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WWhen you’re a teenager, it’s normal to be called lazy, or angry, or even selfish. In some cases this stereotype may be true. What is less common, however, is being repeatedly compared to a pigtailed psychopath who puts cannibals on his classmates.
“I’ve been compared to Wednesday Addams my whole life,” Jenna Ortega said NME with Zoom, alarm bells rang within the first minute of our interview. He explains why, when he is cast as the titular bad baby to the WednesdayIn Netflix’s new adaptation of the classic Charles Addams family comedy, he didn’t find it hard to relate to his character – an awkward goth with criminal tendencies who keeps a severed hand as a pet.
“I’ve been compared to Wednesday Addams all my life”
-Jenna Ortega
“I was a strange child,” he said of death, “so I think so.” [didn’t help]. And I’m naturally dry and cynical.”
Ortega is, of course, much friendlier than his on-screen counterpart – but he’s right to say that they get along well. Full of sardonic one-liners, Wednesday allows Ortega to display all of his barbed wit during its eight episodes. Set later in the Addams Family timeline than we’ve seen before, the spinoff series follows 16-year-old Wednesday after he’s packed off to a Hogwarts-like school in the mountains because he made half of the water polo team in his senior year. school. There are better ways to punish jocks who bully your brother, the principal informs him, than 50 piranhas.
Wednesday’s new school is not like his old school though. The students of Nevermore live in a medieval castle, and they all have magic – from sirens and gorgons to werewolves and vampires. On their days off, they visit a nearby town called ‘Normie’ where they are feared and hated by the common people. At first, Wednesday treats everyone equally, but what is that? A mysterious monster is eating children in the forest and no one is armed enough to investigate? Here’s Ortega—and the rest of the stars—to tell us more…
It’s not the Wednesday Addams you know
Do you have a soft spot for Lisa Loring’s first sitcom lover? How about Christina Ricci’s dour-faced ’90s reinvention? Well, forget them completely. Ortega takes the best bits from his predecessors – the classic Loring look; An invisible, painted mask from Ricci – and mixed it all up into the perfect Gen Z profile for a high school drama.
“It’s not often you get the chance to play a great character,” Ortega said, smiling. “There were challenges along the way, but we wanted to make it an exciting innovation [of Wednesday].
“It was really fun making him Spanish. I think that was a very good decision on Netflix’s part and I’m thankful that I had the opportunity [give something back to] little girls look like me because it was so hard growing up [without so many on-screen role models].”
He has friends…
In the past, Wednesday has flown solo. Even as part of the family unit, the mysterious and awe-inspiring style icon prefers to do her own thing – sneaking up to the point of pursuing science ambitions or setting playful traps for her little brother, Pugsley. But this time, he needs a sidekick.
“I play a California wolf named Enid Sinclair,” says Emma Myers, Ortega’s smiling co-star. “He meets Wednesday at Nevermore and it’s the opposite of him. But it works because the opposites attract and you tend to gossip so you become the talk of the whole school on Wednesday. “
Building a friendship (of sorts), the detectives work together to track down the deadly monster in their midst – and uncover secrets about Nevermore’s dark and secret past. Unfortunately, some students don’t take Wednesday’s attitude to pride. They tried to disrupt his plans.
… and enemies
“My character, Xavier, is the son of a famous doctor named Vincent Thorpe,” says Percy Hynes White, introducing perhaps the show’s most skittish costumer. “She and her father are not really close but they are a rich family and she gets everything she wants. He is very angry and suspicious.”
Xavier also has an on-again, off-again girlfriend who became the rage of Wednesday. “Bianca Barclay is a siren, which means she has the power to act [magically] convincing people with his words,” explained Joy Sunday. “He’s very attractive and competitive. He takes things seriously. But it is also because he has many things to hide. He’s like Wednesday in that they both have walls but there’s a softness underneath.
There is a love interest!
If you thought Wednesdays being with friends was awesome, wait until you meet Tyler Galpin. Tall and with long hair, this part-time barista is dreaming in all the right places. He spends most of the series failing to convince Wednesday to go with him – but will his frostiness last?
“I don’t go to Nevermore like the others. I’m a ‘normie’, says actor Hunter Doohan, “I think Wednesday and Tyler are dating because they’re both trying to get out of town. He becomes an unlikely friend to her.”
It is set in a wicked castle
And if all this wasn’t Harry Potter enough already, Wednesday’s new adventures take place inside an old, old castle in the hills. There are twists and turns, stone steps, underground tunnels and… playground equipment for children?
“There were these cool swings outside the castle that a lot of us would go and play on [takes],” Myers recalls, excited by the thought. “It was shot in a place called Cantacuzino in Romania. Of course I tried to sneak up several times to take a peek but unfortunately I didn’t get very far. “…
Ortega fought for COVID at the forefront
Every teen drama worth watching needs a killer school disco episode – and Wednesday‘s not dancing. Decorated like a melting snow globe with stark white furniture, a smoke-filled dance floor and hundreds of candles, Rave’N Dance plays on Ortega’s most memorable moment: a quirky, jerky jive session with some of the screen’s coolest. runs since the Jack Rabbit Slim’s Twist contest pulp fiction.
“I prepared that myself!” Ortega tells us later. “I’m not a dancer and I’m sure that’s obvious. I got the song [The Cramps’ 1981 single ‘Goo Goo Muck’] about a week before and I was out of everything I could do… it’s crazy because it was my first day with COVID so it was bad to film. “
Wait, what?
“Yes, I woke up and – it’s amazing, I didn’t get sick and when I get sick it’s not bad – I had pain in my body. I felt as if I had been hit by a car and a lump was released in my throat and it was scratching the walls of my throat. They were giving me medicine between drinks because we were expecting good results. “
MGM, the production company behind Wednesdayit is confirmed that NME via email stating that “strict COVID protocols were followed and after a positive test was confirmed production removed Jenna from the set.”
“I asked to repeat it but we didn’t have time,” he added. “I think I should have done a little better…”
Wednesday was inspired by the goth queen
A teenager needs iconic influences, and you don’t get any more than ’70s rocker Siouxsie Sioux. “I watched a lot of videos of the Banshees” ‘Happy House’, Ortega said. “I feel bad because I broke a few of his moves. There is less on Wednesday [Rave’N] a dance where I jump to the left and put my arms out to the side and that’s it [Siouxsie] performed on stage later in his career.
“There is also a movement that he does for a long time when he sings on the mic stand [Ortega mimes a hand movement] and I did that as a filler while I waited for the camera to go. I had to improve a lot. “
Tim Burton directs some episodes
Over the years, the Burtonesque has become grim and twisted, so it would be hard to Beetle juice a film maker didn’t joined Wednesday. Acting as executive producer (along with creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar) and director of four episodes, Tim Burton’s bloody fingers can be seen everywhere – from the modular beauty scene to the non-childish fight sequences. We asked Nevermore star Gwendoline Christie what it was like working with her.
“You would be in this place and you would hear this laughter coming from the [side],” he remembers, “then you’ll know that the next words would be ‘cut’ and ‘okay it worked’.”
He continues: “Tim really encourages you to be yourself, who you really are as an actor. He wants you to push it as far as you can… He can give you detailed notes and he can let you fly. I left the experience feeling really relaxed.”
That severed hand is not CGI
When you hear the words Addams and Family, what pops into your head? Most likely, it’s Vic Mizzy’s earworm theme. Well, Netflix’s ad boards know that too, which is why they used finger tapping in a different way as a key part of the first video, which was released earlier this summer. In it, Wednesday emerges from the darkness accompanied by the Thing – a pet outstretched hand that acts as a faithful sidekick throughout the show. The clip is simple, effective and made us all happy – but bringing Wednesday’s meat mate to the screen wasn’t so easy…
“It’s so crazy, Into is a fully clothed actress [blue] a body suit without a hand,” says Fred Armisen, who plays the hairless Uncle Fester in the series. “It’s not a green screen, it’s a green screen where they shoot an empty set and reshoot it with the actors.”
“Most of the sets were made especially for him,” Ortega adds. “We used to call these devices ‘wild desk’ or ‘wild bed’, they were mattresses with holes in the shape of a man for him to lie down on. [and hide his body from the camera]or the desks that could have been drawn were removed or the holes in the sides.”
The end is great
NME he saw only seven WednesdayEight episodes in – the finale is still wrapping up – so we’re as excited as you are for the show to air in its entirety later this month. Fortunately, Ortega manages to give us an extra joke.
“I remember it being so big,” he says cryptically. “I remember there were many drops at night. And I remember there was a lot of fire. “…
The second season is still in the air
If you can’t get enough of Wednesday’s sassy putdowns and monochrome fashion sense, then be sure to show your appreciation online. The first season may be in the can, but that’s no guarantee of the second.
Ortega says: “I don’t know if we will come back. “It may continue but it may end. I think that’s the best thing about this show – we have a choice.”
It premieres November 23 on Netflix
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