Jenna Ortega reveals why she was ‘hesitant’ to play Wednesday
It’s hard to believe that the universe almost didn’t gift us Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix hit, Wednesday.
As casting kicked off in 2021 for the dark comedy, the actress was riding the cinematic wave with big-screen hits such as Yes Day with Jennifer Garner, Scream with Courteney Cox and The Babysitter: Killer Queen with Aussie actress Samara Weaving.
Safe to say, starring on the small screen was not Ortega’s focus, until Tim Burton came along.
“I was hesitant about doing TV,” the 22-year-old told news.com.au during a visit to Sydney last week to promote Wednesday Season 2.
But after a meeting with the Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Ortega came around as an unrelenting Burton knew he found the titular character for his re-imagining of The Addams Family series for Netflix.
“All you had to do is just see her and all she had to do is stare at you and know that she was Wednesday,” Burton, 66, told us while sat next to Ortega during the interview.
“But my recollection was that she was not really reluctant to do it – I think she’s a person that wants to feel it and feel that it’s right.”
The risk for Ortega paid off with Wednesday going on to become a global phenomenon and Netflix’s biggest show of all time, with a whopping 252 million views across the globe to date since it premiered in 2022.
In Wednesday’s Season 2: Part 1 alone, which was released on August 6, viewership reached 50 million in its first five days.
Ortega credits the appeal of Wednesday and what the character represents that have viewers tuning in.
“She’s an outsider who speaks her mind and doesn’t really hesitate or give any bit of herself to anyone else,” the actress says of her on-screen persona. “She’s just very strong and dry and funny and intelligent, and I think she just possesses a lot of qualities that people want to possess themselves.”
“I always feel pressure [playing Wednesday], but it would not be externally,” she added. “It’s just kind of the nature of the character and knowing that she’s so well respected and people love her so much that I don’t want to disappoint.”
However, neither Ortega nor Burton are getting swept up with the viewership figures or the fandom surrounding the show.
“We’re focused on the work and the story and the background of the characters,” Ortega said. “It’s like you make these things, but you’re never thinking about the outcome. You’re not thinking about numbers or reception.”
Added Burton: “It just feels surreal because we made this because we love doing it and you never expect or know how anything is going to go. So we’re just grateful and surprised and happy. It’s always nice to be surprised in life.”
Ortega also steps in as an executive producer on Season 2. She has been an actress since she was six years old and even then, she wanted to be more than just the star in front of the camera.
“I first started saying that I wanted to do something like this when I was a child – I was six, seven years old,” she recalled. “It’s weird to be living off of that six-year-old’s decision, but clearly she knew something because I still find myself interested. I still find myself curious.”
“There’s still so much more to learn and see. And again, this line of work, it just has an unbelievable well of creativity and knowledge and history. It’s absolutely fascinating to me. So yes, I want to see all sides of it. I would be really impressed and amazed if someone could be bored in a job like this.”
Indeed, there’s no room for boredom when Ortega has directing in her sights next – and Burton believes it’s a natural progression for his leading lady.
“To me, it’s whatever she wants to do because I remember on the first day of the first season, she was – I just say it all the time – [the] first person there looking at everything, seeing, knew more than I did, what the crew did,” he said.
“It was a natural progression for her. She’s a creative person and as a creative person, people should have the ability to do different things.”
