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Jenna Ortega is already one of the most in-demand young stars in Hollywood, thanks to her breakout role in Wednesday. But acting isn’t where her ambition stops—she’s now making serious moves toward becoming a director.
In a recent interview with V Magazine, the 21-year-old revealed that she’s finally taking steps to bring a personal project to life—one that she’s been working on in her head for almost 10 years.
“I have a script that I’ve known I was going to make for nearly a decade,” Ortega shared. “It’s something I came up with when I was really young, just as I was starting out in the business. Now, I finally feel ready to make it real.”
Though she’s still early in the process, Ortega said she’s actively thinking through all the details—how it’ll look, what it’ll take to make it happen, and how she’ll piece everything together. “It’s like a puzzle I’ve been figuring out in my head,” she explained. “I needed a few years of experience to understand the order of how things get made.”
While she might appear in the project as an actor, her true passion lies behind the camera. “That’s the main thing I want to do,” she said. “That’s just how my brain works—it’s how I even think about acting. I see stories visually, structurally, like a director would.”
Ortega hasn’t directed anything just yet, but she’s no stranger to creative leadership. She’s already stepped into executive producer roles, including on Death of a Unicorn and the upcoming season of Wednesday. She’s also set to star in and co-produce Hurry Up Tomorrow, a thriller alongside The Weeknd and Barry Keoghan.
As for her future? Ortega says she eventually wants to focus solely on creating behind the scenes. “I don’t want to act in the things I create forever,” she explained. “But since I’ve already made a name for myself in front of the camera, I can use that momentum as a stepping stone to get my own projects off the ground.”
With nearly a decade of passion fueling her vision—and real Hollywood experience to match—Jenna Ortega’s move into directing could be the start of a bold, exciting new chapter. Whether she’s leading a story from in front of the camera or behind it, one thing’s clear: she’s determined to tell stories her way—and she’s paving the path for the next wave of young creators to do the same.