SAG Awards nominee profile: Jenna Ortega (‘Wednesday’) would be youngest solo TV winner ever

Matthew Stewart
·3 min read
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In the 16 years since 22-year-old America Ferrera was honored by the Screen Actors Guild for her work on “Ugly Betty,” she has held tight to the record for youngest individual SAG Award winner for TV. Until this year she was also the youngest nominee in the history of the comedy actress category, but she has now been bumped down a spot by 20-year-old “Wednesday” star Jenna Ortega. If Ortega triumphs on her bid, she will not only break Ferrera’s winning record but also land in second place behind Kate Winslet (best film supporting actress for “Sense and Sensibility,” 1996) on the list of youngest solo SAG Award recipients for film or TV acting.

Ortega is the youngest 2023 comedy actress contender by a margin of 12 years. Included among her challengers are concurrent ensemble nominees Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”) and Jean Smart (“Hacks”), the former of whom stands with Ortega as a SAG Awards newcomer. Smart is seeking her second consecutive comedy actress win as well as a film ensemble victory for “Babylon.” Rounding out the group are returning nominees Christina Applegate (“Dead to Me”) and Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), the latter of whom scored a solo win in 2019 and ensemble wins in 2019 and 2020.

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SEEJenna Ortega (‘Wednesday’) on ‘startling’ response to Netflix series: ‘I can’t think of another Latina character who has the same reach’

“Wednesday,” the first season of which premiered on Netflix last November, stars Ortega as Wednesday Addams, who has existed in various forms of media since Charles Addams’s “Addams Family” cartoons were first published in The New Yorker in 1938. In this adaptation, the character is portrayed for the first time on screen as a high school student, giving her a heightened sense of angst and more complicated relationships with her family members. She also differs from other iterations in that she has unambiguous psychic powers, which she comes to discover after being expelled from her public school and sent to her parents’ alma mater, Nevermore Academy.

Ortega’s possible victory would put her just 10 days shy of matching Winslet’s long-standing age record. Considering only the individual TV categories, Ortega is the second youngest competitor ever, after drama nominee Millie Bobby Brown (age 13 and 14, “Stranger Things,” 2017-2018). The remaining slots in the new top five are filled by comedy actor contender Chris Colfer (age 20, “Glee,” 2011), Ferrera and movie/limited series actress winner Angelina Jolie (age 23, “Gia,” 1999).

Ortega, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, would follow Ferrera (Honduran ancestry) as the category’s second Latina victor. She would also join her as one of seven women to receive this prize for a first-season performance. Smart was just added to the group last year and was preceded by Christine Baranski (“Cybill,” 1996), Teri Hatcher (“Desperate Housewives,” 2005), Tina Fey (“30 Rock,” 2008) and Betty White (“Hot in Cleveland,” 2011).

This article is a part of Gold Derby’s “SAG Awards nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2023 contenders in film and TV.

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