'Wednesday' star Jenna Ortega says ‘everybody’ in Hollywood trying to be ‘politically correct’
Ortega's would-be 'Scream 7' co-star was dropped from the film for expressing an anti-Israel opinion on social media last year
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Wednesday" and upcoming "Beetlejuice" reboot star Jenna Ortega is tired of everyone in Hollywood being "politically correct."
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the young actress weighed in on the controversy surrounding her "Scream 7" co-star Melissa Barrera being axed from the film for anti-Israel posts late last year, complaining that Barrera’s treatment was the result of people being unable to express their opinions in the entertainment industry.
"Everybody wants to be politically correct, but I feel like, in doing that, we lose a lot of our humanity and integrity, because it lacks honesty," the actress told the outlet.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}'WEDNESDAY' STAR JENNA ORTEGA BRUSHES OFF WARDROBE MALFUNCTION: 'WHO GIVES A S--T'
"Scream 7" actress Jenna Ortega recently told Vanity Fair that too many people in Hollywood try to be "politically correct." (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)
Hollywood outlet Variety reported last November that "Spyglass quietly dropped Melissa Barrera as the star of the next ‘Scream’ film, sources say, due to her social media posts that referred to Israel as a ‘colonized’ land and floated an antisemitic trope that Jews control the media."
Among several anti-Israel posts the actress made in the weeks following the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel, Barrera wrote, "Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp… THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nearly a year later, Ortega told Vanity Fair that Barrera getting dropped from the franchise after appearing in multiple previous "Scream" proves that her business "is so touchy-feely."
"I wish that we had a better sense of conversation. Imagine if everyone could say what they felt and not be judged for it and, if anything, it sparked some sort of debate, not an argument," Ortega added.
Elsewhere in the interview, the actress also remarked on backlash she received for admitting in a podcast interview last year that she would sometimes change her lines for the Netflix series "Wednesday" without consulting the writer’s room.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}JENNA ORTEGA FILMED NETFLIX DANCE SCENE WHILE EXPERIENCING SYMPTOMS OF COVID: ‘IT’S CRAZY'
Actress Jenna Ortega. ( Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Netflix)
Ortega recalled how her comments went viral, and she was branded as "entitled" online. She told the outlet that the response she received "felt almost dystopian," and as though everything she said was "magnified."
"I felt like a caricature of myself," she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The actress also touched on one of her recent films, "Miller’s Girl," which depicted Ortega having a sexual relationship with her teacher played by 52-year-old actor Martin Freeman.
Earlier this year, social media was flooded with users complaining about how "gross" the scenes were. Ortega defended the film, arguing the "awful"–ness of some of the scenes was the point.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s not supposed to be a comfortable movie. It’s supposed to be awful at times," she told Vanity Fair, adding, "Art isn’t always meant to be pleasant or happy, and everyone skips off into the sunset at the end. We all have f------ up experiences at one point or another."