Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jenna Ortega says she was ‘devastated’ she didn’t return to Netflix’s You in season 4

‘Wednesday’ star played Ellie Alves in 10 episodes of the hit serial killer drama

Louis Chilton
Friday 03 March 2023 09:51 GMT
Comments
You season 4 part 2 trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Jenna Ortega has said she was “devastated” not to return to You in its fourth season.

The 20-year-old actor was unable to appear in the latest episodes of the hit Netflix serial killer drama due to her starring role in Wednesday.

In season two of You, released in 2019, Ortega played Ellie Alves, the 15-year-old sister of Delilah (Carmela Zumbado).

Series showrunner Sera Gamble recently revealed that she had wanted Ortega to return in season four, but the actor’s commitment to Wednesday posed too many scheduling problems.

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ortega described her disappointment at being unable to reprise her You role.

“I was devastated,” she said. “It was easily one of my favorite sets that I’ve ever, ever been on. I was so devastated. I miss Ellie, and I’ve been wanting to go back to Ellie for a long time, but I was in Romania shooting Wednesday.

“I couldn’t travel back and forth with the pandemic and everything like that, and when you’re committed to a show there’s just no way that it could’ve worked out. But that, that one bummed me out. I tried.”

Speaking to IndieWire last month, Gamble suggested that You would try and bring back Ortega’s character in the future.

Penn Badgley and Jenna Ortega in ‘You’
Penn Badgley and Jenna Ortega in ‘You’ (Beth Dubber/Netflix)

“We wanted to bring Ellie back and we heard, ‘Oh, Jenna is doing some show,’” she said. “It’s been just such a pleasure to see Jenna this year. We have ideas for Ellie if her schedule allows her to visit us again.”

On Sunday (26 February), Ortega appeared onstage at the Screen Actors Guild Awards alongside Aubrey Plaza. The duo poked fun at the suggestion they resemble one another.

Season one of Wednesday and seasons one to four of You are available to stream now on Netflix.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in