Jenna Ortega Says ‘Wednesday’ Changed Her Style

Jenna Ortega doesn’t remember a time before soccer — “My parents put cleats and shin guards on me as soon as I could remember,” she tells InStyle over Zoom. The 20-year-old played the Beautiful Game for over a decade before she had to choose between the sport and her acting career after booking a show in Los Angeles.

“It felt like to leave or to stop [playing soccer] was saying good-bye to that side of myself and my childhood. And that was really, really scary and nerve-wracking,” Ortega recalls. “I don't think it was something that I was prepared for. I think I've been fortunate enough that I still feel connected to soccer in a certain way or I can still talk to my family about it, but I remember that that was just a really difficult decision, because soccer was so meaningful to me. The idea of never really being able to play on the field again or be a part of a team like that again was really unfortunate.” 

Ortega grew up in California’s Coachella Valley and like so many other kids, played in her local AYSO (she was a forward for anyone wondering) and idolized the greats, like her favorite player (and fellow Adidas ambassador), Lionel Messi — "I can't compare him to another player today who has any sort of the finesse that he has," she says of the GOAT. "He's an alien, a real-life alien. I just saw him play in-person for the first time. And anytime he had the ball, he's unbelievable. I think he's just not from this world." As fate would have it, she was destined for a comeback, though it’s not quite like lacing up her cleats and returning to the field.

Last month, the Wednesday actress became the face of Adidas’s new Sportswear line, the brand’s first new label in 50 years, as well as its new All That You Are campaign, which celebrates “the comfort found in self-expression,” per a press release. She’ll be rubbing shoulders with the campaign’s other stars, like Premier League player (and current Golden Boot holder) Son Heung-min from Tottenham Hotspur F.C., basketball player Trae Young, Women’s Super League forward Mary Fowler, and gamer Carolina Voltan.

The label offers “sport-inspired” streetwear pieces, and in the collection images, Ortega is shown pairing a purple Tiro Suit Up Advanced tracksuit, which is a new iteration of the line’s iconic Tiro set, with a skinny black tie and white button-up shirt. It’s fair to say the look is giving Sporty Spice meets Wednesday Addams (non-derogatory), but many of Ortega’s recent looks have appeared to pay homage to the character — like her witchy Gucci gown at the Golden Globes, a sheer Saint Laurent dress that read as high-fashion mummy, and, of course, that Versace goth bride look for the premiere of the Netflix show that catapulted her into everyone’s minds and social media feeds.  

Beyond the premiere, Ortega says she and her long-time stylist, Enrique Melendez, honestly didn’t take the character into consideration.  

“The Versace dress was definitely something that we were planning in terms of, OK, how do we make this gothic, but not doing too much or trying too hard? And the veil was perfectly teetering on the edge of that,” says Ortega. “So, it was really fun for me.” 

“I do think that Wednesday changed my taste a lot. I have a hard time getting her off of me, at least clothing-wise,” she says of adopting Wednesday Addams’s signature goth style for herself. “It's also something that I've always wanted to do. I just never felt like I could. I feel like there were always a lot of voices and opinions that I used to place too much value in.”

Ortega started working with Melendez at roughly the same time that she had to leave soccer (age 14) and, in a way, they’ve grown up together. “I think that we communicate telepathically at this point,” she jokes of their collaboration. “And he knows what's doing too much for me and what's just enough.” 

When the pair first met, Melendez questioned how he could dress someone so young, he told British Vogue, "Once we got to know each other, I began to understand her mind and the brands that work for her, and it just blossomed into what it is today: a true collaboration."

In part, it was soccer that introduced Ortega to the power of teamwork and it was that same feeling of being so in tune with other people that made soccer so appealing to the young powerhouse.

“It's the best when you feel like you guys are reading each other's minds, and that when I pass it forward, she's going to be there already,” Ortega says. "  

“I think that everybody needs a team,” Ortega says. “To have any sort of community is so, so important for humans. I think that I forget that sometimes because I definitely enjoy my solitude. But I think that everybody needs a team. You need people to root for, you need people who motivate you to be better and also hold you accountable."