Wednesday creators explain how Jenna Ortega was ultimately cast in the titular role, as they searched for the actor who met their benchmark.
Wednesday creators Al Gough and Miles Millar provide more insight into how Jenna Ortega was cast in the titular role of the Netflix series. Based on Wednesday Addams of the beloved Addams Family television series, Netflix’s Wednesday quickly became a popular culture phenomenon and one of the streaming service’s most successful series. One of the many factors that contributed to this success was the highly praised performance of Ortega as Wednesday.
While speaking with IndieWire, Gough and Millar shared that Netflix was not initially set on having Ortega play Wednesday, as the streamer had many different actors in mind for the lead role. For Gough and Millar, they were looking for an actor with specific talents and a collaborative attitude. Check out their comments below:
Gough: “Netflix had given us a list of actresses that they liked and Jenna was definitely on that list.”
Millar: “But we wanted to go through the process of seeing as many people as we could, just so that we were really [sure] we found the right Wednesday.”
Gough: “The lead of any show becomes your collaborator in the show, they just do. It’s just inevitable. And this character, there’s a precision to it. There’s a precision to Jenna’s performance, there’s a precision to how the character’s written, there’s a precision to what Tim does, and we all had many conversations about it because you’re just trying to make sure you’re landing the plane on a very small aircraft carrier in a very big ocean.”
Why Ortega Was The Perfect Wednesday Casting
Many different actors could have played Wednesday Addams, but Ortega had the precision and collaborative attitude that Gough and Millar knew they needed for the role. That precision is present in the way Ortega delivers every line, her body language, and her facial expressions, or lack thereof. There is consistency in every nuance of Ortega’s performance, making it seem as if she is Wednesday as opposed to an actor just playing the role of Wednesday.
Part of that precision is the collaboration that Gough and Millar wanted, which Ortega has been open about since the show’s release. Ortega encouraged some Wednesday dialogue to be changed because she felt it was disingenuous to the character. This included dialogue where Wednesday was originally going to say, “Oh, my God, I’m freaking out over a dress, I literally hate myself.” Through her intimate understanding of the character, Ortega knew Wednesday would not say a line akin to that. She pushed the producers to change that dialogue, which might not have happened with a less collaborative actor.
In addition to making some of Wednesday’s dialogue more authentic, Ortega took ownership of the role in other ways through her unique talents. One such way is that Ortega choreographed Wednesday’s iconic dance scene in episode 4. The dance became a viral sensation, but more importantly, Ortega understood how Wednesday would choose to uniquely express herself at the school dance, with each movement feeling bizarre and random while also feeling composed and deliberate. Between her performance and creatively collaborating on Wednesday‘s dialogue and dancing, Ortega has proven she is the perfect Wednesday Addams.