‘Wednesday’: Tim Burton’s Netflix Series Was Shot in Bucharest, Romania
Wednesday is one of Netflix’s most popular original series. The show is a spinoff of the wildly popular ’90s movie, The Addams Family. Audiences have seen several reiterations of the character of Wednesday Addams over the years, from the black-and-white TV version to the animated one.
‘Wednesday’ was filmed in Romania
In 2021, the Romanian press reported that director Tim Burton had been scouting for shooting locations in Romania. According to Film New Europe, Burton had prospected the Bran and Peles Castle, with the outlet reporting that the director had also incorporated the Buftea Studios as one of the several locations.
The publication reported months later that Burton had settled for Buftea Studios as the main set, and construction for the sets of a town had begun. Filming officially began in the second week of September 2021 in Bucharest, Romania, with the entire crew spending more than six months filming the show there.
The decision to select Bucharest was strategic on Burton’s part, as the fictional school in the series, Nevermore Academy, looks like an old Gothic castle. Nevermore is where all the unconventional children go to get their education.
As such, it’s secluded from modern society, and from the looks of it, the school is located deep in the forest. Furthermore, the school’s design isn’t something you can normally find in the United States. Cast member Gwendoline Christie talked to Entertainment Weekly about the shooting location, saying,
“One of the amazing things about shooting in Romania is that it’s not a location that you’d often see in film and television. So you’re not in that position of seeing landscapes many of which you have seen before. This is entirely new.”
While Wednesday was shot in Romania, the series takes place in a fictional version of the real small town of Jericho, Vermont, located about 30 minutes from Burlington, Vermont, the largest city in the state.
‘Wednesday’ follows the titular character around others like her
Wednesday details the eponymous character’s troubles in high school as she is expelled from all the schools she goes to. After eight expulsions in five years, her parents, Morticia and Gomez, decide to enroll her in the school where they met 25 years ago, Nevermore Academy.
The supernatural-laced mystery focuses on Wednesday as she tries to develop her psychic abilities in a school where everyone is as talented, if not more than her. She also works to solve a mystery that has plagued her parents since their time at school while trying to prevent a killing spree in the village.
The last time audiences caught up with Wednesday Addams, she was a young girl. The Burton-directed series offers a time jump into her teenage years that gives way to more complex relationships and life dynamics that the slightly homicidal character will have to navigate.
Who’s who in the ‘Wednesday’ cast?
Jenna Ortega of You and X fame stars as the teenage Wednesday in the Netflix series. Ortega landed the part in May 2021 after Burton specifically requested her. She told EW she was working in New Zealand when she was told to hop onto a Zoom call with the director.
Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta-Jones guest star as Gomez and Morticia Addams, while Isaac Ordonez stars as their son Pugsley. Fred Armisen takes over the role of Gomez’s brother Uncle Fester while Riki Lindhome appears as Dr. Valerie Kinbott. Victor Dorobantu will play the Addams family servant, Thing.
Christie appears in a new role, playing Larissa Weems, while the previous Wednesday Addams, Christina Ricci, stars as Marilyn Thornhill.
