Creating the iconic dance scene in Wednesday was done at the last minute by series star Jenna Ortega, who saw this as an opportunity to include a fun throwback to the original Wednesday Addams. In the classic television series The Addams Family, Lisa Loring portrayed Wednesday Addams, and the way older Addams sibling dance was one of the character's most memorable aspects. You could say that's something she has in common with Ortega, the new Wednesday, whose dance scene set to "Goo Goo Muck" by The Cramps in Wednesday is one of the most talked about scenes of the show.
In a new interview for The Tonight Show, Ortega opens up on how the bizarre dance choreography came together. She says that director Tim Burton left it up to her to put the dance together, which was fine until she realized she was running out of time. As Ortega explains, she hadn't even started when they were just two days away from filming the dance, and she had to rush to get something thrown together for the scene.
"He came to my trailer about two days before we shot it and said, 'Hey Jenna, so, I know you said you wanted to choreograph this yourself,' because I refused to see a choreographer. He was like, 'I know you got it, you've been working on it. I'm not even worried about it. I trust you.' And I said, 'Oh, yeah. You know, it's all so good.' And I had not gone over it at all. I was doing cello that week, fencing that week, I just didn't have time."
Jenna Ortega Honored the First Live-Action Wednesday
When Ortega realized she had just two days to put something together for her dance, she began "kicking herself" before getting to work. She looked to many different sources of inspiration, taking what she could from different dances she observed and working them into what she did.
"I didn't sleep for two days. I watched videos of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Denis Lavant in Beau Travail... I found archival footage of goth kids dancing in clubs in the '80s. Lene Lovich, Nina Hagen. Just anything I could get my hands on. And then, on the day, I thought, 'All right, let's see what happens.'"
Ortega also noted that she specifically paid tribute to Lisa Loring of The Addams Family by including part of the original Wednesday's shuffle dance. While the camera angle cuts at that particular moment, Ortega assures fans that the reference is there.
"I knew there were certain things I wanted to do. I paid homage to Lisa Loring, the first Wednesday Addams. I did a little bit of her shuffle that she does. Of course they cut out of camera when I did do it, but it's there! I know it is!"
You can stream Wednesday on Netflix.