Few actors of her generation command the screen with the razor-sharp deadpan charisma, emotional vulnerability, and macabre magnetism of Jenna Ortega.
Transitioning from childhood roles on Disney and The CW into Hollywood’s premier modern “Scream Queen,” Ortega achieved global icon status when she donned the braided pigtails of Wednesday Addams in Tim Burton’s record-shattering Netflix phenomenon Wednesday. Her viral choreography, unblinking glare, and gothic timing earned her an Emmy nomination and established her as a generational tastemaker.
Beyond the supernatural realm, Ortega has delivered devastating dramatic turns in school-trauma drama The Fallout, anchored multi-million-dollar slasher revivals in the Scream franchise, held the center of Ti West’s 70s indie horror masterpiece X, and co-starred in Sabrina Carpenter’s viral comedy-splatter music video “Taste”.
Whether you are exploring our rankings of the 10 best Jenna Ortega SNL sketches, Sydney Sweeney’s top movies and TV shows, Ana de Armas’s greatest films, or the top 10 Margot Robbie movies ranked, here is the definitive countdown of the 10 best Jenna Ortega movies and TV shows of all time, complete with official posters, critical scores, and character breakdowns.
The 10 Best Jenna Ortega Projects at a Glance
★ 1. Wednesday (Netflix, 2022–present) — Created by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
★ 2. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) — Directed by Tim Burton
★ 3. Scream VI (2023) — Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett
★ 4. Scream (2022) — Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett
★ 5. The Fallout (2021) — Directed by Megan Park
★ 6. X (2022) — Directed by Ti West
★ 7. Jane the Virgin (The CW, 2014–2019) — Created by Jennie Snyder Urman
★ 8. Miller's Girl (2024) — Directed by Jade Halley Bartlett
★ 9. The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020) — Directed by McG
★ 10. Yes Day (2021) — Directed by Miguel Arteta
1. Wednesday (Netflix, 2022–present)
- Role: Wednesday Addams
- Co-stars: Emma Myers, Christina Ricci, Gwendoline Christie, Catherine Zeta-Jones
- Director/EP: Tim Burton
- Rotten Tomatoes / Audience Score: 73% / 85% (Emmy Nominated)
Accumulating over 1.2 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days to become Netflix’s most popular English-language television series of all time, Wednesday transformed Jenna Ortega from a rising star into a global cultural phenomenon. Taking over the iconic role previously defined by Christina Ricci, Ortega invented a hypnotic, unblinking physical performance grounded in deadpan gallows humor and sharp cello solos.
Her self-choreographed gothic dance to The Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck” sparked a viral sensation that took over TikTok with tens of millions of recreation videos worldwide. Beyond the viral memes, Ortega imbued Wednesday with subtle, earned vulnerability—particularly through her chalk-and-cheese roommate bond with Emma Myers’ Enid Sinclair. The role earned her nominations for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a SAG Award.
2. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
- Role: Astrid Deetz
- Co-stars: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux
- Director: Tim Burton
- Rotten Tomatoes: 77% / 80% (Audience)
Reuniting with director Tim Burton for the long-awaited sequel to the 1988 dark comedy classic, Ortega played Astrid Deetz, the cynical, estranged teenage daughter of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz. Grossing over \$430 million worldwide, the film proved that Ortega and Ryder shared electric screen chemistry as two generations of gothic nonconformists.
Ortega served as the emotional grounding rod for the film’s manic, claymation-fueled Netherworld slapstick. Her discovery of a ghost boyfriend and her perilous journey through the afterlife gave the sequel heart, firmly cementing her partnership with Tim Burton as modern Hollywood’s premier director-muse pairing.
3. Scream VI (2023)
- Role: Tara Carpenter
- Co-stars: Melissa Barrera, Courteney Cox, Hayden Panettiere, Jasmin Savoy Brown
- Director: Radio Silence (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett)
- Rotten Tomatoes: 76% / 91% (Audience)
Moving the slasher franchise from suburban Woodsboro to the crowded, claustrophobic subway cars and college dorms of New York City, Scream VI became the highest-grossing domestic installment of the entire franchise since the 1996 original. Ortega’s Tara Carpenter stepped into co-lead status, desperate to leave her traumatic past behind and live a normal college life.
Ortega brought blistering athletic intensity to the film’s brutal horror sequences—most notably a heart-stopping bodega shootout and the blood-soaked theater finale. Her emotional depth elevated Tara from a standard slasher survivor into an iconic Final Girl who fights back with vicious resolve.
4. Scream (2022)
- Role: Tara Carpenter
- Co-stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jack Quaid
- Director: Radio Silence
- Rotten Tomatoes: 76% / 81% (Audience)
In the 2022 franchise “requel,” Ortega delivered one of the most grueling, emotionally harrowing opening scenes in modern horror cinema. Reimagining Drew Barrymore’s legendary 1996 telephone prelude, Ortega’s Tara is quizzed on modern “elevated horror” by Ghostface before suffering brutal, bone-breaking physical attacks.
Miraculously surviving the opening sequence, Ortega spent the film giving a masterclass in post-traumatic terror, wheezing through an asthma inhaler while fighting off killers from a hospital wheelchair. Her performance immediately revitalized the franchise for a new generation.
5. The Fallout (2021)
- Role: Vada Cavell
- Co-stars: Maddie Ziegler, Julie Bowen, John Ortiz, Shailene Woodley
- Director: Megan Park
- Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Megan Park’s South by Southwest grand jury winner The Fallout remains Ortega’s most critically acclaimed performance to date. Portraying Vada Cavell, a high schooler navigating the quiet, disorienting psychological aftermath of surviving a school shooting, Ortega delivered a performance of devastating nuance and authenticity.
Avoiding melodrama, Ortega explored the numbness, guilt, substance experimentation, and fragile adolescent intimacy that follows catastrophic community trauma. The film’s final panic-attack sequence on a city sidewalk is a gut-wrenching tour de force that proved her immense dramatic depth.
6. X (2022)
- Role: Lorraine Day
- Co-stars: Mia Goth, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow
- Director: Ti West
- Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
In Ti West’s critically revered A24 retro slasher set on a rural Texas farm in 1979, Ortega played Lorraine Day, the quiet, conservative Christian boom operator on an adult film crew. As the elderly farm owners begin massacring the production team, Lorraine experiences both moral curiosity and terrifying primal screams.
Ortega’s blood-curdling, cinema-shaking scream inside a pitch-black cellar became an instant horror gif staple, helping establish X as a modern horror classic that launched Ti West’s celebrated trilogy.
7. Jane the Virgin (The CW, 2014–2019)
- Role: Young Jane Villanueva
- Co-stars: Gina Rodriguez, Andrea Navedo, Justin Baldoni
- Creator: Jennie Snyder Urman
- Rotten Tomatoes: 100% (Series Average)
Appearing across 27 episodes as the younger counterpart to Gina Rodriguez’s titular heroine, Ortega was the heart of the show’s rich flashback sequences. Depicting Jane’s early formative memories with her grandmother and mother, Ortega displayed remarkable emotional maturity and comedic charm at a young age.
Her work on the critically acclaimed telenovela parody gave Ortega the rigorous multi-camera comedic foundation that she later brought to Studio 8H and network comedy.
8. Miller’s Girl (2024)
- Role: Cairo Sweet
- Co-stars: Martin Freeman, Dagmara Domińczyk
- Director: Jade Halley Bartlett
- Rotten Tomatoes: 29% / 42% (Audience)
In this provocative, Southern gothic psychological drama, Ortega played Cairo Sweet, a precocious, wealthy high school senior who engages in an intellectually dangerous creative writing game of cat-and-mouse with her creative writing teacher (Martin Freeman).
While the film’s controversial narrative divided critics, Ortega brought chilling intellectual confidence, seductive ambiguity, and razor-sharp line delivery to a challenging, morally gray protagonist.
9. The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020)
- Role: Phoebe Atwell
- Co-stars: Judah Lewis, Emily Alyn Lind, Bella Thorne, Robbie Amell
- Director: McG
- Rotten Tomatoes: 48% / 60% (Audience)
In McG’s high-octane, blood-splattered Netflix comedy horror sequel, Ortega brought bad-girl alternative attitude as Phoebe Atwell, an eccentric new classmate harboring her own traumatic secrets who teams up with Judah Lewis to battle a resurrected satanic cult.
Wielding jet skis, flare guns, and dry one-liners, Ortega provided the anarchic energy that grounded the sequel’s absurd cartoon violence, proving her natural talent in comedic horror hybrids.
10. Yes Day (2021)
- Role: Katie Torres
- Co-stars: Jennifer Garner, Édgar Ramírez
- Director: Miguel Arteta
- Rotten Tomatoes: 52% / 61% (Audience)
In this charming Netflix family comedy, Ortega starred as Katie Torres, a rebellious 14-year-old yearning for teenage independence from her protective parents (Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramírez) during a 24-hour day where parents must say “yes” to every request.
Ortega displayed authentic adolescent petulance alongside genuine warmth, sharing touching mother-daughter chemistry with Jennifer Garner that propelled the movie to over 62 million household views within its first four weeks.
Jenna Ortega Career Comparison Table
| Rank | Project Title | Year | Platform / Studio | Character | RT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wednesday | 2022– | Netflix Series | Wednesday Addams | 73% (Emmy Nom) |
| 2 | Beetlejuice Beetlejuice | 2024 | Warner Bros. | Astrid Deetz | 77% |
| 3 | Scream VI | 2023 | Paramount | Tara Carpenter | 76% |
| 4 | Scream | 2022 | Paramount | Tara Carpenter | 76% |
| 5 | The Fallout | 2021 | Warner Bros. / Max | Vada Cavell | 93% |
| 6 | X | 2022 | A24 | Lorraine Day | 94% |
| 7 | Jane the Virgin | 2014–19 | The CW Series | Young Jane | 100% |
| 8 | Miller’s Girl | 2024 | Lionsgate | Cairo Sweet | 42% (Aud) |
| 9 | The Babysitter: Killer Queen | 2020 | Netflix | Phoebe Atwell | 60% (Aud) |
| 10 | Yes Day | 2021 | Netflix | Katie Torres | 61% (Aud) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Jenna Ortega choreograph the viral Wednesday dance?
Yes! Jenna Ortega personally choreographed the iconic gothic dance in Episode 4 of Wednesday herself, drawing inspiration from 1980s goth club archival footage, Siouxsie Sioux, and vintage rock performances.
Is Jenna Ortega returning for Wednesday Season 2?
Yes! Jenna Ortega will reprise her titular role as Wednesday Addams and is also serving as an executive producer on Wednesday Season 2, steering the series toward darker horror elements and fewer teen love triangles.
What was Jenna Ortega’s role in Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste” video?
Jenna Ortega co-starred opposite pop star Sabrina Carpenter in the camp-horror music video for “Taste” (2024), engaging in an escalating, blood-soaked slapstick murder battle that paid homage to the 1992 cult classic Death Becomes Her.
Why did Jenna Ortega leave the Scream franchise?
Due to production scheduling conflicts with filming Wednesday Season 2 in Ireland, Jenna Ortega was unable to return for Scream 7, concluding her celebrated four-film run as modern cinema’s preeminent Final Girl.