“I just started changing lines”: Jenna Ortega Becoming “almost unprofessional” On ‘Wednesday’ Set Despite It Being Her Breakout Role Thankfully Didn’t Blow Up In Her Face
- Jenna Ortega’s breakout role as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series Wednesday made her a household name, especially due to a viral dance sequence.
- Despite initial reluctance, Ortega leveraged her experience from previous teen-oriented projects to take an active part in creative brainstorming.
- The success of Wednesday Season 1 led to a swift greenlight for Season 2, which will adopt Ortega's suggestions into the plot.
Famed for lending a natural tone to her horror, thriller, and supernatural outings, Jenna Ortega may count Wednesday as her most notable performance. The Netflix production made her a household name thanks to a breakout dance sequence that trended globally for months at a stretch. To think that the actress would deliberately risk jeopardizing such a prized project would be scandalous, but shockingly enough, it kind of happened.
Making an acting debut at the age of nine, the actress was just about 20 when she stepped into the shoes of Wednesday Addams. However, she did have enough experience to understand what exactly she was stepping into. Unlike other young stars, she took an active part in creative brainstorming for the production but did end up entering a danger zone, something that could have easily had her removed from the show.
Jenna Ortega became too invested in Wednesday despite initial reluctance
Richie Rich, You, Jane the Virgin, and Stuck in the Middle not only stand as well-established mainstream shows, but they all also had Jenna Ortega star in them long before Netflix’s Wednesday. Leveraging this experience of hers in teen-oriented projects, the actress initially did not want to play Wednesday Addams, but once cast, she took the liberty of making creative decisions such as changing lines on her own.
In talks with The Independent, the Scream star revealed her near “unprofessional” behavior when filming the Netflix horror fantasy. To start, she believed that the series had taken on a lighter tone and she expected something “a lot darker.” Thereafter, she questioned the need for a love triangle subplot.
At times, she just took it on herself, replacing scripted lines with self-made ones on the spot that she felt aligned better with the character.
I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on Wednesday … There were times on that set where I even became almost unprofessional in a sense where I just started changing lines.
Curiously enough, the show-makers had their faith in the actress despite her unpredictable set antics. As it turned out, most of the decisions that Ortega took intuitively worked out in the longer run. The famed dance only attained its virality because of the self-choreographed version that the lead actress put in, which would have played out as a flash mob sequence otherwise.
Wednesday Season 2 will build on actress’ suggestions while she works on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
The debut season of Wednesday raked in major success, garnering 341.2 million viewing hours in its first week alone and a whopping 1 billion viewing hours by the end of 2022. To build ahead on this, Netflix swiftly green-lit a season two and also prioritized its shoot following the twin Hollywood strikes. Moreover, it will have Jenna Ortega return to the titular role of Wednesday Addams while the plot will form around her inputs.
In talks with Variety, the actress confirmed that the second season will adopt a darker tone, ditch romantic subplots, and focus more on the protagonist’s self-discovery.
We’ve decided we want to lean into the horror more. We’re ditching any romantic love interest, which is really great. We’re going to get bolder, more dark.
In the meantime, Jenna Ortega appeared as Astrid Deetz in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, following her exit from the Scream franchise. The sequel to the 1988 flick also brought back Michael Keaton as the mischievous ghost. Directed by Tim Burton, the flick hopes to deliver on the original’s legacy as it currently mints box office numbers in its theatrical run.
Wednesday is streaming on Netflix.
