Jenna Ortega might be best known as a certified scream queen, shining in roles such as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix hit Wednesday or Astrid in the 2024 horror sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but she is also an actor with great range. And recently, the 22-year-old let it slip that she has one particular part in mind, one she’d love to get her claws into.

During promotion for her film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Ortega stated in an interview with Letterboxd that she has her eyes set on playing none other than a patron saint of France: Joan of Arc.

“An actress that I love, and it’s something that I’ve talked with Tim a lot, The Passion Of Joan Of Arc, the Dreyer film. Renée Falconetti’s performance in that is absolutely insane. I feel like a dream character for me would be Joan Of Arc,” Ortega explained.

@jomeditsz

This woman is so funny LMAOO || #jennaortega #jennaortegaedit #jenna #ortega

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Ortega has proven herself to be an actor who can take on and tackle a number of different stories. Back in 2021, Ortega was praised for her performance in the film The Fallout—an American drama which follows a high school student navigating significant emotional trauma following a school shooting.

@xh_hiraa

jenna played the role so good omgg😻 #jennaortega #thefallout #vadacavell #miareed #tiktok #viralvideo #newedit #newvideo #fame #xh_hira #fyfyfy #sadscene

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From both the film community and netizens online, Ortega was commended for her acting. Indeed, many critics called The Fallout Ortega’s breakout role.

Jenna ortega’s performance in the fallout >>>>>>> https://t.co/BpzmrGtdnk pic.twitter.com/aBrPsg9TkB

— ortegay 🥝🎧 (@Roxdk7) September 27, 2024

jenna ortega performance in the fallout always makes me cry pic.twitter.com/O0R9GFfsGX

— valeria (@kateofbish) March 20, 2023

Later, in 2024, Ortega was in Miller’s Girl, a dark erotic thriller where the actor starred alongside Martin Freeman. Oh, and she also managed to squeeze in time to appear in A24’s Death of a Unicorn. Now, neither of these films were particularly well received by audiences, however, I’d argue that Ortega’s performances were still top notch.

A number of publications, such as Far Out Magazine, have actually criticised some of Ortega’s choices—implying that given the fact that she is such a sought-after actor, why has she recently opted to become involved in some pretty bizarre projects?

why does jenna ortega choose to star in some of the worst movies ever made miller’s girl was the last straw for me she pissing me tf off

— ari (@bIood6orne) May 17, 2025

Could Joan of Arc be her saving grace for these critics? Well, there is an opportunity for Ortega to jump into this world. In November 2024, it was confirmed that director and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has been working on a movie about the French defender for over 30 years.

“I almost did Alexander the Great and then at one point I was going down the road on Napoleon, but more than ever, I realised I was waiting for the right time to tell this story and the idea of this ultimate teenage girl coming-of-age story set in a 100-year war. She’s a young girl who’s from a small town who manages to tell this 25-year-old king, ‘We’re going to be able to unite the country, and you’ll be king.’ It’s that inspiration, that uplift. It’s like now where the current generation needs to do what the generation before us did, and that is make space, lift up the new voices and the new energy, and make sure that they’re there to smash through this ossified world,” Luhrmann explained.

So, is Ortega going to be considered for the role? And if so, could this be her most successful project to date?