Jenna Ortega Fought ‘Wednesday’ Battles to Protect Character Arc: ‘People Didn’t Always Trust Me‘ and I Felt ‘Defeated’
The team behind Netflix’s upcoming Addams Family spinoff series “Wednesday” has touted it as “not a TV series” but “an extended Tim Burton movie,” however Burton only directed four of the eight episodes. Other episodes were directed by the likes of Gandja Monteiro and James Marshall. It turns out having multiple directors made things somewhat tough for Jenna Ortega, who is starring in the lead role of Wednesday Addams. The actor told former Wednesday actor Christina Ricci during a discussion for Interview Magazine that she had to fight battles on set to protect her character arc from the various directors wanting different things out of her.
“I’m so glad you mentioned the multiple directors thing because Tim didn’t shoot all of the episodes,” Ortega said. “We were going from Tim to another director, back to Tim, to another director. I felt like everybody wanted different things from her. 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.”
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Ortega continued, “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.’ And then also, we jump into the first episode and so much is happening. You have to introduce the whole story. Meanwhile, I’m still finding my footing, and then it’s the cello lessons and the archery lessons and this and that.”
When Ricci noted that such an experience can be “overwhelming,” Ortega revealed that making the show early on was “stressful and confusion.” As soon as she arrived to the Romania set she began training and “we didn’t really have time for rehearsal.”
“There have never been so many cooks in the kitchen,” Ortega said about the series. “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. So I think something really wonderful that has come out of the show is that I can use my voice in a much stronger way than I ever have. I’ve been so much better about being honest about my opinions and thoughts, which I’m really grateful for.”
Netflix is debuting all eight episodes of “Wednesday” on Nov. 23.
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