Jenna Ortega is considering retiring from television productions for a while after the end of “Wednesday“, the Netflix series that made her one of the most recognizable young actresses in the world. The 24-year-old star clarified that the decision does not mean an imminent departure from the role of Wednesday Addams.
“After “Wednesday“ I will probably retire from television for a while,“ Ortega says on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast. The actress explains that much of her childhood and adolescence was spent between different television productions and now she wants to make room for other creative opportunities.
“I want to make time for new things“, points out Jenna Ortega. According to her, she is not in many talks about joining the next big franchise and prefers not to plan her career solely around large-scale commercial productions.
The statement comes just weeks after the filming of the third season of “Wednesday“ was completed. Netflix confirmed on September 30 that production was completed, but has not yet announced when the new episodes will be released. The series was renewed for a third season even before the premiere of the second.
Jenna Ortega reprises the lead role and remains an executive producer. Catherine Zeta-Jones returns as Morticia Addams, Luis Guzman as Gomez, and Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley. Among the familiar faces are also Emma Myers, Fred Armisen, Hunter Doone and Joanna Lumley.
The new additions are of particular interest. French actress Eva Green will play Ophelia Frump, Morticia's sister and Wednesday's aunt. Winona Ryder also joins the cast for season 3, which reunites her with Jenna Ortega and director Tim Burton after “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice“. Among the new names are Lena Headey, Chris Sarandon, Noah Taylor and James Lance.
The creators and showrunners of “Wednesday“ are Alfred Gough and Miles Miller. Tim Burton is among the executive producers and directs individual episodes, but not the entire series. The production uses the characters created by American cartoonist Charles Adams.
“Wednesday“ became a phenomenon since its debut in 2022. The first season remains the most-watched English-language television season in Netflix history according to the platform's own ranking, and the second also ranked among the most-watched titles on the streaming service.
Jenna Ortega is increasingly moving towards cinema
Plans to take a break from television do not mean that Ortega intends to slow down as an actress. On the contrary, her recent professional decisions show an increasingly clear orientation towards cinema and towards roles other than the gothic and horror characters with which she is often associated.
She plays the lead role of the artificial intelligence Clara in Klara and the Sun directed by Taika Waititi, an adaptation of the novel by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Among her next projects is Nasty, for which the actress undergoes serious physical training for the role of an elite gymnast. Ortega also has plans to work with French director Leos Carax, and among her future ambitions are theater and directing.
On December 4, 2026, the American premiere of the black comedy The Gallerist directed by Kathy Yan is also scheduled. The star-studded cast includes Jenna Ortega, Natalie Portman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sterling K. Brown, Zach Galifianakis, and Daniel Brühl.
This development continues a trend that began with the films “Scream“, “Scream 6“, “X“, and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice“. In 2025, Ortega also explained the reasons for leaving the “Scream“ series. She dismissed claims that the decision was related to fees or scheduling, and pointed to the breakup of the creative team she worked with, including the situation surrounding the firing of her on-screen sister Melissa Barrera and the departure of directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillette.
Ortega began acting as a child and went through series such as “Jane the Virgin“, Disney production Stuck in the Middle and the thriller “You“, before “Wednesday“ changed the scale of her career.
Now the actress seems determined to use the success of Wednesday Addams not to establish herself permanently in television, but to gain greater freedom in choosing her next roles. As Jenna Ortega herself sums up her attitude towards the future: what is meant for her will “come and find her“.