Jenna Marie Ortega was born on September 27, 2002 in Coachella Valley, California to Edward and Natalie Ortega. Her father is Mexican, while her mother is Mexican and Puerto Rican. Jenna grew up in California with her four siblings, Markus, Isaac, Mia, and Aaliyah. When she was six, Jenna developed an interest in acting, but because she was so young, her parents wouldn’t let her but her mother decided to purchase a monologue book to keep her occupied. Not long after, Jenna memorized one of the monologues and performed it, she was asked to do it once more and her mother recorded it and the video was seen by a casting director, which in turn would encourage Jenna to get an agent and begin to audition.

When Jenna was only ten years old, she made her acting debut in an episode of the of the sitcom Rob, starring Rob Schneider and Cheech Marin. Also in 2012, she portrayed Aimee Moore in an episode of CSI: NY in its ninth season. The next year, Jenna was in an episode of the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives as Hayley, and well as playing the Little Girl in two episodes of the television mini series Deadtime Stories. She would make her film debut as the Vice President’s Daughter in Iron Man 3, followed closely by Annie in the triller Insidious: Chapter 2. 2014 brought her to The Little Rascals Save the Day, a straight-to-video retelling of the classic television series, playing Mary Ann. Jenna booked her first recurring role on the comedic drama Rake, a series following an outspoken and self-destructive criminal defense lawyer who takes on the most challenging cases. She portrayed Zoe Leon alongside Greg Kinnear, Miranda Otto, and John Ortiz. 2014 brought many other television appearances such as Know It All Nina, OMG!, and Over the Garden Wall, not to mention the beginning of a five-season role on the popular series Jane the Virgin, playing Young Jane to Gina Rodriguez.

Jenna continued working in television in 2015, portraying Darcy in the Netflix comedy Richie Rich alongside Jake Brennan and Lauren Taylor. She would also portray Elena Mendoza in the television movie The Massively Mixed-Up Middle School Mystery and Anna in the drama After Words starring Marcia Gay Harden. Jenna revealed while shooting After Words, she began learning what everyone on a film set does for the shoot. In 2016, Jenna landed the role of Harley Diaz on the Disney Channel Original Series Stuck in the Middle. Jenna stars as a teenager who maneuvers her way through the bustle of being the middle child of seven siblings. In 2018, she would win Best Young Actor in Television at the Imagen Awards for her performance. She starred in Jacob Sartorius’ music video for “Chapstick” in 2017, followed by voicing Princess Isabel in Elena of Avalon, a Disney Channel animated series following the princess who saves her kingdom for an evil sorceress and learns to rule as its crowned princess. The series brought two additional mini series, 2017’s Elena of Avalon: Adventures in Vallestrella and Elena of Avalon: Discovering the Magic Within. She would also take home an award for Best Children’s Programming at the 2018 Imagen Awards for her contribution to the series.

Jenna guest starred in an episode of Bizarrdvark as Izzy and performed a female power anthem alongside fellow Disney Channel stars Meg Donnelly, Madison Hu, Sky Katz, and Olivia Rodrigo just to name a few for the song “Legendary”. Saving Flora became her next film, playing the role of Dawn in the family drama about saving a circus elephant from being euthanized and being hunted on an elephant preserve. Jenna also portrayed the role of Elena in the television movie Man of the House, also starring Leslie Bibb and Alyson Hannigan. She starred in the short film Girl Code as Olivia in 2019 before her next film Wyrm and voicing Gabriella Espinoza for the animated series Big City Greens, as well as having the recurring role of Ellie Alves in the popular Netflix series You, starring Penn Badgley.

Continuing on in 2020, Jenna was part of the cast in the Netflix sequel The Babysitter: Killer Queen playing Phoebe alongside Samara Weaving, Bella Thorne, and Robbie Amell. She would also go on to voice the character of Brooklynn for the animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and also performed as Princess Buttercup in a home movie remake of The Princess Bride during quarantine. Jenna went back to film in 2021 with the family comedy Yes Day, a film following two parents who usually say no decide to say yes to their kids’ wildest requests on a whirlwind day of fun and adventure. She plays Katie Torres opposite Jennifer Garner and Edgar Ramirez. She starred as Vada Cavell in the drama The Fallout, following her character as she navigates the emotional fallout she experiences in the wake of a school tragedy. Relationships with her family, friends and view of the world are forever altered.

2022 brought Jenna into Woodsboro, California for the fifth installment of the Scream series, where she portrays Tara Carpenter next to Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. She would win a moon man at the MTV Movie & TV Awards for Most Frightened Performance in the film. She continued on by appearing in the horror comedy Studio 666 with the Foo Fighters as Skye Willow. Jenna starred alongside Mia Goth and Brittany Snow as Lorraine in X, a thriller following young filmmakers in 1979 who set out to make an adult film in rural Texas. She would also star in the horror comedy American Carnage as Camilla. Jenna’s next project would be her largest to date, where she would portray the infamous Wednesday Addams in Tim Burton’s reimagining series Wednesday for Netflix, which follows her to a boarding school for gifted children, which also happens to be where her parents went. Her performance garnered her acclaim, with critics deeming her performance the best rendition of the character. The series broke the record for most viewing time in a single week for an English-language series on the streaming service with 411.29 million hours of viewing worldwide in its first week alone and shot itself into Netflix’s All-Time Series Chart within its first two weeks, landing at No. 3.

Jenna’s upcoming projects include Scream 6 where she’ll reprise her role as Tara Carpenter as well as starring in the thriller Finestfind opposite Ben Foster and Tommy Lee Jones. Both films are currently in post-production. She will also star alongside Martin Freeman in Miller’s Girl, a comedic drama about a creative writing assignment yields complex results between a teacher and his talented student.

In honor of her late grandfather, Jenna is a proud ambassador for UNAIDS, the leading global effort to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. She works closely with UNAIDS to help raise awareness and eliminate the stigma surrounding AIDS. Jenna is also a supporter of Pride over Prejudice, a campaign that promotes acceptance toward the LGBTQA+ community.

She enjoys reading, tumbling, and playing soccer, as well as spending time with her dogs Brooklyn and Anna.