‘Wednesday’: Jenna Ortega Lost Her Footing Playing Her Character: ‘I Just Remember Feeling Defeated After the First Month’
The Addams family’s fans will see a new side of the macabre teen. Netflix‘s Wednesday series stares Jenna Ortega in the leading role as the character breaks free from the mundaneness of regular school to attend Nevermore Academy and solve murders. The studded actor takes on the role from Christian Ricci, who made the character a pop culture icon. But Ortega reveals becoming Wednesday Addams proved to be a difficult feat.
Fans will still see the emotionless and dark Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series
Since the original cartoons, fans have seen the Addams Family as a collective unit as they scare the locals with their witchy ways. With the first black-and-white live-action series later came the first movie adaptation, starring Christina Ricci. The actor’s version made Wednesday Addams a concrete celebrity and relatable. Fans are aware part of the character’s charm was her unusualness, love for death and the macabre, and lack of emotions.
Tim Burton’s Wednesday will be the first time a storyline focuses more intensely on the character. Unlike before, the Netflix version will be a teenager sent to a unique supernatural academy as she gets involved in local murders and a mystery about her parents.
Even in the official trailers, Ortega embodied Wednesday Addams’s stone-faced and emotionless wonder. In a Deadline discussion between Ortega and Ricci, Ricci reveals the character comes with a few challenges.
“I found with a character like this, sometimes when they’re written in such an extreme way, it can be difficult to move a traditional narrative along because the emotional reactions aren’t where people expect them to be,” explained the actor. Ortega more than understood and revealed she has some difficulty portraying Wednesday on camera.
Jenna Ortega called her parents in panic while filming ‘Wednesday’
The 19-year-od actor had had a formidable career from You, Scream (2022), and Fallout. Wednesday is a once-in-a-lifetime role directed by the brilliant mind of Tim Burton in his first small-screen project. But Ortega truthfully tells Ricci that the role has been a “battle.”
Ortega explains she had trouble finding her footing while filming and trying to develop the character. “I remember Tim did not want me to have any expression or emotion at all. He wanted a flat surface, which I understand. It’s funny and great except when you’re trying to move a plot along, and Wednesday is in every scene,” said the actor. “There were a lot of battles like that because I felt like people didn’t always trust me when I was creating my path in terms of, ‘Okay, this is her arc. This is where she gets emotional.”
But in the filming process, Ortega also did not have much time to sit with her character, “I would call my parents every night in a panic because I felt like it was different from any job I had ever done,” explained Ortega. “I remember it being very stressful and confusing. I did the best I could, but that’s probably the most overwhelming job I’ve ever had.”
Along the way of embodying the character, Ortega protected Wednesday Addams and kept her the unusual teenager she is. Above all, Ortega found an ally in Burton, who listened to her concerns.
‘Wednesday’ will give fans a slightly new take on the goth family members
The series is set to premiere on Netflix on Nov. 23, which purposefully happens to be on a Wednesday. Before diving into the series, fans are looking forward to the minor tweaks to the macabre family. For the first time, Wednesday will be portrayed with a Latina background.
Fans saw the small nods to Mexican culture with El Dia de Los Muertos, the traditional dance, and more. Wednesday is also described as developing psychic abilities while at Nevermore this time. But the series will still stick to popular aspects of the Addams family. Catherine Zeta-Jones stars as Morticia with her iconic long black hair and skin-tight dress. But Luis Guzman takes on a more cartoon-accurate version of Gomez.
Wednesday will also portray the teen character’s softer side regarding her younger brother and who can bully him. Have no fear. The official trailer also reveals Uncle Fester will come to his niece’s rescue.
