Why ‘Wednesday’ Star Jenna Ortega ‘Can’t Go on TikTok’

Jenna Ortega is one of TikTok’s biggest stars. But you won’t catch them using the app.

Ahead of Tuesday’s Golden Globe Awards, the 20-year-old actress revealed that she “can’t be on the Gen Z platform” and hasn’t made a habit of scrolling through videos recreating her viral “Wednesdays” dance . Her crazy choreography from the first season of the hit Netflix series was widely shared and emulated on social media – especially on TikTok.

“I can’t watch any of this,” Ortega told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills. “I think, good or bad, [TikTok is] probably not a healthy place.”

It’s worth noting that the rising Scream Queen has a verified TikTok account and has more than 19 million followers on the platform. Her page only has one post, though: a humorous face-washing tutorial that was uploaded last year and sponsored by Neutrogena.

Before “Wednesday” premiered on Netflix during Thanksgiving week, Ortega didn’t expect that her jerky jig to the tune of “Goo Goo Muck” by the Cramps would become an internet sensation.

“I still can’t believe even that,” she told ET.

“Some of the moves I planned were partly improvised. That was one of those scenes that I stay up at night and think about because I thought there was so much I should and could have done. The fact that anyone showed even a little appreciation or tried it themselves is beyond me.”

Late last year, Ortega and the creative team behind “Wednesday” came under scrutiny after the series director admitted she filmed the famous dance scene while she was ill and awaiting a COVID-19 test result — which came back positive. Ortega told NME in November that she woke up sick the day of shooting and was put on medication between takes.

MGM Studios, which took over production on “Wednesday,” previously said in a statement that “strict COVID protocols were being followed and as soon as the positive test was confirmed, production removed Jenna from the set.”

Before and after the COVID-19 revelation, Ortega received rave reviews for her chilling performance as Wednesday Addams and for the stunning dance number that Times TV critic Lorraine Ali called “one of the best TV moments” of 2022.

The former Disney Channel sweetheart also earned a Golden Globe nomination for her deadpan performance in Wednesday, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

“I definitely feel like my life has changed and … a shift in energy and change,” Ortega told ET. “It’s definitely a new time in my life. So it was a bit of a change.”