NEED TO KNOW
Jenna Ortega was raised by Natalie and Edward Ortega
They welcomed the Wednesday actress in 2002
Natalie is an emergency room nurse and Edward is a businessman
On-screen, Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Addams was raised by Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez Addams (Luis Guzmán). But in real life, she was born to parents Edward and Natalie Ortega.
Jenna is one of six children. Edward and Natalie’s first child, Isaac, was born in 1998, followed by Mariah in 1999 and Mia in 2000. Jenna was born in 2002, followed by twins Aliyah and Markus in 2004.
The family grew up near Palm Springs in the California desert, and Jenna’s mom would make the long drive to Los Angeles for her daughter’s auditions. The sacrifice paid off because Jenna landed roles as early as 12, appearing on Jane the Virgin and Stuck in the Middle.
In July 2025, Edward and Natalie were there to walk the red carpet with their daughter at the London premiere of Wednesday season 2. Natalie shared photos from the event on Instagram, writing, “So proud of you @jennaortega !! We love you so much 🖤.”
But who are Edward and Natalie Ortega? Here’s everything to know about Jenna Ortega’s parents.
They have six children
Jenna Ortega Instagram
Jenna Ortega with her family
Jenna is the fourth in a family of six kids.
“I have five siblings — two brothers and three sisters,” Jenna told PEOPLE in December 2019. “I’m the fourth kid. We all have scattered schedules and are kind of all over the place, but when we do get to spend time with each other we try to do that. We love to talk smack with one another and be goofy … but we’re all very supportive of each other.”
They raised their family in a famous location
Edward and Natalie made their home in Coachella Valley near Palm Springs, Calif. — the same place where the famous Coachella music festival has occurred since 1999, three years before Jenna was born. She started attending the festival when she was a teenager.
“Once you get to high school, it’s what all the ‘cool kids’ do,” she told PEOPLE. “Weekend 2 is locals’ weekend. I have seen some incredible acts that I feel like I would have never seen otherwise. One year I saw Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg. There’s such a wide variety of music and there’s something new to appreciate every time we go. I don’t think I’ll ever be over the hype.”
Natalie got Jenna her big break
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Jenna Ortega attends the Miss Me and Cosmopolitan’s spring campaign launch event in 2016
Jenna’s start in Hollywood came from Natalie showing her mom pride. She posted a video of Jenna to Facebook, and a family friend connected her to a casting agent, she told Cosmopolitan in April 2021.
In the 2024 docuseries My Generation, Jenna shared more details about how her mom played a part in getting her career off the ground.
“My mom shot this video and put it on Facebook for her friends, and they loved it. Somehow, it eventually made its way to a casting agent, and the rest is history,” she said. “Like many Gen Zers, you can say my career was also launched online.”
They set examples of a strong work ethic
Natalie is an emergency room nurse, and Edward is a businessman.
“So, four or five times a week, my mom was a full-time ER nurse, but she would drive me — it was a six or seven-hour round trip L.A. and back for auditions … and she has five other kids,” Jenna said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in November 2022. “She was one of the best ones, too.”
They encourage Jenna’s career but don’t spoil her
Jenna’s first big role was in 2014, when she was just 12, playing a young Gina Rodriguez on Jane the Virgin. “I have a very supportive family,” Jenna said in a January 2023 interview. “They sacrificed a lot so that I could do what I do.”
The actress also said her parents have “no interest whatsoever” in the entertainment industry.
“I could come home from work with cool people, prominent people, people I looked up to, and they weren’t interested,” she continued. “They were like, ‘Hey, you didn’t do the dishes before you left, so you’re going to have to do them all week.’ “
They watched Jenna host Saturday Night Live in 2023
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Jenna Ortega on ‘Saturday Night Live’
When Jenna hosted Saturday Night Live in March 2023, she gave her parents a shout-out in her opening monologue.
“When I was a kid, I wasn’t old enough to watch SNL yet, so I took a tour of the SNL building with my parents,” she said on the show. “They said, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if you hosted someday?’ It seemed impossible then, but now I’m here tonight and my parents are in the audience.”
They prioritize their heritage and their family traditions
Edward is Mexican American, and Natalie is of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent. In an October 2016 PopSugar interview, Jenna described celebrating birthdays with pinatas and making tamales at Christmas.
“My dad makes amazing tacos and carne asada and my mother makes the best homemade beans,” she said. “My siblings and I cannot get enough! They are probably my favorite food.”
The kids were raised to be bilingual.
“Since my father does not speak Spanish, trying to teach my siblings and me the language, when we were little, was a struggle,” Jenna added. “My mom is bilingual because her grandmother babysat her often and taught her Spanish. The plan was for her to speak it to us and for my father to speak English so that we could learn both languages.”
They play soccer as a family activity
Diggzy/Shutterstock
Jenna Ortega in NYC in 2023
When Jenna was talking to The Cut in March 2023 about her Adidas ambassadorship, she said, “It’s really, really exciting for me and my family as well. We were a really big soccer family, and we would have our little competitions on the weekend. And we always wore Adidas to practices.”
Natalie shows her family pride in big ways
Todd Williamson/NBC/NBC/Getty
Jenna Ortega at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards
Edward’s Instagram account is private, but Natalie’s is public, and she has nearly 150,000 followers. In February 2023, she posted a side-by-side photo of Jenna wearing a gown on a red carpet and Mia wearing scrubs.
“Two of my girls wearing very different outfits and doing very different things in life,” she captioned the image. “Both came from me, and both raised by me. I’m equally proud of both of them and love them very much❤️❤️ #proudmom.”
Jenna credits Natalie for keeping her safe on set as a child actor
In an interview with The New York Times in August 2024, Jenna said her parents felt “hesitant” about her becoming a child star at first.
“Children aren’t supposed to be working like that. They are supposed to be climbing trees and drawing and going to school,” she said, adding that they “wouldn’t allow me to work on a job unless I had straight A’s and was prioritizing my sleep and my schoolwork.”
When she was asked about the 2024 Quiet on Set docuseries — which chronicled the toxic culture behind some of the most popular ’90s and 2000s children’s shows — Jenna said her mom had watched it.
“I think for her, it was more pain, because she had seen the way that other children maybe weren’t protected or weren’t as looked after,” she said. “She watched over me like a hawk, so I think for her, it was more empathizing and wishing she somehow could have done something to help.”
Read the original article on People
