‘Wednesday’: Jenna Ortega Hoped People Would Ignore Her Viral Dance
Many actors dream of having their work be seen on a global scale. But, Jenna Ortega seems to be a bit of a reluctant celebrity. One of the actor’s latest projects, Wednesday, has quickly catapulted her into superstardom. Her portrayal of the teenage Adams daughter has been streamed billions of times over the last five months. Furthermore, the short dance sequence that she choreographed for the show has gone viral, with celebrities like Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian reenacting the moves. But it seems that Ortega was hoping that that part of her performance would garner a lot less attention.
Jenna Ortega wanted to redo her iconic ‘Wednesday’ dance
Fans of Wednesday will recall that Ortega performed the now iconic dance sequence in Season 1 Episode 4, “Woe What a Night.” After Wednesday reluctantly attends her school dance, she surprises her fellow classmates by busting out her own unique moves. It was Ortega herself who came up with the moves, watching old videos and losing sleep in order to create the intricate dance. But while the You alum has received praise for her performance, she isn’t happy with it. Since the actor had COVID when she filmed the dance, she wanted to redo it so she could give an even better performance.
The actor was hoping people wouldn’t pay attention to the dance scene
But it seems that even if Ortega was happy with her dance performance, its popularity would’ve still unnerved her. While speaking with The Sunday Times, the Scream 6 star got candid about her reaction to the dance going viral. “When they were telling me [it was going viral], I was trying to seem uplifted about it, like, ‘Oh, wow!’” Ortega shared. “But mentally, in my head, I was hoping people wouldn’t pay so much attention to that part. It’s disorientating. I don’t think people are naturally designed to have that many eyes on them.”
For her part, it seems as if Ortega doesn’t even like to have her own eyes on her work. A self-proclaimed perfectionist, The Fallout alum has issues watching her performances back. Her eye is so critical that she’s constantly able to think about what she could’ve done better. That seems to impede her ability to really appreciate the work she’s done.
Ortega admits that she finds it difficult to watch her own performances
“Some actors watch their work like game-day footage like they’re athletes,” she shared. “I completely understand, but I really can’t. If I have to go to a screening of something I did, which is very rare, a lot of the times I’ll say, ‘Mmmm, no,’ but if I do, I try to go to the bathroom as many times as possible, or I’ll randomly take a phone call, like, I have to get out.”
Will Ortega choreograph another dance for ‘Wednesday’ Season 2?
Considering how popular Wednesday is, it seems that Ortega may have to get used to the newfound attention on her and her work. While she didn’t initially expect that many people would watch Wednesday, it’s clear now that millions will be tuning in for season 2. Only time will tell if she’ll perform another dance in the sophomore season of the show. But considering Ortega will be an executive producer for Wednesday Season 2, we highly doubt it.
