Given Wednesday Addams has enough confidence to take on a serial killer (or two) and has enough left over to fill three coffins, you’d expect Jenna Ortega to carry the same self-assurance that she exudes on screen. The actor has often spoken about the understanding she has in playing such an icon, so I didn’t see it coming when she admitted she originally didn’t think Wednesday would work.
Turns out Ortega lacked her braid-wearing counterpart’s confidence. The Beetlejuice actor took us all the way back to Wednesday’s first year at Nevermore on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. When Josh Horowitz asked her about her experience in those first days, I didn’t see her answer coming (though I shouldn’t be surprised how it connects to Tim Burton):
Yeah, I didn't think that it was working at all. And that was me being in my head perhaps but also Tim. I had never worked with someone like Tim before. And Tim is very, very shy. He's opened up a bunch, but when you initially start working with him, he does not speak. We were doing hair and makeup tests and he would look at you know they would try different bangs or try different lengths of braids and he would call Colleen Atwood over and Colleen would…. He would whisper in Colleen’s ear, ‘Okay, I’m thinking this…’ And Colleen would come over and speak for him.
Given the success of the first two seasons, it never occurred to me that the actors may not feel as confident as the rest of the world. However, I can understand how this would feel like a rocky start, especially when first stepping into such an iconic character. Although Ortega’s performance is easily as popular as Christina Ricci’s. The actor shares the concerns she had first working with the Beetlejuice director, and I get it:
I think that was just him maybe being sensitive now knowing him. ‘Well, she's a young girl. I don't want her to feel like you know I'm picking her apart to come from a woman.’ Now, I know Tim. But it was things like that that just felt like, ‘Okay, well, I'm not clicking with him. He's not speaking to me.’ He also was just trying to give me space as a performer to figure it out myself. But to be 17, 18 in a foreign country with this very big director, and feel like I wasn't connecting. I was very stressed out.
It’s safe to say that Ortega has definitely grown more confident over two seasons. Plus, she describes her and her co-stars being as being "peak most comfortable" with their characters. The actor isn't known for shying away from speaking her mind. She even pushed for the show to lean more into horror and less into relationship drama, which paid off well with Season 2. (The first two seasons are available to Netflix subscribers and I highly recommended a rewatch.) The same horrific atmosphere is expected in the upcoming season, which recently wrapped production on Season 3.
The series’ popularity has taken it out of Nevermore and into a new location with the new season expected to take place in the City of Love (aka Paris). This will definitely take Wednesday out of her comfort zone, and I wonder if Ortega will be channeling her feelings when Season 1 turned out to be a massive hit:
I really couldn’t believe it [was a hit]. They had sent me like an episode or two to watch out of courtesy before the show came out and I couldn't make it through the first five minutes, 10 minutes. I just was so — and I don't really like to watch myself, I don’t. So I think it actually was doing a bit of a hindrance. But just based off of not having any faith in myself, right? I was mortified. So when people started freaking out over it or I started getting recognized or there was a sudden burst and sort of explosion and everything, it really felt like some sick mind came [played a prank].... There’s no way. Still, to this day, I’m a little confused.
It surprises me how much Ortega was caught off guard by the show’s success. On the other hand, I understand how things change. As of right now, we don’t know how long she’ll continue to wear the braids as her character is now entering her senior year and the rest of the cast is quickly aging out of the high school setting. However, she has fully embraced her Wednesday persona and you can tell how much relaxed she is with the role. Personally, I’d love to see Wednesday tackle the real world as a self-proclaimed PI that hunts down notorious supernatural threats and serial killers.
The only things we know for sure is that Season 3 will continue the hunt for Enid and dive further into the mystery that is Aunt Ophelia, especially since Eva Green was cast the role. Additionally, we’ll also see a Beetlejuice Beetlejuice reunion with Winona Ryder cast in a mysterious role. (Some fans are hoping she’ll play Agnes’ mom.)
We have a long wait ahead of us until Ortega is confused yet again at the love for Wednesday. I for one can’t wait to see some drama, some horror, and some dark humor when the show rises from the grave again. Plus, I'm dying to hear what Ortega has to say about Season 3.
