Jenna Ortega is opening up about feeling “just not good enough” to represent her Latinx community.
In case you missed it, some people online questioned the “Wednesday” star’s heritage last September after the California-born actor’s lack of Spanish fluency was thrust into the spotlight.
The discourse stemmed from a viral clip at a fashion show in Paris, in which actor Anya Taylor-Joy, who grew up in Buenos Aires, was seen introducing her husband in Spanish to Spanish pop star Rosalía and to Ortega, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent.
Ortega replied to the greeting in English at the time, prompting social media users to accuse her of being a “fake Latina.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair published Tuesday, the Netflix star said she feels a “bit of shame” over not being as “in touch” with her roots as she would like to be.
“I think there’s a part of me that carries a bit of shame. For a second I was almost nervous to speak about my family’s background because I feel like I was made to feel like it wasn’t…,” she said before trailing off.
“But also, something that I’m learning is it’s not my job to carry the weight of everybody who’s ever had that experience,” Ortega continued.
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The “Miller’s Girl” star said the criticism can feel like “you’re just not good enough.”
“Because I wasn’t born in a Spanish-speaking country, I know people have a hard time connecting with me,” she added.
Ortega then commented on the underrepresentation of Latinx actors in Hollywood. While nodding to actors like Pedro Pascal and Aubrey Plaza, she spoke about “banding together” to create more “powerful” onscreen portrayals.
“It’s something that I feel like has not made it through studios’ heads,” she shared. “There needs to be a little more faith in what we bring to the table. Maybe that means all of us banding together a little bit more and creating these projects for ourselves.”
“I would love to be able to craft stories that show how powerful we can be,” she added.
Elsewhere in the interview, Ortega defended how her character is portrayed in “Wednesday,” which has earned the Netflix show both praise and judgment.
While Vanity Fair noted that some critics consider Wednesday’s Latina identity “undercooked” due to the lack of Spanish in the series, Ortega argued that she appreciates that Wednesday’s heritage is “not being shoved down your throat.”
“There’s nothing worse than when they have the side Mexican character who’s carrying the flag on their shoulder,” she added. “We’re so much more than that.”