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The 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards - Arrivals© GettyImages

Jenna Ortega explains why she was not in season 4 of ‘You’: ‘I was devastated’

And while Jenna’s character does not appear on the series, Penn Badgley’s character talks about Ellie at one point.


Daniel Neira
Daniel Neira - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
FEBRUARY 27, 2023 2:16 PM EST

Jenna Ortega wished she had been able to return to play Ellie Alvarez in the latest season of Netflix’s ‘You.’ The 20-year-old actress revealed to Entertainment Tonight that she really wanted to return to the show, but was in the middle of filming ‘Wednesday’ in Romania and was not able to travel back and forth.

Netflix© Netflix

“I was devastated,” Jenna said during a recent interview, while attending the SAG Awards on Sunday. She also said that she was looking forward to being back on set as she had a good time playing Ellie last time.

“Easily one of my favorite sets that I’ve ever, ever been on. I was so devastated when they reached out because I miss Ellie and I had been wanting to go back to Ellie for such a long time but I was in Romania shooting ‘Wednesday.’”

Netflix© Netflix

She continued, “I couldn’t travel back and forth with the pandemic and everything like that and when you’re committed to a show, there was just no way that it could have worked out,” Ortega said. “But that one bummed me out,” adding that she “tried” to make it work.

And while Jenna’s character does not appear on the series, Penn Badgley’s character talks about Ellie at one point. “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,” Joe Goldberg says.