Before Jenna Ortega was Wednesday Addams, she was featured in another Netflix hit series. Ortega played Ellie Alves in the second season of “You”, quickly becoming a friend of protagonist and serial killer Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), narrowly escaping the season with her life.
While Ellie wasn’t featured in season three, her character was alluded to, leaving the door open for a return in season four.
“You” showrunner Sera Gamble revealed that the writers had planned for Ortega to be featured in the new season of the series. Still, there were some scheduling conflicts and it wasn’t possible. “We wanted to bring Ellie back and we heard, ‘Oh, Jenna is doing some show,‘” said Gamble to IndieWire. “It’s been just such a pleasure to see Jenna this year. We have ideas for Ellie if her schedule allows her to visit us again.”
Turns out that the show Ortega was scheduled to shoot was “Wednesday”, the series which nabbed her a Golden Globe nomination this year.
In an interview with Teen Vogue, Ortega talked about her role in “You”, explaining that she’d love to come back to the series and get her revenge on Joe. “It would be amazing to see Ellie come back and take control of her life,” she said. “I just want her to be an even bigger badass. I don’t want her to come back and be extremely vulnerable and sad. We have to remember that even though people still find Joe somewhat charming, he’s evil, he does terrible things, and he gets away with them because of his gender and race and his position in society. [Ellie] has so much potential and so much talent that she shouldn’t waste because of him.”
Season 4 of “You” is set in London, with Joe assuming a new identity and having a job as a literature professor at a university. He predictably falls in love with a new woman, all the while being haunted by the many demons of his past. “You” season 4, part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.