Jenna Ortega on Political Correctness in Hollywood: ‘We Lose a Lot of Our Humanity and Integrity Because It Lacks Honesty'

Jenna Ortega has some thoughts about Hollywood’s relationship with political correctness.

In a recent conversation with Vanity Fair, the 21-year-old actor explained her belief that actors needing to be politically correct contributes to them losing their integrity.

“The business that we work in is so touchy-feely,” she said. “Everybody wants to be politically correct, but I feel like, in doing that, we lose a lot of our humanity and integrity, because it lacks honesty.”

She then expressed what she’d love to see in Hollywood instead.

“I wish that we had a better sense of conversation,” she continued. “Imagine if everyone could say what they felt and not be judged for it and, if anything, it sparked some sort of debate, not an argument.”

Ortega’s viewpoint on this most likely stems from the situation that happened last year when her Scream co-star Melissa Barrera was fired because she made a social media post showing support for Palestine in the midst of its conflict with Israel.

In a statement released to Variety, Scream producer Spyglass Media Group made it clear that her removal from the film was due to what she posted.

“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech,” the statement read.

Ortega left the Scream franchise a day after Barrera was fired, citing scheduling conflicts as the reason.

Elsewhere in her Vanity Fair interview, Ortega detailed some hilarious advice that she received from a cello instructor for her Netflix show Wednesday.

“The show that I do right now I have to play the cello, and I don’t play the cello,” Ortega said. “I want it to look real so that cellists don’t look at it and call me mean names. My teacher told me that as long as I look confident in my movements and I was strong and stoic and, you know, fully embodied the character that it would be fine.”

“She told me that I just needed to approach everything I do in life with the confidence of the average white man,” she continued. “That changed my life. That made me feel better.”