Actress Jenna Ortega is a rising star of film and television, best known for her performances in Stuck in the Middle, Jane the Virgin, and You. She has won an Imagen Award for Best Young Actor, and was nominated for the Festival Prize at the Southampton International Film Festival.
Beginning her career on television, Ortega enjoyed early appearances on shows including Rob, Rake and CSI: NY while still a pre-teen. She would later come to wider prominence when she was cast as Young Jane on The CW’s romantic dramedy Jane the Virgin. Here, Ortega played the younger version of the show’s eponymous heroine in a series of touching and funny flashbacks that helped establish the emotional heart of the show. Further high-profile roles soon followed, including Darcy in the teen sitcom Richie Rich, and the central character of Harley Diaz in the Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle.
A favourite in a number of Disney projects, Ortega has played Princess Isabel in Disney’s animated series Elena of Avalor and its feature film spin-off Elena and the Secret of Avalor, and has played guest roles on the network’s Bizaardvark and Big City Greens. Elsewhere, in 2019 she was cast as Ellie Alves in the second season of the hit Netflix psychological thriller You alongside Penn Badgley and Carmela Zumbado. On the big screen, she has been seen in films including Iron Man 2, Insidious: Chapter 2, and Saving Flora, and in 2019 she was announced in the upcoming comedy Yes Day opposite Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramírez. Besides her acting work, she has received praise for her activism, including in support of immigrants and the LGBT community.