Jenna Ortega: Women ‘Should Have Our Own Franchises’ Not Just Spinoffs

Jenna Ortega wants women’s stories to be prioritized and celebrated. In an interview with MTV Tuesday, the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice actress shared how much she wanted for women to be leads in their own franchises, instead of being leads in spinoffs.

During the interview, Josh Horowitz asked Ortega if she’d consider playing “Edith Scissorhands” if there was a gender-flipped version of the Johnny Depp classic. Ortega, instead, offered that women should get their own thing.

“I love that there’s a lot more female leads nowadays, I think that’s so special. But we should have our own,” Ortega said. “I don’t like it when it’s like a spinoff.”

“I don’t want to see like ‘Jamie Bond.’ You know?” she added. “I want to see just another badass.”

Although Ortega was speaking hypothetically, there won’t be a Jamie Bond, since its franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has said many times that 007 will always be played by a man. Broccoli’s previous statements on the subject actually aligned with Ortega’s sentiments: “I believe in making characters for women and not just having women play men’s roles.”