‘You’: Jenna Ortega Worried She’d Be Fired on the Spot
You is officially back for season 4, and fans of the Netflix series are eating it up thus far. And while there are plenty of new characters for viewers to explore, many are still nostalgic for some old favorites. Jenna Ortega’s Ellie Alves, for example, is someone who continues to come up time and time again. Though Ellie was only briefly mentioned in season 3, her impact on the sophomore season of the hit show makes fans hopeful she’ll reappear.
‘You’ was one of Jenna Ortega’s first post-Disney acting jobs
It’s no secret that Ortega did a great job bringing Ellie to life. Her portrayal of the bitingly intelligent teen made her a standout in season 2. And while she did a great job with the role, the Wednesday star was initially very nervous about nailing the part. Prior to working on You, Ortega was best known for her lead role on the Disney Channel show Stuck in the Middle. Playing Ellie marked her first foray into more adult material, and Ortega put a lot of pressure on herself to do the role justice.
Why was the actor worried she’d be fired from ‘You’ season 2?
While speaking with Popsugar, Ortega got candid about the fear she felt prior to filming You. “I remember when we did the first table read for the first script, I was so nervous,” she explained. “I was like, what if I go in there and I am terrible, and they just fire me on the spot? What if nobody enjoys it?” Interestingly enough, this wasn’t the first time in Ortega’s career that she felt worried about being fired. The Fallout star expressed similar sentiments about working on Jane the Virgin and feeling like she’d be fired if she wasn’t always giving 110% and being professional.
How Penn Badgley helped Ortega relax
So how did Ortega overcome her fears on the set of You? Turns out she has her fellow co-star, Penn Badgley, to thank for helping her feel a little more relaxed. After receiving some positive reinforcement from the No. 1 on the call sheet, she was able to chill out a bit. “But after I did some reads with Penn, he looked at me and was like, ‘You know what? I am so charmed by you,'” Ortega recalled. “Right when he said that, I could just feel my body relax at last, and I was like, alright, it is going to be cool.”
Does Ortega want to reprise her role of Ellie Alves in future seasons of ‘You’?
With Ortega’s talent, we highly doubt that she was ever in any danger of being fired from You. In fact, fans are all but demanding that she come back for future episodes. Given the number of projects that Ortega has in the works, it could prove challenging for her to reprise her role on You. That said, the Scream star has shared that she’d love to come back as long as Ellie is still the powerful character that she was in season 2.
“I hope Ellie comes back as even more of a bada*s than she already is,” Ortega shared about returning to You. “I feel like she is so powerful, and I don’t want her to ever come back as a weak link because, for me, I want strong, empowering female characters. It is hard when you have this white Caucasian male who is a serial killer and gets away with everything that he does because he is privileged and is leading the show. I just know that if/when Ellie comes back, she has to come back more powerful than ever, and I seriously want her to be a threat to Joe. Whether that puts her in danger or not, I don’t care as long as she is somebody that people can feel strongly about and be proud to stand behind.”
