Isaac Ortega
Isaac Ortega is known for being the oldest of the Ortega siblings, with the younger five being Mariah, Mia, the award-winning actress Jenna, Aaliyah, and Markus. According to online biographies, Isaac was born on 1st January 1998 in California, USA, and lived in Palm Desert and La Quinta during his childhood.
Isaac’s father, Edward, is a former sheriff-turned-businessman of Mexican descent. Meanwhile, the Ortega matriarch, Natalie, is Mexican-Puerto Rican and works as an emergency room nurse. As for earlier generations, Natalie’s grandmother was an illegal immigrant from Mexico who gave birth to her son – Natalie’s father – in Puerto Rico.
Isaac studied at Xavier College Preparatory, and furthered his education at Grand Canyon University, but there’s no available information online regarding his college degree or current career.
Ortega Siblings
With just 300 Instagram followers at time of writing, it’s evident that Isaac has no interest in the limelight. (From the looks of his profile picture, he appears to have a girlfriend, but we have no way of confirming this information). Mariah, who was born on 25th January 1999, is equally low-key and has made all her social media accounts private, possibly to protect the identities of her husband Jacob and their three children.
However, the third Ortega sibling, Mia, is an open book compared to her older brother and sister. Mia was born on 15th May 2000 and is an aspiring influencer with her own Amazon storefront and Depop store. She’s currently in a long-term relationship with Isaac Salazar, and the couple appear to share many common interests such as attending musical festivals and traveling.
As we can see from a quick scroll down Mia’s Instagram profile, fashion and photography are just two of her favorite things. She also shares a close bond with her siblings, as evidenced by a November 2019 photo of her and her sisters wishing the internet a happy Thanksgiving.
Nevertheless, Mia’s social media stats pale in comparison to those of her younger sister Aliyah, who was born on 23rd July 2004 alongside twin brother Markus. The influencer’s photos invariably receive tens of thousands of likes, and she was recently invited to the 10th anniversary event of White Fox Boutique, a beloved online clothing brand which works closely with many Instagrammers.
In December 2023, Aliyah also became an ambassador for the videochat app Wizz. With that said, the celebrity sibling knows the importance of having a degree to fall back on in case social media doesn’t work out, and is currently studying at California State University, Long Beach.
Meanwhile, Markus, the youngest of the family, has just one Instagram post to date – a family photo which was uploaded on New Year’s Day 2016. He’s still active on social media, however, as he often uploads Stories and goes Live to interact with followers. In 2022, Markus went public with girlfriend Leena Banuelos, a Twitch streamer who loves makeup, cosplaying, and fashion.
Jenna Ortega
Jenna has been active in the entertainment industry for over a decade, and it goes without saying is the best-known Ortega. Born on 27th September 2002 in Palm Desert, Jenna previously discussed her experience as a middle child as ‘pretty cool’. ‘Middle children get away with more stuff in general,’ she told “Mama’s Mission” blog during a 2016 interview.
The Netflix star knew she wanted to become an actress from a young age. At first, Natalie attempted to distract Jenna with extracurricular activities such as soccer; however, when her daughter was nine years old, Natalie bought her a monologue book and posted one of her performance videos, which impressed a casting director enough to sign her to an agency.
Upon realizing her daughter’s potential, Natalie began supporting Jenna more as she drove her to Los Angeles to attend auditions, sometimes making the six-hour journey five days a week. However, Jenna suffered from discrimination as there were a lack of roles for Latinas, and she didn’t have the right ‘look’.
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Given her lack of connections in the film industry, Jenna stuck to commercial work for the first year, with small roles in McDonald’s national campaigns and similar gigs. From Mondays to Fridays, the youngster split her time between Los Angeles and her hometown, where she continued to attend school. She later studied at John Glenn Middle School, eventually dropping out in eighth grade and moving to Los Angeles full-time, after signing a contract with Disney.
After her role on “Stuck in the Middle” came to an end in 2018, Jenna tried to transition to more mature projects, but found herself typecast as a Disney kid. During this time, she suffered various setbacks and almost quit acting due to a lack of work. However, she was then cast as Ellie Alves in the Netflix thriller “You”, and was commended for her outstanding performance.
Jenna’s next few projects were hit-and-miss: her role in “The Babysitter: Killer Queen” did little for her career as the horror film receiving negative reviews, and other projects such as the 2021 comedy “Yes Day” and animated series “Jedssic World Camp Cretaceous” flew under the radar. However, her starring performance in the drama film “The Fallout” was lauded by critics, as the actress had spent months prepping for the role by watching interviews about school shootings, and participating in a pro-gun control legislation march.
After a decade of acting, Jenna finally received mainstream recognition thanks to her role as Tara Carpenter in “Scream”, the fifth movie in the iconic slasher franchise. Not only did the Netflix star win the MTV Movie Award for Most Frightened Performance, but she was also snowed under with work offers, such as a supporting role in “Studio 666”, a starring role in the Ti West slasher “X”, and a part in “The A.V. Club”.
With that said, Jenna’s role in the comedy-horror Netflix series “Wednesday” was aptly described as a ‘new chapter’ in the actress’s career, and for good reason. Chosen by the casting director due to being one of the ‘best’ young Latina actresses in Hollywood at the time, Jenna’s portrayal of Wednesday Addams turned her into an A-list celebrity amongst Gen Z; ironically, she had turned the role down several times until learning of Tim Burton’s involvement in the project.
The grueling preparation work for the role saw Jenna learn German, take cello lessons, and read and watch Addams family-related content such as the 1960s TV series and the original comic books. she also dyed her hair and changed her facial expressions, mannerisms, and style of speaking. The Californian’s hard work paid off, as she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe during the 2022 awards season.
Since then, Jenna has reprised her role as Tara Carpenter in “Scream VI”, hosted an episode of “Saturday Night Live”, and began filming the second season of “Wednesday”. In November 2023, the actress dropped out of the “Scream” franchise after her co-star, Melissa Barrera, was fired from the upcoming seventh movie for her public support of Palestine amidst the ongoing Gaza-Israel conflict. News sources claim that Jenna left due to unsuccessful salary negotiations, whereas her team stated that she had exited due to scheduling conflicts.
