Jenna Ortega Cries Over This!

Jenna Ortega Cries Over This!

Jenna Ortega just teared up while talking about the “manipulative” side of social media. While having a candid conversation with Elle Fanning for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, Jenna revealed what it was like getting over 10 million Instagram followers in 10 days after the success of her Netflix show “Wednesday.” 

Jenna first explained her lack of followers and notoriety prior to the show’s launch made auditioning hard for her at first as she said, “Even after shooting ‘Wednesday,’ when I was auditioning, they would come to my team: ‘We like her, but we just don’t know if she has enough of a name.’”

She went on to talk about the dangers of social media adding,”And social media, what it does to anyone our age, it’s such a comparing game. It influences bandwagon mentality… It’s very manipulative. After the show especially, I’m really nervous to post or even say anything on there or even be myself because I feel like…”

Jenna then explained how she’s using social media today explaining, “I want people to be able to get to know the people behind the camera and realize that people should never be put on a pedestal…And the more I’ve been exposed to the world, people prey on that and take advantage of that. They see your vulnerability and twist it in a way that you don’t always expect.”

Jenna then got emotional as she said, “It’s such a hard thing to balance. Because how do you be honest without jeopardizing your own health and safety? It’s very easy to feel almost out of control…I still have this really intense urge to be human and honest and authentic. Another thing about this industry is you get in front of a camera and people want you to be something else — where it’s ‘Have more energy’ or ‘Could you smile?’ and it just feels gross. And I don’t want to feel gross. I would rather people see me cry and do whatever than be something I’m not.”