Jenna Ortega has opened up about the unusual look she sported during her audition with Tim Burton for Netflix’s upcoming series, Wednesday, in which she stars as the titular lead. Ortega began her career as a child actress in television shows like Disney Channel’s Stuck In The Middle and the CW’s Jane the Virgin, before gaining wider recognition for her role as the precocious Ellie Alves in the hit series You, and receiving critical acclaim for her performance in 2021’s drama The Fallout, before starring in back to back 2022 slasher films, X and Scream. Amid her rapid ride to fame it was announced in 2021 that Ortega would play the lead role in Wednesday, a supernatural horror comedy series for Netflix, based on the iconically morose character from The Addams Family.
In an interview with Wired rising star Jenna Ortega discussed going straight from shooting her gruesome death scene in X to joining director Tim Burton on zoom to audition for Wednesday. Despite being embarrassed to still have fake wounds on her, Ortega reveals that Burton actually found her look charming. Perhaps he even found the makeup look to be in line with Wednesday’s signature macabre sense of humor. Check out what Ortega had to say below:
“When I met Tim Burton for my Wednesday audition, I had just done [my death scene in X] so I had stage blood and glycerin sweat in my hair, and a massive cut on my face, and had been up for over 24 hours. I got on the Zoom and he actually laughed. It made me laugh. I thought it was endearing.”
What To Expect From Tim Burton’s Take On The Addams Family
Fans of Ortega and the beloved original The Addams Family franchise who are eagerly awaiting the new series and its focus on the wicked yet oddly charming daughter of the family can’t help but wonder what the latest depiction of the character will entail. While director Burton has tried to keep the mystery surrounding Wednesday alive until its premiere, specific aspects of the upcoming series have been teased to ensure fan fervor. As far as the premise goes, the first season is set to contain eight episodes that will see Wednesday come into her own during her time at Nevermore Academy where she learns to harness her mystical powers while taking an investigation of a string of murders into her own hands.
Ortega is joined by a star-studded cast featuring Luis Guzamán as Gomez Addams, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams, and Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester. Previous Wednesday Addams actor Christina Ricci will also appear in the show, though details surrounding her character have been kept under wraps. Though this is prolific gothic fantasy filmmaker Burton’s first venture into the world of television, his predilection for horror and black humor makes him an ideal choice to helm the project.
Burton’s rise to prominence in Hollywood spanned from the late ’80s throughout the early aughts after creating a string of hit horror films, like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In fact, amid the plethora of spinoffs capitalizing on the popularity of The Addams Family, Burton was even attached to develop a stop-motion film version in 2013 which was ultimately canceled. At long last the esteemed director’s vision for the legendarily eerie Addams family will be available to the public when Wednesday hits Netflix on November 23, 2022.
