Wednesday star Jenna Ortega confesses that she's more in tune with the macabre character than some fans may have believed.
Speaking with E! News about her close relationship with fellow actor Maddie Ziegler, Ortega admitted that she used to partake in some gruesome mischief when she was younger. "She's such a weirdo and I'm a weirdo in the way I used to perform autopsies on little animals when I was younger," Ortega said. "Little lizards that I found that were dead in my backyard. She's a weirdo in the sense that she breaks out into characters or movements or makes faces."
While Ortega's youthful passion for dissecting small creatures lines up with her role in Wednesday, the core difference is that her character prefers to cut up living people. Throughout the Netflix adaptation, the sinister teen commits various crimes against those that wrong her family and friends. The show even opens up with Wednesday attempting to brutally murder a high school water polo team who bullied her younger brother, Pugsley.
Wednesday follows the titular member of the Addams Family as she embarks on a new chapter in her life: High School. After her parents enroll her in Nevermore boarding school, Ortega's gothic character is forced to make friends, fend off enemies, figure out the cause of her newly-discovered precognition abilities and track down an elusive serial killer. Tim Burton produced the adaptation and also directs the pilot, resulting in a show that many critics have praised its strong performances and production design. Despite these positives, many have also noted that the story and writing leave something to be desired.
Burton has openly discussed his passion for both The Addams Family franchise and Wednesday herself, noting that he couldn't wait to put his own unique spin on the character. "I feel like Wednesday. I’ve felt like Wednesday since I was a teenager, even though I was a boy," Burton explained. "The snarky, snide teenager has the same kind of viewpoint as I do, the same kind of black-and-white viewpoint."
While Wednesday may prove to be a hit amongst fans of the kooky franchise, Burton has insisted that he has no plans on gravitating more towards creating series. The acclaimed filmmaker has specified that he will continue to make films for the foreseeable future. "I enjoyed doing this TV series, just because it was interesting to have a different pace, a slower kind of burn," Burton said. "But obviously, for me, I still love movies. I still think there’s a place for movies these days."
Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.
Source: E! News