Jenna Ortega Was Supposed to Return for ‘You’ Season 4 Before ‘Wednesday’ Got in the Way
Samantha Bergeson
Jenna Ortega may be ready to outrun Ghostface again this year, but Joe Goldberg still hasn’t forgotten about her.
After Ortega starred as Ellie Alves in “You” Season 2, showrunner Sera Gamble revealed the hit series was hoping to bring the character back for Season 4. Ellie was among the few of Joe Goldberg’s (Penn Badgley) confidantes to survive his friendship, and she is referenced in Season 3 as someone Joe still stays in contact with and sends money to.
However, Ortega leading fellow Netflix series “Wednesday” had some scheduling conflicts.
“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.”
Plus, while Joe aka Jonathan Moore bonds with his student Nadia (breakout star Amy-Leigh Hickman), it’s only more reminiscent of his older brother-mentor bond with Ortega’s Ellie.
“To me, his relationship with Nadia is really telling,” Gamble added. “He has such a soft spot that is truly altruistic. He has really good boundaries with young people…except when he occasionally kills their abusive stepparents, but otherwise he’s a great mentor.”
Ortega meanwhile stars in upcoming slasher “Scream VI,” plus has three additional films as well as a second season of “Wednesday” in the works.
Gamble teased of other possible Season 4 appearances, “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.”
Fellow “You” alums also include Elizabeth Lail, Victoria Pedretti, Dylan Arnold, Shay Mitchell, Carmela Zumbado, Travis Van Winkle, Shalita Grant, James Scully, Zach Cherry, John Stamos, and more actors.
“These are some busy, in-demand actors,” Gamble said of the “You” family.
Of course, Tati Gabrielle is back this season as single mother Marienne, who narrowly escaped Joe’s grasps back in the Bay Area in Season 3.
Ortega previously told Teen Vogue in 2019 that she would love to reprise her role of Ellie.
“It would be amazing to see Ellie come back and take control of her life,” Ortega said. “I just want her to be an even bigger badass. I don’t want her to come back and be extremely vulnerable and sad. We have to remember that even though people still find Joe somewhat charming, he’s evil, he does terrible things, and he gets away with them because of his gender and race and his position in society. [Ellie] has so much potential and so much talent that she shouldn’t waste because of him.”
