How Does Jenna Ortega Approach Character Development for Long-Running Shows?
Jenna Ortega is pretty famous these days, isn’t she? She’s in entertainment, doing shows that last for years. Honestly, have you ever stopped to wonder how she really builds those characters? It’s something lots of fans and new actors ask about. Through her work, Ortega shows us how incredibly deep characters can become. She brings out their real feelings. She finds all those tiny details in big, long stories. I am excited to dig into her unique process. We can explore the choices she makes for her characters.
Understanding Character Development in Long-Running Shows
Okay, here’s the thing: doing a long-running show is seriously tough for actors. Characters gotta change as time goes on. Plot points keep pushing them forward. What the audience feels totally matters too, you know? The actor’s own growth fits in there somewhere. Just imagine living inside a story world for years and years. You have to somehow keep the character feeling like themselves. But they also need to evolve. That balance is just incredibly important. Ortega’s way of doing it mixes keeping that core person. She also stays totally open to what happens next.
Let’s look at her playing Wednesday Addams. That was for Netflix’s Wednesday, right? She absolutely had to keep the stuff everyone knows about Wednesday. But she also layered in new feelings. She added complexity to a famous figure. The show gave Wednesday fresh energy. Ortega found that classic dark humor. She also found her surprisingly deep emotions. This really showed she could make the character bigger. Yet she kept Wednesday’s true spirit. This kind of balance is crucial for these longer shows. Viewers really bond with characters they see grow like that.
The Research Behind the Role
You know what? Ortega is huge on doing her homework. She really digs into research when she’s building a role. “It’s important to understand who they are,” she told Variety. She often dives into a character’s past. She studies why they do the things they do. Their whole emotional world matters so much too. This helps her create characters that feel totally real. These are the ones audiences really feel something for. For Wednesday, Ortega read up on the Addams Family history. She looked into gothic culture and stuff. Even little details from horror films were part of her research work.
Research isn’t just reading facts on a page. It’s about really living the character out, in a way. Ortega believes having this deep understanding helps her big time. It lets her make smart, grounded choices in her acting. And hey, the numbers even agree! A study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found something cool. Actors who do solid research often perform better. The study reported 78% of actors felt research made their work better. Not bad at all, right?
Emotional Connection and Authenticity
Okay, one of Ortega’s best superpowers is showing those really deep feelings. She talks a lot about how she connects with her roles. This connection feels really personal to her. I believe that just being real on screen is the absolute key, she shared. You can totally see this belief shine through in her work. She gives her characters their moments of weakness. But she also shows their strength. It feels so wonderfully human, doesn’t it?
Remember her part in the show You? Ortega was Ellie Alves back then. Ellie was a teen dealing with hard relationships. She also faced some seriously tough moral questions. Ortega pulled from her own life stuff for that role. This helped her make Ellie someone we could actually feel for. And guess what? Studies back this up, too. Real emotion just pulls viewers in. A study at the University of Southern California found something cool. Viewers were 60% more likely to feel a connection. That happened when characters showed genuine feelings. Pretty cool, right?
Collaboration with Directors and Writers
Working alongside other people is another huge part of Ortega’s approach. She links up really closely with directors and writers. They kind of shape the characters as a team. She talks a lot about how valuable feedback is to her. The whole thing is truly a group effort, you know? “It’s about building something together,” she mentioned. This kind of teamwork makes characters grow in much more interesting ways.
Take Wednesday, for example. Ortega worked heavily with Tim Burton on that. He directed the show. She made sure Wednesday stayed true to her own ideas for the role. It also had to fit perfectly with Burton’s unique style. That partnership really created a space for creativity. Trying out new ideas felt totally okay there. Because of this, Ortega got to explore all sorts of sides of Wednesday. She blended those funny moments with the dark ones seamlessly.
Audience Reception and Adaptation
Actors on shows that run a long time sometimes have to shift gears. This often happens based on what the viewers are feeling. Ortega gets this completely. “We have to listen to what the audience wants,” she said. Being flexible and able to adapt is super important. What the fans react to can actually steer how characters grow. If people really connect with certain traits, the writers might lean into those more.
Remember Ellie in You? She ended up being a huge favorite with the fans. That actually led to her getting more significant stories later on. This whole shift shows how audience feedback can seriously shape things. Nielsen Media research backs this up, too. They found 67% of viewers feel really connected. That connection is with characters who evolve partly because of their feedback. It proves just how much audience feelings matter in these longer series.
Balancing Personal Growth with Character Consistency
Characters definitely change. But finding that sweet spot between new development and keeping them consistent? That’s really, really important. Ortega manages this by always focusing on the absolute heart of who they are. “I am happy to explore new dimensions,” she explained. “But I always return to what makes them who they are.” This thought helps keep everything feeling like the same person. That’s true even when the characters change quite a bit.
Look at her in the movie The Fallout, for instance. Ortega’s character there goes through some real trauma. She has to somehow navigate her way through it all. You see her character grow and transform. But Ortega made sure that core part of her stayed grounded. This kind of balance is totally key in long shows. Audiences want the characters to feel like themselves. That’s true no matter the journey they are on.
The Role of Intuition and Instinct
You know what else? Ortega really goes with her gut feelings. She lets her instincts guide her while she’s acting. “Sometimes, you just have to trust your gut,” she said once. This way of working lets her react in a super natural way. It creates those moments that feel completely fresh and real. Imagine standing on set in a scene where the emotions are just pouring out. Letting your instincts take over can make that acting moment something you’ll never forget.
And guess what? Research from the British Journal of Psychology actually agrees! They say intuition in acting really matters. The study found that actors who lean on their instincts often act more genuinely. Audiences tend to rate those performances higher, too. This totally supports how Ortega works. It shows how much instinct plays a role in creating characters.
The Influence of Social Media and Fan Interaction
Okay, let’s be real, social media is everywhere now, isn’t it? It totally helps shape characters and even the stories themselves. Ortega sees just how much impact it has. “Social media gives us a direct line to our audience,” she points out. This connection lets actors really see how people are reacting. They can even tweak their performance a bit because of it. To be honest, it’s pretty wild how connected everyone feels these days.
For instance, after Wednesday came out, Ortega got so much feedback online. People were talking about it on Twitter and Instagram constantly. All that back-and-forth gave her some amazing insights. She really learned what fans were loving most about the show. A Pew Research Center survey found something interesting too. It said 64% of young adults use social media. They connect with their shows through it. This just shows how big social media’s role is getting. It impacts how characters develop, big time.
Future Projects and Continued Growth
So, Ortega is definitely not staying still in her career. She’s clearly focused on growing even more as an actress. “I am eager to take on diverse roles,” she mentioned. That really shows she wants to keep pushing herself. This hunger for growth is absolutely essential, you know? It helps so much, especially when you’re on a long-running series. Characters always end up facing brand new challenges and unexpected situations.
Ortega’s upcoming projects are sure to show even more of her range. Her part in Scream VI will definitely explore new aspects of her character. It will push her acting abilities even further. This drive she has to grow aligns with research. The American Psychological Association found something cool. Actors who look for different types of roles feel happier in their jobs. That really seems like a great sign for her future.
Conclusion: A Multifaceted Approach to Character Development
So, wrapping it all up, Jenna Ortega’s process for building characters is clearly really multifaceted. It’s a mix of deep research and bringing her genuine feelings. It also includes working closely with others. And she’s great at changing things up based on the times and audience. Through her acting, she really shows us that characters don’t just stay the same forever. They totally evolve because of their experiences. They also grow because of what viewers connect with. As Ortega keeps moving ahead in her work, her methods offer some brilliant ideas. These are helpful for actors and storytellers alike, honestly.
I believe her commitment to truly getting her characters is just fantastic. Her openness and willingness to grow sets such a powerful example for everyone watching. As we see her continue to develop, we can only imagine the amazing new emotional territory she’ll dive into. That will happen in all her future roles, you know? Like Ortega herself said, “It’s all about telling meaningful stories.” With her talent and perspective, she will absolutely keep amazing people all over the world.
Want to learn more about how characters change in shows that run for ages? You might like to check out research on how audiences engage with stories from the University of Southern California here.
