‘Wednesday’: Fred Armisen Takes Over the Role of Fester Addams – Made Famous by Christopher Lloyd
The cast of Tim Burton’s Netflix series Wednesday is complete. Since the start of the series’s press, fans have been left in the dark about what character Christina Ricci will play and who will star in the role of Fester Addams. At the 2022 New York Comic Con, the main cast was joined by Fred Armisen, who was revealed to star as Uncle Fester in Wednesday. Armisen has big shoes to fill as the iconic character rose to pop-culture status thanks to Back to the Future actor Christopher Lloyd.
The new ‘Wednesday’ trailer reveals Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester coming to save his niece
Fans are eager to see Jenna Ortega and the Addams family come to life in a new adaptation of the famous characters for Netflix. From the mind of Tim Burton, Wednesday takes fans into the macabre teen’s coming-of-age story as she attends Nevermore Academy and solves a twisted murder.
While the entire cast has been revealed, the actor playing Uncle Fester has been kept under wraps. At New York Comic Con, a new trailer for the series showed the actor playing the role. In a small clip, Wednesday walks in the forest and becomes aware of someone following her. Using her fencing skills, she strikes, and the mysterious figure catches her attack.
The mysterious character is soon revealed as he uses electricity to zap Wednesday. It is none other than Uncle Fester. Played by Armisen in Wednesday, the teen is delighted to see her uncle. Armisen does not disappoint, sporting the character’s famous long coat, sunken eyes, and bald head. While Armisen did shave his head, he drew the line at shaving his eyebrows, per Vanity Fair.
The trailer shows Uncle Fester coming to his niece’s aid in a roadster vehicle disguised as a dog-walking business. Uncle Fester claims he likes to ride “incognito.” While Armisen shows promise as Uncle Fester in the Wednesday trailer, fans will likely compare him to Lloyd’s version.
Christopher Lloyd played Fester Addams in the 1991 movie and the sequel
Coming off his pop-culture-defining movie franchise Back to the Future, Lloyd took a chance at portraying Fester Addams in The Addams Family. According to Buzzfeed, Lloyd has been a fan of the character since his younger years with the original cartoons. But the actor was worried. “I was concerned about his voice and things like that because you don’t hear that in the comic strip. So I was very concerned about that and trying to capture the attitude of the guy as I had perceived it, looking at the cartoon,” said the actor.
While facing some setbacks in becoming Uncle Fester, Lloyd once again became a pop-culture sensation that would define an era and the macabre. Alongside the original cartoons, there was a live-action series. But fans of the Addams Family agree no one embodied Fester as Lloyd did.
To portray Fester, Llyod spent most of his time bending at the knees while filming his scenes. He made Fester appear shorter and the same height as Gomez Addams. There is no denying that Lloyd converted Fester Addams into a household character.
As Armisen will take over the role in Wednesday, he is not blind to the shoes he has to fill. But when it came to his own rendition, Armisen did not want to come up with something new. Instead, he kept the nostalgia of Jackie Coogan’s version and Lloyd’s.
Where fans recognize Fred Armisen from before his role in ‘Wednesday’
As part of the Wednesday cast, Armisen’s announcement came as a bit of a surprise for fans. Rumors have circulated for some time over who will play Uncle Fester. Some rumors even mentioned Johnny Depp. But Armisen also has his claim to fame that fits the bill of Uncle Fester’s cooky and comical persona.
Armisen is a well-known actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He made his career in comedy and joined Saturday Night Live in 2002 and left in 2013. Throughout his career, he became well known for his comedic guest appearances in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and the series 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Alongside Carrie Brownstein, he co-created and starred in Portlandia, which earned him an Emmy nomination. In 2020, Armisen co-created and stars in the series Moonbase 8 with Bill Hader and Seth Meyers. Fans can look forward to Armisen’s cooky and comical take on Uncle Fester in Wednesday, set to premiere on Nov. 23.
