Would Jenna Ortega be a good casting pick for Esmeralda?

Way back in the early 2010s, Tim Burton was in talks to develop a version of The Hunchback with Josh Brolin. That version however has never since materialized but there always seems to whispers and murmurs of it every now again. The most “recent” one is an article from 2019 from Backstage though that article was only updated 2019 and originally came out in March 2011 when the news first broke. It does seem that this project is dead and according to the article Burton’s involvement was contingent on the outcome of the script.

However if Burton ever got it into his head to actually develop his vision for a movie version of Hunchback, Jenna Ortega would be a likely choice for Esmeralda. This is due to Ortega becoming Burton’s muse and Burton preferring to work with the same actors for his projects. So the question is  would Jenna Ortega make a good Esmeralda?

Jenna Ortega as La Belle Esmeralda

On paper Ortega has the right look for the part.  She is also currently in a good age range for the role. In the novel, Esmeralda has dark eyes and hair with a “golden” complexion however most movie versions have moved away from the book’s origins for the character as they steeped in cruel stereotypes. While not perfect most versions elect to make Esmeralda a full Romani though specificities to a specific group of Roma people has yet never been done.

So while Ortega herself is Latina it’s not too much of a deal breaker for casting. There has one Latina to play the role, Salma Hayek in the 1997 version, though Hayek is also of Lebanese decent and there was at least one notable Notre Dame de Paris Esmeralda, Hiba Tawaji, whose Lebanese so it would a full circle. Hypothetically speaking it’s an unknown how Ortega’s casting would be received, it would depend  largely of the scope of the movie itself like the writing, directing and overall vision in addition to her own portrayal of the role.

Despite Ortega’s portrayal as the sardonic Wednesday Addams, Ortega can convincingly play more upbeat characters as evident by the body swap episode of Wednesday. Her acting skills are not in question but again it depends on the script and the version for Esmeralda since the character has been depicted from many different angles and personality facets. 

There is one more aspect of an Esmeralda’s casting that sometime is showcased and sometime isn’t but it really should be and that is dancing. Esmeralda is a dancer it’s an integral part of her character. Ortega is not a trained dancer even though her dance scene in Wednesday season one helped to popularize the show. She is an actress who puts in the work learning the skills of character, so she could learn to dance for the role. Though if this hypothetical version was more skewed toward a comedy, a dance akin to Wednesday’s dance for Esmeralda could be funny. Like she doing all the weird movements and the everyone is just enthralled and utterly seduced by her dance. 

If in the near future Tim Burton wakes up one morning and decides to do a Hunchback version, he most likely, at this stage, would pick Jenna Ortega for Esmeralda and it most likely work as a decent to great casting pick depending on the rest of the movie. So yes Jenna Ortega would make a fine pick but it might only happen if Burton is involved.         

But what do you think?  Would Jenna Ortega make a good Esmeralda?  Would you watch a Tim Burton led Hunchback movie?