Jenna Ortega’s blunt reason for choosing Klara and the Sun

On the latest episode of Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Jenna Ortega said the project that finally cut through the noise after Wednesday was Klara and the Sun — not because it was bigger, but because it was different. After Wednesday’s breakout, she said most offers centered on yet another teen archetype. The Ishiguro adaptation, developed as a dystopian sci‑fi feature, promised a new lane.

“Lot of what's had come my way was just a lot of nasty teenager,” she said.

Ortega admitted she didn’t recognize the title at first. What got her attention was the author behind it — Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro — whose books became films like The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. She praised the way he builds deceptively simple stories with weight behind them, and said that reputation pushed her to take a closer look.

“They told me about Klara and the Sun. I didn't know what that was. Said it was based off a book. They said it was based off an Ishiguro book. I went, ‘Oh, okay.’”

She also described an early conversation with director Taika Waititi that made the movie click for her. Ortega said Waititi’s take doesn’t mirror the novel beat for beat — and that those differences might make the film even more compelling. The goal, she added, was to step out of the teen-character box she’s been handed again and again.

After Wednesday

Looking ahead, Ortega told Horowitz she plans to step back from TV once her Addams run is done and carve out time for films.

“I think after Wednesday, I’ll probably be off the TV for a while. You know I had many years doing [TV]. I was bouncing from show to show as a kid and I want to leave time for new things.”

Production on Wednesday season 3 has wrapped, but there’s no update yet on a fourth season. For now, Ortega says the focus is on finding movie roles that stretch past the “nasty teenager” mold that kept landing on her desk.