‘SNL’ Host Jenna Ortega Joined By ‘Wednesday’ Co-Star Fred Armisen During Opening Monologue

Jenna Ortega took center stage at Saturday Night Live to remind folks that she’s only 20 and not the “dark and twisted” girl in real life that she plays in movies and in TV.

“It’s been a crazy couple of years,” the star of Netflix’s Wednesday began. “I think there is something about my face that people see and say, ‘Hey, let’s throw blood on that.”

She reminded the audience that she’s actually been acting since she was little. Her mom got her into the business by putting a video of Ortega on Facebook, “which someone explained to me is like TikTok but for racism instead of dancing.”

Ortega then shared a toothbrush commercial that she shot when she was a kid, and how the “invisible nasties” she talked about in the ad can be made into a horror film today, thanks to scary music and editing.

“I love horror movies. I don’t get scared very easily,” Ortega said. “Part of the reason [she wanted to host] was to face my biggest fear — happy, extroverted people who are always trying to perform.”

That’s when she mentioned that former SNL funnyman Fred Armisen, who plays Uncle Fester on Wednesday, was in the crowd. Ortega told him that he was one of the reasons that she started watching SNL, particularly because of his skit about The Californians.

See her monologue above.