LOS ANGELES — Jenna Ortega is one of TikTok's biggest stars. But you won't catch her using the app.
Ahead of Tuesday's Golden Globe Awards, the 20-year-old actor revealed that she "can't be on" the Gen Z-facing platform and doesn't make a habit of scrolling through videos re-creating her viral "Wednesday" dance. Her kooky choreography from the first season of the hit Netflix series has been widely shared and imitated on social media — especially TikTok.
"I can't look into all of that stuff," Ortega told Entertainment Tonight on the Golden Globes red carpet in Beverly Hills. "I think, good or bad, [TikTok is] probably not a healthy place to be."
It's worth noting that the rising scream queen does have a verified TikTok account and boasts more than 19 million followers on the platform. However, her page only has one post: a humorous face-washing tutorial uploaded last year and sponsored by Neutrogena.
Before "Wednesday" premiered on Netflix during Thanksgiving week, Ortega did not anticipate her jerky jig to the tune of the Cramps' "Goo Goo Muck" becoming an internet sensation.
"Even that, I still can't believe," she told ET.
"Some of the moves I planned, some of it was improv. That was one of the scenes that I stay awake at night thinking about because I thought there was so much that I should have done and could have done. So the fact that anybody has shown any bit of appreciation or ... tried it themselves, it's not fathomable to me."
Late last year, Ortega and the creative team behind "Wednesday" came under scrutiny after the series lead admitted that she filmed the famous dance scene while sick and waiting for a COVID-19 test result — which came back positive. Ortega told NME in November that she woke up feeling ill on the day of the shoot and was given medicine between takes.
MGM Studios, which handled production on "Wednesday," previously said in a statement that "strict COVID protocols were followed and once the positive test was confirmed production removed Jenna from set."
Before and after the COVID-19 revelation, Ortega received rave reviews for her chilling performance as Wednesday Addams and for the showstopping dance number, which Los Angeles Times TV critic Lorraine Ali deemed "one of the top television moments" of 2022.
The former Disney Channel darling also scored a Golden Globe nomination for her deadpan turn in "Wednesday," as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.
"I definitely feel like there's been a shift in my life, and ... a shift in energy and change," Ortega told ET. "It's definitely a new time in my life. So it's been a bit of an adjustment."
———
