Prior to the release of Wednesday next month on Netflix, series star Jenna Ortega opens up about her experience working on the series. Created by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Tim Burton, the series serves as a reinvention of The Addams family starring Ortega as a new incarnation of Wednesday Addams. Burton makes his television directorial debut directing four of the show’s eight episodes, while Gandja Monteiro and James Marshall directed the others.
Ortega and former Wednesday actress Christina Ricci, who plays a new character in Wednesdayspoke about the series in a new interview with Interview Magazine. When the topic was brought up by multiple directors, Ortega revealed how this made the shoot “stressful” at times. Each of the directors had their own vision of what Ortega should do with the role, so to maintain consistency, the actress says she sometimes had to go against certain things that were asked of her.
“Yes, it was very stressful… We went from Tim to another director, back to Tim, to another director. I felt like everyone wanted different things from her. I remember Tim didn’t want me to do any didn’t have 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, and Wednesday is in every scene. There were a lot of fights like that because I feel had that people didn’t. Don’t always trust me when I was creating my path in terms of, ‘Okay, this is her bow. This is where she gets emotional.'”
Ortega also explains how to get off the ground as there was so much to unpack in the show’s first episode alone. Ricci agrees that it can be “overwhelming” to be placed in that position, and Ortega notes that it is the most overwhelming job she’s had in her career to date.
“I called my parents every night in a panic because I felt like it was unlike any job I’d ever done before, where I usually have that time to be in the character. I went to Romania and we started chatting right away. training and shooting “We didn’t really have time for rehearsals. I remember it was very stressful and confusing. I tried my best, but that’s probably the most overwhelming job I’ve ever had.”
Jenna Ortega is the new Wednesday Addams
While Jenna Ortega is the new Wednesday, the series also features other Addamses starring Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, Luis Guzman as Gomez, Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley, and Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester. The series also stars Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, Hunter Doohan, Gwendoline Christie, Georgie Farmer, Percy Hynes White and Christina Ricci.
Wednesday will begin streaming on Netflix on November 23, 2022. For a sneak peek, check out the trailer and synopsis below.
The series is a questing, supernatural-infused mystery that charts Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday’s efforts to master her emerging psychic abilities, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery her parents were embroiled in 25 years ago – all while shedding her newfound and very tangled relationships in Nevermore navigated.