Learning To Be Famous

Jenna Ortega Goes Off-The-Grid to Stay Grounded

Jenna Ortega is GEN Z's Scream Queen, no doubt about that. After Wednesday and Scream VI, who wouldn't be famous? Wednesday is the second-most-popular English-language series on Netflix to date, and for an introvert, there's a lot to take. In her most recent Elle cover interview, Jenna was said to have a small circle of friends and revealed that she prefers the behind the scene jobs of filmmaking rather than being on the red carpet. "If I want to make films so badly and play characters or direct and write film scores, I could do that all in my backyard. I don't have to be doing it on a grand scale like this," she says. What pushes her forward is the chance to work with the best. "But ultimately, all the other side stuff that comes with my job sometimes makes it feel like it's almost not worth it. I don't want to feel like a walking billboard, which is scary because I feel less and less in control of my life. I feel like I've seen a lot of people or know people who have succumbed to that pressure. I don't want to belong to anyone or anything."

With 39 million followers on Instagram, we can only hope she constantly manages the demands of being in the public eye. As Ortega prepares for Wednesday's second season, she's giving herself time for some R&R. "There's a month of this year that I want to take off, and I've made it very clear that I'm going to take this month off. I'm going to travel; I just got a flip phone; I'm just going to hide for a while," she says cheerfully. "I have to work around my schedule to keep that month open. A part of it is stressful because it's like, "Oh my God, can I tell this director that I don't want to work these two weeks? Can I?? I don't know, but I also make the rules."