Jenna Ortega Earns Dorian Awards Nomination for GALECA’s ‘Rising Star Award’

Jenna Ortega’s star continues to rise…

Nominations for the 14th annual Dorian Awards, bestowed by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, have been announced, with the 20-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress earning a nod.

Jenna OrtegaOrtega, who starred in the films Scream 5, X and American Carnage in 2022 and has earned acclaim for her work on Netflix’s series Wednesday, is nominated for the Rising Star Award.

Guillermo del Toro has also earned a nomination…

The 58-year-old Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker and screenwriter’s latest project, Netflix’s Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, is up for Animated Film of the Year.

The group will bestow its honors on February 23.

Here’s the complete list of nominees:

Film of the Year
Aftersun (A24)
The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
The Fabelmans (Universal)
Tár (Focus Features)

LGBTQ Film of the Year
Benediction (Roadside Attractions)
Bros (Universal)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
The Inspection (A24)
Tár (Focus Features)

Director(s) of the Year
Todd Field, Tár (Focus Features)
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight)
Sarah Polley, Women Talking (United Artists)
Charlotte Wells, Aftersun (A24)

Screenplay of the Year
Todd Field, Tár (Focus Features)
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight)
Sarah Polley, Women Talking (United Artists)
Charlotte Wells, Aftersun (A24)

Non-English Language Film of the Year
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix, Amusement Park)
Close (A24)
Decision to Leave (Mubi, CJ Entertainment)
EO (Sideshow, Janus Films)
RRR (DVV Entertainment, Variance Films)

Unsung Film of the Year
Aftersun (A24)
After Yang (A24)
Benediction (Roadside Attractions)
The Eternal Daughter (A24)
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (Searchlight)
The Menu (Searchlight)
Emily the Criminal

Film Performance of the Year
Cate Blanchett,  Tár (Focus Features)
Austin Butler, Elvis (Warner Bros)
Viola Davis, The Woman King (Sony)
Danielle Deadwyler, Till (United Artists)
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight)
Brendan Fraser, The Whale (A24)
Mia Goth, Pearl (A24)
Paul Mescal, Aftersun (A24)
Jeremy Pope, The Inspection (A24)
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)

Supporting Film Performance of the Year
Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney, Marvel)
Hong Chau, The Whale (A24)
Jaime Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Dolly De Leon, Triangle of Sadness (Neon)
Nina Hoss, Tár (Focus Features)
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight)
Janelle Monáe, Glass Onion: Knives Out (Netflix)
Keke Palmer, Nope (Universal)
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)

Documentary of the Year
All The Beauty and the Bloodshed (Neon)
Fire of Love (Neon, National Geographic)
Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
Moonage Daydream (Neon)
Navalny (Warner Bros)

LGBTQ Documentary of the Year
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Neon)
Framing Agnes (Kino Lorber)
Moonage Daydream (Neon)
Nelly & Nadine (Auto Images)
Sirens (Frameline)

Animated Film of the Year
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix)
Marcel The Shell with Shoes On (A24)
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (DreamWorks, Universal)
Turning Red (Disney, Pixar)
Wendell & Wild (Netflix)

Film Music of the Year
Babylon – score by Justin Hurvitz (Paramount)
Elvis – score and music production by Elliott Wheeler; the music of Elvis Presley; various artists (Warner Bros)
RRR – score by M.M. Keeravani (DVV Entertainment, Variance Films)
Tár – score and curation by Hildur Guðnadóttir (Focus Features)
Women Talking – score by Hildur Guðnadóttir (United Artists)

Visually Striking Film of the Year
Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century)
Babylon (Paramount)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Nope (Universal)
RRR  (DVV Entertainment, Variance Films)

Campiest Flick of the Year
Babylon (Paramount)
Bodies Bodies Bodies (A24)
Elvis (Warner Bros)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)
Pearl (A24)
RRR (DVV Entertainment, Variance Films)

Rising Star Award
Austin Butler
Frankie Corio
Stephanie Hsu
Gabriel LaBelle
Jenna Ortega
Jeremy Pope

Wilde Artist Award
To a truly groundbreaking force in film, theater and/or television
Cate Blanchett
Billy Eichner
Janelle Monáe
Keke Palmer
Michelle Yeoh

Timeless Award
For an actor or performer whose exemplary career is marked by character, wisdom and wit; alternates yearly between male and female / non-binary honorees
RuPaul Andre Charles
Nathan Lane
Tom Hanks
Anthony Hopkins
Bill Nighy

Netflix Releases First Look at Jenna Ortega as “Wednesday” in Upcoming Addams Family Television Series

Jenna Ortega is embracing her Family

Netflix has revealed the first look at “Wednesday,” the upcoming Addams Family television series starring the famous clan’s daughter, with the 19-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress and Scream 5 star in the title role.

Jenna OrtegaFirst created by Charles Addams for a series of New Yorker cartoons, the Addams Family is a bizarre aristocratic clan with an obsession of the macabre and a complete lack of concern regarding how others perceive them.

Following their creation, the characters grew in popularity after a 1964 sitcom fleshed out their personalities, and have since starred in two live-action theatrical films, two animated series, a Broadway musical and two animated films.

The only daughter of parents Gomez and Morticia, Wednesday was depicted in the original sitcom as the most sweet-natured of the family.

However, the 1991 Barry Sonnenfeld-directed film adaptation changed her personality to be much more deadpan and sadistic, with Christina Ricci’s portrayal in the film making her one of the most popular characters in the franchise.

“Wednesday” spins-off the character as she attends a boarding school Nevermore Academy, where she develops psychic powers and investigates a supernatural killing spree connected to her own family’s history.

In addition to Ortega as Wednesday, the rest of the Addams Family will make appearances in the show. Catherine Zeta-Jones is part of the main cast as matriarch Morticia, while Victor Dorobantu plays the disembodied hand servant of the family, Thing. Isaac Ordonez plays Wednesday’s brother Pugsley in a recurring role, while George Burcea plays the family manservant Lurch. Luis Guzmán will guest star in the series as Wednesday’s father Gomez.

The main cast of the show includes Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, Percy Hynes White, Gwendoline Christie, Thora Birch, Hunter Doohan, Joy Sunday, Emma Myers, Georgie Farmer, Naomi Ogawa and Moosa Mostafa. In a nod to the ’90s films, Ricci will also appear in an unconfirmed role.

Al Gough and Miles Millar, the creators of the Superman series Smallville, serve as showrunners and executive producers for the series.

Tim Burton will also executive produce and direct the majority of episodes, with Gandja Monteiro and James Marshall serving as additional directors.

 

The series is produced by MGM Television for Netflix.

Melissa Barrera to Star in the Netflix Survival Drama Series “Breathe”

Will Melissa Barrera make it through the wilderness?

The 30-year-old Mexican actress and singer has been cast as the lead in BreatheNetflix’s one-hour drama series from Blindspot creator Martin Gero and writer-executive producer Brendan Gall, and Warner Bros. Television.

Melissa Barrera

Barrera, who rose to acclaim in Starz’s Latinx series Vida, will portray a lone woman who must battle the elements and odds to survive after her plane crashes in the middle of the Canadian wilderness.

Barrera’s Eve is a razor-sharp Manhattan attorney who finds herself profoundly out of her comfort zone when her plane crashes and she must battle for survival.

Gero executive produces via his Quinn’s House production company, along with Gall. Warner Bros. Television is the studio.

Barrera most recently starred as co-lead Lyn in Tanya Saracho’s Vida, which aired for three seasons on Starz.

She next stars in In the Heights, the feature adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical, and also will be seen in a key role in the upcoming Scream 5.

She recently wrapped Sony Pictures Classics’ Carmen, the modern-day reimagining of the classic opera.

Jenna Ortega In Talks to Star in the Horror Thriller “X”

X marks the spot for Jenna Ortega.

The 18-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress is in final talks to star opposite Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi) and Mia Goth in X, the next horror thriller from director Ti West.

Jenna Ortega

The film will be a co-production between A24 and BRON Studios, who will also co-finance.

West will write and direct the pic with A24, Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, Sam Levinson, and Ashley Levinson producing through their Little Lamb Productions. Mescudi will executive produce.

Plot details are being kept under wraps but the film is expected to bare similarities of West’s past films that put him on the map.

Production is expected to start at the top of 2021.

Ortega was most recently seen in the Netflix sequel, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, and several films she has coming out in 2021 including Paramount and Spyglass’s Scream 5, which has her as one of the leads.

Mescudi was most recently seen in HBO and Luca Guadagnino series We Are Who We Are, earning some of the best reviews of his career. On the film side, he was last seen in Bill & Ted Face The Music. He can be seen next in the drama Dreamland opposite Gary Oldman.

Jenna Ortega to Star in “Scream 5”

Jenna Ortega could just scream

The 17-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress has been cast in Spyglass Media Group and Paramount Pictures’ upcoming Scream 5. 

Jenna Ortega

Ortega, who recently starred in season two of Netflix’s You, joins franchise cast members David Arquette and Courteney Cox, who’ll reprise their respective roles as Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers, as well as newcomer Melissa Barrera.  

The production will shoot in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Scream is being directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.

Scream creator Kevin Williamson and Chad Villella are executive producing.

Throughout four installments, the Scream franchise counts over $600M at the global box office. The films were directed by late horrormeister Wes Craven with Williamson penning the original film as well as Scream 2 and Scream 4.

Ortega previously starred on the CW’s Jane the Virginas Young Jane.

She can next be seen in Yes Day starring Jennifer Garner and The Babysitter: Killer Queen with Bella Thorne.

Ortega recently wrapped filming on Songbird opposite Demi Moore and Bradley Whitford, which was one of the first notable feature productions to shoot in Los Angeles after the pandemic shutdown.

Melissa Barrera to Star in “Scream 5”

Melissa Barrera is ready to Scream…

The 30-year-old Mexican actress, who recently ended her three-season run on Starz’s Vida, has landed akey role in Scream 5.

Melissa Barrera

Barrera is the first new cast member to be announced for the anticipated Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures relaunch.

Friends alum and legacy cast member Courteney Cox will be reprising her role in the franchise as dogged reporter Gale Weathers alongside David Arquette, who is coming back as Dewey Riley. Neve Campbell, who portrayed Sidney Prescott in the slasher film, told press in May that she was in talks to join the movie.

Cameras are due to roll in Wilmington, North Carolina, this fall and the project is due to wrap by year’s end. Additional casting is underway on the ensemble horror.

Scream 5 is being directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.

Creator Kevin Williamson and Chad Villella are executive producing.

The Scream franchise, through four films dating back to 1996, has grossed more than $600M at the global box office. The late Wes Craven directed all four movies. Williamson wrote the original film as well as Scream 2 and Scream 4.

Barrera, who was named to Variety’s 10 Latinxs to Watch list earlier this year, will next appear in Warner Bros.’ film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical hit In The Heights. That film is due for release next year.

This fall she’ll star as the title character in the film Carmen, the modern-day reimagining of the classic opera. The movie will mark the feature debut of Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied and will feature music from composer Nicholas Britell and Grammy winner Julieta Venegas.