she’ll play the lead character, and “Scream 6.”

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