Jenna Ortega recently played up her Wednesday persona next to Aubrey Plaza at the SAG Awards, but very little of that vibe was on display for her SNL monologue. And thankfully, the Wednesday dance happened during a promo, so there was a slight reprieve from that here, too.
Instead, we received a much more peppy and personable Ortega, who admits that the last few years (not only with Wednesday but also Scream, You and more) has taken her down a much darker path than in real life. “I think there is something about my face,” Ortega joked. “[T]hat people see and say, ‘Hey, let’s throw blood on that.”
As well, Ortega acknowledged her status as the youngest SNL host of the season at age 20. She took a walk down early-career memory lane before nodding towards a Wednesday co-star in that audience. That would be Fred Armisen, who was thankfully not in Uncle Fester garb but did decide to pretend that he’d never been on the SNL stage until now. That’s when Ortega transformed into a fan for all to see (she pointed towards her favorite SNL skit, “The Californians”), and it was all very charming.
Jenna Ortega can currently be seen dodging Ghostface in ‘Scream VI.’