After dropping in November 2022, Wednesday quickly became one of Netflix's most-watched programs of all time. Whilst fans went crazy about the show, lead actress Jenna Ortega has some issues.
Directed by Tim Burton, the show is an adaptation of a comic strip which has been turned into TV shows and films over the years.
The plot centers around its titular protagonist Wednesday Addams, a macabre teenage girl who is sent to a boarding school called Nevermore Academy. Wednesday struggles to settle into the mysterious new school and ends up uncovering a dangerous local mystery.
Recently, the Scream VI actress appeared on Dax Shapard’s Armchair Expert podcast and spoke candidly about the issues she faced when making Wednesday and why she almost never appeared in the hit show.
9 Why Jenna Ortega Is the Best Wednesday Addams
Over the months since the show aired, Jenna has been candid have her struggles filming and the creative differences she had with the writers. While she has faced backlash for acting unprofessional, many have agreed with her issues.
Why did Jenna Ortega dislike making Wednesday so much?
8 Jenna Ortega Turned Down Wednesday Multiple Times
Jenna Ortega revealed that when she first got the email for the role, she actually passed on it immediately. “I had done so much TV in my life, all I’ve ever wanted to do is film,” Jenna told The Times.
“When I first started acting, I don’t want to say nobody believed in me, but at the same time, nobody believed in me. You have to prove yourself. It’s only in the last three or four years that I’ve been able to start going up for film.” Jenna also admits she didn't think the show would be that popular, it became a massive hit in fall 2022.
She was convinced to take the part due to Tim Burton coming onboard as director. “[He] is such a legend, and we just happened to get along very well,” Jenna revealed. “But even then I said, ‘Ah, no — I think I’m OK,’ a couple [more] times.”
7 Jenna Ortega Thought Netflix's Wednesday Was Going To Be Mature
Twenty-year-old Jenna Ortega was also a little confused by the tone and age of Wednesday.
“When I read the entire series, I realized, ‘Oh, this is for younger audiences,'” Jenna Ortega explained to Dax Shepard on Armchair Expert. “When I first signed onto the show, I didn’t have all the scripts. I thought it was going to be a lot darker. It wasn’t… I didn’t know what the tone was, or what the score would sound like.”
6 Why Jenna Ortega Hated The Wednesday Love Triangle
Jenna Orega spoke about how she felt many of the plots in Wednesday made no sense for the character. One of the biggest annoyances for the actress is the love triangle between her character, Tyler (Hunter Doohan) and artist Xavier (Percy Hynes White)
"It made no sense. There was a line about a dress she has to wear for a school dance and she says, ‘Oh my god I love it. Ugh, I can’t believe I said that. I literally hate myself.’ I had to go, ‘No.’"
Speaking to Etalk, Ortega said she confronted the writers about the idea, who reassured her that it wasn’t going to be a traditional love triangle. “As far as the boys went, I had to accept it,” Ortega explained. “Honestly I’m going to fight this love triangle thing so hard because this is just me being protective. I don’t think Wednesday would ever be in a love triangle.
Speaking further about the plotline going into a season two Ortega told MTV: “I’ve always been against the love triangle idea. Now that Tyler’s off the table, I feel like she’s off boys for a while. I feel like her and Xavier are just getting to a safe place. I think there’s an opportunity there for a really sweet platonic relationship."
5 Jenna Ortega Battled With Tim Burton During Wednesday Production
Jenna Ortega spoke to Interview Magazine about her battle with Tim Burton because the director “did not want me to have any expression or emotion at all” when she was playing Wednesday. “He wanted a flat surface, which I understand,” the You actress explained. “It’s funny and great except when you’re trying to move a plot along, and Wednesday is in every scene.”
“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,’” Ortega revealed. “I was completely lost and confused. Typically, I have no problem using my voice, but when you’re in it — I just remember feeling defeated after the first month.”
4 Jenna Ortega Didn't Want Wednesday Addams To Be One-Dimensional
Jenna Ortega explained how she wanted to make Wednesday Addams a more three-dimensional character than the one she read in the script. She felt that a monotonous and droll lead wouldn't be realistic, especially considering Wednesday is a teenager.
“I grew very, very protective of her,” Ortega said. “You can’t lead a story and have no emotional arc because then it’s boring and nobody likes you. When you are little and say very morbid, offensive stuff, it’s funny and endearing. But then you become a teenager and it’s nasty and you know it. There’s less of an excuse.”
3 How Jenna Ortega Changed The Scripts For Wednesday
Jenna Ortega reveals that the scripts for Wednesday made no sense to her from the lead character's perspective. She actually hated the writing so much, she changed the dialogue without consulting the writers.
"There were times on that set where I even became almost unprofessional in a sense where I just started changing lines. The script supervisor thought I was going with something and then I had to sit down with the writers, and they’d be like, ‘Wait, what happened to the scene?’ And I’d have to go and explain why I couldn’t go do certain things.”
The Armchair Expert interview also included one example of a line Ortega removed from the script. "There was a line about, like, this dress she has to wear for a school dance and she said 'Oh my God, I love it. I can't believe I said that, I literally hate myself,'"
2 Does Jenna Ortega Regret The Viral Wednesday Dance?
Walking the red carpet for the 2023 Golden Globes, Jenna Ortega told Entertainment Tonight that her viral dance led to some regrets that kept her up at night.
"Some of the moves I had planned, some of it was [improvised]. That was one of the scenes that I stay awake at night thinking about. There was so much I could have done and should have done. So, the fact that anyone has shown any appreciation or even tried it themselves is unfathomable to me."
Wednesday's unique moves to The Cramp has led to a viral challenge with people recreating her dance.
1 In A Perfect World This Wednesday Relationship Would Have Happened
Jenna Ortega has also shown her support for the shipping of her character with Enid Sinclair (a pairing fans call Wenclair). “In a perfect world, [Wednesday and Enid] would have been a thing,” Ortega said.
The show’s creators, Al Gough and Miles Millar, have spoken about the pair happening don't he show, “We’re open to everything. We wanna explore that friendship in every way, but we’re not gonna be, this is where you sometimes get misdirected by fans and things like that, so it’s just being really open to see how those characters develop and that friendship. That friendship is key to our sort of vision of the show.”
