Jenna Ortega, the young star of Netflix's smash hit Wednesday, is doing fine on her own, according to Christina Ricci.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Ricci explained that despite their shared experiences dealing with fame at a young age, she has no plans to be a mentor for Ortega. "No, you know, Jenna is so smart and grounded and talented and capable, I think she doesn't need any help or my condescension in giving her advice," Ricci said. "But she's so capable that I think she's going to handle it all amazingly well." Ricci and Ortega worked together on Wednesday, in which Ortega played the titular Wednesday Addams, and Ricci portrayed Marilyn Thornhill, a teacher at Nevermore Academy.
For Ortega, finding out she would be working alongside Ricci on Wednesday was anxiety-inducing. "I felt like I was genuinely having a panic attack when I was told," she shared. Ortega added that her nerves weren't a real problem until the first time they shot a scene together when she was in costume as Wednesday. "She had to see me done up the way she was done up 30 years ago, it was nerve-racking." Ricci, however, has had nothing but good things to say about Ortega and Wednesday's version of the character. "Jenna is incredible," she said, revealing that she had seen some photos of the Wednesday look before she got to set. "It's such a great modern take," the actor said, adding that it struck a balance between staying "true tonally" to the original while updating it for today.
Ortega and Ricci's Shared Success
Ricci's breakout role was Wednesday Addams, who she played in The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel Addams Family Values (1993), just a year after making her feature film debut at the age of nine in 1990's Mermaids opposite Cher. Ortega, who is currently 20 years old, got her start with small roles in movies including Iron Man 3 and Insidious: Chapter 2 before going on to star in the Disney Channel sitcom Stuck in the Middle at the age of 12. As well as Wednesday, prominent roles in Season 2 of You, the reboot of the Scream franchise, and numerous other projects have catapulted Ortega into mainstream success in the years since.
As for how Ortega is handling her fame, she recently wished Wednesday was more of an underground hit than a mainstream sensation. "I used to do a Disney show when I was younger. I was a little bit of a public figure, used to get recognized, or whatever," Ortega explained. She explained that her early experience of Hollywood was very intimidating. "I didn't really feel like myself. Then it started to slow down and I lived a pretty normal life.... until Wednesday, until now, I think." Ortega's fame is set to grow with the already-confirmed Wednesday Season 2, as well as a number of upcoming film projects including Tim Burton's Beetlejuice 2.
The first season of Wednesday is available to stream on Netflix now.
Source: Entertainment Tonight, via YouTube