Jenna Ortega

Jenna Marie Ortega, the fourth of six siblings, was born on September 27, 2002, in Palm Desert, California. Her father, a former sheriff who works at a California district attorney's office, is of Mexican descent, and her mother, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, works as an emergency room nurse. Ortega's maternal great-grandmother was an undocumented immigrant from Sinaloa, Mexico, and her maternal grandfather was from Puerto Rico. Ortega grew up in La Quinta, California, and has described her childhood self as "loud and extroverted". She wanted to act from the age of six and begged her mother to let her pursue a career for three years. Her mother attempted to distract her with other activities, including soccer and school. Ortega almost quit pursuing acting to participate in the former. Her mother later bought her a monologue book and posted a video of nine-year-old Ortega performing. A casting director watched the video and signed her to an agency. Ortega's mother began driving her to Los Angeles to attend auditions, a trip that sometimes took as long as six hours roundtrip, up to five days a week. She struggled to secure parts because few roles for Latinas existed and she "didn't look [a certain] way"; such experiences damaged her self-esteem. She considered dyeing her hair blonde in an attempt to book more roles. For the first year, Ortega, who had no connections in the film industry, limited her auditions to commercials; she secured parts in 12 national campaigns, including three McDonald's commercials. From Mondays to Fridays, she acted in Los Angeles for a few days and returned home to attend school. She enrolled in public school, attending Amelia Earhart Elementary School and John Glenn Middle School. She dropped out of school during eighth grade to act in Disney projects and got an apartment in Los Angeles after securing a role in Stuck in the Middle (2016–2018). During that time, Ortega worked in Los Angeles during the workweek and went home on weekends.