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Louise Thomas
Editor
Jenna Ortega has shared a touching moment with an interviewer after she was encouraged to embrace her cultural heritage.
The Wednesday actor, 21, recently sat down with Buzzfeed journalist Carolina Reynoso ahead of the release of her upcoming film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Before Ortega and her co-star, Catherine O’Hara, spoke about the sequel to director Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, the Mexican-American interviewer made sure to give Ortega some encouraging words of support.
“Jenna, I just wanted to say from one Latina to another, you’re Latina enough,” Reynoso said, prompting a gasp and subtle smile from Ortega. “I don’t care what anyone else says, especially, like, as someone in the industry. Like, you’ve opened so many doors for people like me, so you are Latina enough. Thank you so much for everything you do. I really appreciate you.”
The Scream star then got up from her chair and immediately gave Reynoso a hug, while O’Hara looked on at the sweet interaction. “What a beautiful thing,” the Schitt’s Creek actor remarked.
A clip of the moment has since gone viral on social media, as fans pointed out Ortega’s seemingly heartwarmed reaction to Reynoso’s reassurance.
“You can tell immediately that she needed to hear that,” one person commented on TikTok.
“You can tell she really appreciated this,” another fan said.
“That touched her heart,” a third user wrote.
Ortega, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, has previously opened up about the importance of Latina representation in Hollywood. However, the You star has also been subjected to criticism over the extent of her own cultural identity.
Back in September, Ortega sparked online discourse after a video showed actor Anya Taylor-Joy, who was raised in Buenos Aires, introducing her husband to Ortega and Spanish pop star Rosalía in Spanish at the Dior Paris Fashion Week show. Ortega replied in English, prompting the internet to question the actor’s Latina identity.
Speaking to Vanity Fair in a cover story published on August 6, the Netflix star noted that the criticism surrounding her cultural background 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,” Ortega told the outlet.
She admitted that she’s felt a “bit of shame” over not being as “in touch” with her roots as she would like to. “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,” Ortega continued, 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.”
While she doesn’t speak Spanish fluently, she noted that it was her mother’s first language, adding: “I’m so jealous every time I hear my mom speak perfect Spanish.”
