Following comments from an intimacy coordinator about Jenna Ortega’s X-rated scene with Martin Freeman, SAG-AFTRA has made a big change.
Ortega was born in 2002, making her just twenty one years old!
But she’s certainly achieved a lot in her formative years.
She began her career as a child actress.
Ortega’s first role was as the child Jane on CW’s Jane the Virgin, back in 2014.
She then made the move to becoming a Disney Channel kid.
Ortega was cast as Harley Diaz in the Disney original Stuck in the Middle from 2016-2018.
This role was her real breakthrough, and she won the Imagen Award for her efforts.
Ortega then went on to gain the voice role of Princess Isabel on Elena of Avalor, which she held until 2020.
However, she really made her breakthrough to the mainstream in 2019.
This was when she appeared in a guest role in Netflix’s smash hit thriller, You.
Ortega played the overconfident teen Ellie Alves.
Her relationship with creepy comedian Henderson was at the center of the storyline for the show’s second season.
Ellie met a sticky end in the show…
But her loss was Ortega’s gain, as this role became a jumping-off point for the next stage of her career.
She followed it with starring roles in X and Scream.
Her incredible performances in these slasher pics established Ortega as one of the next generation of scream queens.
But it’s her latest role that really has Ortega fans feeling excited…
She’s playing the titular role in the Tim Burton-directed fantasy series Wednesday.
In it, she’s starring as the infamous character, Wednesday Addams.
She’s a major part of the Addams Family franchise, having famously been played by Christina Ricci.
But this time, it’s Ortega’s turn to bring the role to life!
She has previously stated she hoped to “do Wednesday Addams justice.”
Ortega also underwent a physical transformation for the role!
She explained: “It’s the most physical transformation I’ve ever done; I cut my hair, and it’s black, and mannerism-wise, speaking cadence-wise, expression-wise, I’m trying to pull from a different toolbox this time around.”
“I think it’s a surprise to the audience, but myself as well.”
But this week, Ortega has made another admission about the role that has certainly raised a few eyebrows…
She’s explained that, like Wednesday, she has an interest in all things macabre.
The actress has said she is a huge fan of true crime and murder podcasts in the past.
And in an interview with WIRED, she certainly proved her dark side!
“Are Jenna Ortega and Maddie friends?” Ortega was asked.
“I’m assuming they’re talking about the beautiful, wonderful, baby angel face Maddie Ziegler.
“And the answer is yes,” she replied.
Ortega continued: “She’s one of my greatest friends ever, she was somebody that I instantly clicked with.
“We did a movie called The Fallout a couple of years back and I feel like Maddie and I are the same person in different fonts.”
She then described Maddie as “such a weirdo.”
Admitting that she, too, falls into the weirdo category.
And one example of this weirdness?
“I used to perform autopsies on little animals when I was younger,” Ortega admitted.
Umm… what now?
“Like little lizards that I found that were dead in my backyard,” she explained further.
Honestly, we are none the wiser.
But we guess she really is well suited for her upcoming role.
Wednesday is available now for streaming on Netflix!
Since then, Ortega has revealed something else about her role in Wednesday…
Although Ortega plays the leading goth girl in the show, it’s worth noting that the show also stars Ricci, who played the titular character in the 90s hits The Addams Family and Addams Family Values.
In the series, however, Ricci plays Marylin Thornhill, a teacher at Nevermore Academy who holds classes on the wonders of carnivorous plants.
In a different interview with MTV News, Ortega revealed some interesting things about her and Ricci’s camaraderie.
“I think when she [Ricci] was on set, neither one of us said ‘Wednesday’ once to each other.
“I think because she knew not to say anything to me because what is she going to say or do and I don’t think she wanted to get in the way of my performance and feel like she was overbearing.
“And then I felt like I didn’t want to pull up something that she did 30 years ago, for one, the sake of my own benefit, but two, I didn’t want to rip her off and I didn’t want to be too much like her,” she said.
“Our show has superpowers and outcasts and evil ghost pilgrims so they’re two very different people, our Wednesdays,” Ortega added.
But that’s not all…
She said she felt an “immense pressure” to get the character right as she’s so beloved amongst the fans.
“I’ve never played someone who’s been done before so I think that that was a really interesting thing for me,” Ortega said.
“I have a lot of respect for the character. We’ve never spent as much time with Wednesday on camera before. I think there’s gonna be some more depth or some more emotional range that we haven’t really seen from her before.”
Some other news about Ortega left the internet feeling confused.
“Dumbest rule ever,” wrote one.
Following her success in the role of Wednesday, many have been wondering if Ortega will be the latest addition to the MCU.
However, Mia Khalifa has pointed out that this can’t ever happen.
“Life is unfair, and I stand by that because Jenna Ortega had a cameo in a Marvel movie years ago which means we’ll never be able to see her as a lead in a Marvel movie,” she said.
Yep, Ortega had a minor role in Iron Man 3.
She played the fictional U.S. Vice President Rodriguez’s daughter.
Marvel does tend to have a rule not to recast any actors in their movies.
However, it’s not totally unheard of — so maybe Ortega could enjoy a superhero role in the future…
Ortega also revealed a surprising sacrifice she had to make for her role as Wednesday.
She was forced to give up on her veganism!
“I was vegan for a really long time,” she told Peeky.
“But I stopped being vegan when I went to Romania to shoot Wednesday actually because the food is very different there.
“And I don’t think that I was meeting my nutrient requirements so I started eating fish again.
“So I’m currently pescatarian,” Ortega revealed.
But recently, Ortega has landed in some hot water.
She appeared on Dax Shepard’s podcast and make some outrageous claims about her work on Wednesday!
“I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on Wednesday,” Ortega explained.
“Everything that Wednesday does, everything I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all.
“Her being in a love triangle? It made no sense. There was a line about a dress she has to wear for a school dance and she says, ‘Oh my god I love it. Ugh, I can’t believe I said that. I literally hate myself.’ I had to go, ‘No.'”
“There were times on that set where I even became almost unprofessional in a sense where I just started changing lines. The script supervisor thought I was going with something and then I had to sit down with the writers, and they’d be like, ‘Wait, what happened to the scene?’ And I’d have to go and explain why I couldn’t go do certain things.”
However, showrunner Steven DeKnight was not happy with Ortega’s comments.
As he took to social media to slam Ortega for being “entitled.”
“She’s young, so maybe she doesn’t know any better (but she should),” he wrote on Twitter.
“She should also ask herself how she would feel if the showrunners gave an interview and talked about how difficult she was and refused to perform the material.”
“This kind of statement is beyond entitled and toxic.
“I love her work, but life’s too short to deal with people like this in the business,” DeKnight concluded.
And now, Ortega is receiving some backlash once more.
This time after gossip blog Deux Moi reported that Ortega and Johnny Depp are currently filming an unknown project together!
They were seen together in the UK.
But many fans aren’t happy with Ortega’s decision to work with Depp following his recent legal controversies.
“You can’t work in Hollywood without associating with some terrible people, but you can definitely try harder than this…” one fan wrote.
“I swear if this is true I will take back everything I have said in Jenna’s defense. I hope it’s Depp fans trying to stir stuff up to get Burton to cast him in something,” another agreed.
However, Ortega has now taken to Instagram to deny all the rumors.
“This is so ridiculous I can’t even laugh,” she wrote.
“I have never met or worked with Johnny Depp in my life.”
“Please stop spreading lies and leave us alone.”
The Plot of “Miller’s Girl”
“Miller’s Girl” is an erotic thriller that revolves around the complex and controversial relationship between Cairo Sweet, played by Jenna Ortega, and her teacher, Jonathan Miller, portrayed by Martin Freeman.
Cairo is a young, intelligent, and precocious student, while Jonathan is an experienced and respected academic.
The film takes a dark turn as their personal and professional lives become intertwined.
The characters’ boundaries blur, and their connection deepens as they embark on a creative odyssey prompted by a writing assignment.
As their lives intertwine, they must confront their darkest selves while striving to preserve their individual sense of purpose.
The Controversial Scene
One particular scene from “Miller’s Girl” has garnered significant attention and sparked controversy among viewers.
In this scene, Jonathan is seen reading a creative writing assignment that Cairo had submitted.
As the characters grow closer on screen, the professor appears to stroke his student and bend her over a bed before leaning in very close.
The intensity of the moment, combined with the power dynamics at play, has left many fans feeling uncomfortable and disturbed.
Fan Reactions and Discomfort
The audience’s response to the controversial scene in “Miller’s Girl” has been mixed.
While some viewers appreciate the subversive and engaging nature of the film, others have expressed their discomfort.
Social media platforms have been inundated with reactions from fans who found the scene unexpected and unsettling.
One Twitter user expressed their astonishment, stating, “MILLER’S GIRL SPOILER. This scene is f-ing crazy.” Another fan admitted that while they appreciated the 90’s style of the movie, it made them feel uncomfortable and kept them on the edge of their seat.
After the scene went viral, intimacy coordinator Kristina Arjona responded to the criticism, sharing some information about what was going on behind the scenes.
“There was many, many people throughout this process, engaging with [Jenna] to make sure that it was consistent with what she was comfortable with, and she was very determined and very sure of what she wanted to do,” she told the Daily Mail.
“Part of my job too is supporting her decisions,” she continued.
“I adapt to whatever is the comfort level of my actors, especially on a production like this where there is a large age gap between the actors.”
Arjona went on to say that there were many discussions with the leads over the “level of nudity” and the “additional barriers” that would be placed for the intimate scenes.
She also said that there was a discussion with the cast and crew and a test audience to see if the nudity was “too much.”
But now, intimacy coordinators could possibly see themselves out of a job…
The Screen Actors Guild has tightened up its Standards and Protocols for the use of Intimacy Coordinators–particularly when it comes to confidentially.
A SAG-AFTRA spokesperson told Deadline: “Intimacy coordinators are a crucial resource on any set to ensure the protection of our members working in intimate scenes.”
Now, an intimacy coordinator will not be allowed to talk about the scenes they worked on without the actor’s and production’s permission.
“Intimacy coordinators should maintain the confidentiality of an actor’s work and experience in performing highly sensitive scenes unless they have the actor’s permission to publicly share this information.” they said.
They went on to add that the “public release” of the “scene work” without the actor’s consent is simply “unacceptable.”