Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie has been cast in Netflix’s upcoming Addams Family spinoff series, Wednesday. The new series, based on the classic Addams Family characters, will center around Wednesday Addams specifically and is set to be a “supernaturally infused mystery” that follows the character through her years at Nevermore Academy. The series will focus on the Addams’ daughter attempting to harness her psychic abilities, all while settling in at her new magical boarding school.
The series will be helmed by Tim Burton and marks his television directorial debut, having created a string of cult-classic movies during his decades in the industry. So far, a number of names have been attached to the series, however, the casting that fans were most excited to see was for Wednesday herself, with You star Jenny Ortega now lined up to play the titular character. Catherine Zeta-Jones will take on the role of the iconic Morticia Addams, alongside Luis Guzmán who will play her loving husband, Gomez. With Burton in the director’s chair, Al Gough and Miles Millar will be writing the script for the eight-episode series. An official release date has yet to be confirmed.
Now, the newest addition to the cast has been announced (via ComicBook). Christie will be joining the cast as “Larissa Weems, the principal of Nevermore Academy who still has an axe to grind with her former classmate Morticia Addams.” Christie’s role in the show is listed as a series regular, so it’s likely that Weems has a fairly large role to play in Wednesday’s boarding school orientation and the subsequent events that follow.
Christie is a welcome addition to the cast, following a number of strong performances across her career so far. The actress is best known for playing Brienne of Tarth in seven seasons of the hit HBO show, Game of Thrones. The Emmy-nominee also appeared as Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, before ultimately meeting her fate in the latter. Prior to her latest role in Wednesday, Christie is also set to star as Lucifer in the upcoming Neil Gaiman adaptation, The Sandman, which is also a Netflix production.
With Christie now attached to this project, the anticipation is likely to continue to grow as production for Wednesday shifts into gear. There have been a number of iterations of the Addams Family over the years, with the most recent adaptation coming in animated form with 2019’s The Addams Family (a sequel is on the way later this year). This newest live-action adaptation will certainly satisfy those who have been calling for Burton’s attachment to the franchise for years. Burton’s involvement in the project could perhaps be taken as confirmation that this series will be a darker take on The Addams Family than audiences have previously seen, and it will definitely be interesting to see Christie take on a potentially more gothic role in Wednesday.
