1 of Jenna Ortega’s First Acting Jobs Was Playing Young Gina Rodriguez on ‘Jane the Virgin’
Jenna Ortega portrayed “Young Jane” in Jane the Virgin, acting as the younger version of Gina Rodriguez’ character. Years later, the Wednesday actor commented on her experience with the series, as well as her relationship with Rodriguez.
Jenna Ortega appeared in ‘Jane the Virgin’ as young Jane Villanueva
Jane the Virgin viewers knew Ortega before her “Bloody Mary” TikTok fame. Jane the Virgin, which premiered in 2014, starred Gina Rodriguez as the title character. The telenovela-style series followed Jane after an accidental Insemination, now caught in a love triangle despite not wanting to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
Some scenes featured flashbacks/daydreams of Jane as a child. For those scenes, Ortega acted as young Jane Villanueva. According to her IMDb, she appeared as “young Jane” in 30 episodes, with the series officially ending in 2019.
“[Gina Rodriguez] is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet and I think she’s a great role model for young Latinas like me,” Ortega said during a 2016 Bustle interview.
“When I first started acting, there weren’t a lot of roles for Latinas out there,” she continued in the same interview. Now opportunities are growing and I’m seeing all of these Latinas rise and it makes me happy.”
Is Jenna Ortega related to her ‘Jane the Virgin’ co-star, Gina Rodriguez?
Jenna Ortega was just 11 years old when she first appeared in Jane the Virgin. During her WIRED Auto-Complete interview, the actor mentioned her work on Jane the Virgin. She answered the questions regarding her relationship with Rodriguez, confirming that the two are not blood relatives.
“Unfortunately no,” Ortega said. “People might be asking if I’m related to Gina because I played a younger version of her on Jane the Virgin. It was one of the first jobs that I ever did.”
“And I also think people always love when people see each other in projects that are related and they’re actually related,” she added. “It’s like a nice fun fact. I’m giving no one that satisfaction with this answer.”
Now, Jane the Virgin is available for streaming on Netflix, as is the original series Wednesday, starring Ortega.
Movies and TV Shows starring Jenna Ortega
Ortega starred in other movies and TV shows, most recently Netflix’s original Wednesday. She appeared as Wednesday Addams, tackling an already-established character for the first time. Since its release, this series has become one of Netflix’s most popular originals, with one dance sequence quickly becoming a TikTok trend.
This wouldn’t be the first time Ortega worked with Netflix, as she appeared in season 2 of the thriller series You. She also acted in the March 2022 feature film X. One of her next projects will be Scream 6. Fans recently saw the actor in the trailer for the 2023 release.
