Jenna Ortega Says Approaching ‘Everything I Do With the Confidence of the Average White Man Changed My Life’ and ‘Made Me Feel Better’

Jenna Ortega was asked in a Vanity Fair video interview about one of the best pieces of advice she’s ever received from a mentor; her answer traced back to her cello instructor on “Wednesday.” The advice pertains to Ortega’s own doubts and insecurities whenever she’s tackling a new challenge. All the actor has to do in those situations is think like “the average white man.”

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“The show that I do right now I have to play the cello, and I don’t play the cello,” Ortega said. “I want it to look real so that cellists don’t look at it and call me mean names. My teacher told me that as long as I look confident in my movements and I was strong and stoic and, you know, fully embodied the character that it would be fine. She told me that I just needed to approach everything I do in life with the confidence of the average white man. That changed my life. That made me feel better.”

“I was nervous even to do this [interview] because I ramble like crazy,” Ortega added. “Like what am I going to talk about this whole time? Then I just remembered: How would an average white man do this? And he probably would’ve shown up with mismatched socks.”

Ortega is currently back in production on “Wednesday,” which is likely to return for its second season on Netflix in 2025. The actor said during last year’s Variety ‘s Actors on Actors series that Season 2 would lean more into the horror aspects of the show and less into the romantic storylines.

“We’ve decided we want to lean into the horror aspect of the show a little bit more,” Ortega said. “Because it is so lighthearted, and a show like this with vampires and werewolves and superpowers, you don’t want to take yourself too seriously.”

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“We’re ditching any romantic love interest for Wednesday, which is really great,” she added, referring to the Season 1 storyline that saw Wednesday in a love triangle between Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan) and Xavier Thorpe (Percy Hynes White). In the past, Ortega has commented that the plot “made no sense” for her character.

Ortega also told E! on the Emmys red carpet earlier this year that “everything’s bigger” in “Wednesday” Season 2, adding: “It’s a lot more action-packed. Each episode will probably feel a little bit more like a movie, which is nice.”

Watch Ortega’s full video interview with Vanity Fair below.

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