For actors who begin their careers in childhood, moving from one television production to another can become the rhythm of their professional lives long before they have the opportunity to decide what they want beyond it. As their careers grow, the challenge is not always finding the next project, but making room to discover what kind of work they want to pursue next.
Jenna Ortega has experienced both sides of that journey. Having started acting as a child and built her career through television, she became an international star with Netflix’s Wednesday. The series has since become one of the platform’s biggest hits, but the actor is now looking beyond television for her next chapter.
In an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ortega said she would probably step away from television for a while once Wednesday concludes. “What I’m meant to do will come and find me,” she said, adding, “I think after ‘Wednesday,’ I’ll probably be off the TV for a while.” She explained that, after years of moving between shows as a child, she wanted to leave room for new experiences.
The decision does not signal an end to her acting career. Rather, Ortega appears keen to explore opportunities outside the format that occupied much of her early professional life. She also said she had not had many conversations about joining another franchise, suggesting that she is not in a hurry to commit to another long-running property.
Ortega’s relationship with television began with appearances in shows such as CSI: NY and Jane the Virgin, before she gained wider recognition through Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle. She later appeared in Netflix’s thriller You, playing Ellie Alves, before taking on the role of Wednesday Addams in Tim Burton’s adaptation of the Addams Family universe. The 2022 series transformed her into a global star, with her deadpan portrayal of the gothic teenager becoming a pop-culture phenomenon.
Her plans beyond television are already taking shape through cinema. Ortega stars in Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel in which she plays an artificial friend designed to support a human child. She is also attached to JJ Abrams’ upcoming science-fiction film The Great Beyond, alongside Glen Powell and Emma Mackey. These projects offer her opportunities to move between genres and characters rather than remain associated with one television role.
For now, however, Wednesday Addams is not going anywhere. Netflix announced in September that production on the third season had wrapped, with the new instalment expected in 2027. The upcoming season will feature returning cast members alongside newcomers including Eva Green and Winona Ryder. Ortega’s comments concern what she wants to do after the series, rather than an early departure from it.
