You showrunner Sera Gamble has revealed that Jenna Ortega was due to reprise her role as Ellie Alves in the show’s fourth season.
Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts meant the fan-favourite actor was unable to appear but Gamble didn’t rule out Ortega’s return in the future.
Since starring as Ellie, the younger sister of Delilah (Carmela Zumbado) who is murdered by Love Quinn in season two, 20-year-old Ortega has gone on to star in last year’s Scream reboot and Netflix’s viral Wednesday series, the filming of which prevented the actor from rejoining the You cast.
“We wanted to bring Ellie back and we heard, ‘Oh, Jenna is doing some show,’” Gamble told IndieWire. “It’s been just such a pleasure to see Jenna this year. We have ideas for Ellie if her schedule allows her to visit us again.”
After Love murders Delilah, Joe gives Ellie money and tells her to leave Los Angeles – she’s later referenced but not seen in season three.
Her character is mentioned in the season four premiere, too, when Penn Badgley’s murderous Joe Goldberg says in voiceover: “Most of my professor tricks are one trick I picked up spending time with a girl named Ellie. Wind them up, let them go. Teenagers will argue both sides for you.”
Teasing other potential returning characters this season, Gamble added: “Any character who’s not dead who knows anything about Joe, it’s fair game to try to exert any justice. And any character who is dead, he has a really active imagination.”
Badgley recently revealed that he asked for “no more” intimate scenes in the Netflix series out of respect for his marriage to singer Domino Kirke.
You can read The Independent’s recent interview with You season four star Charlotte Ritchie here, as well as Nicole Vassell’s three-star review of You’s season four here, which is streaming now on Netflix.
