Given the astronomical success of Wednesday on Netflix, it's pretty clear that the right person was cast in the titular role. Serving as a reboot of The Addams Family, the series puts Wednesday Addams front and center as the lead character. Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday, with this incarnation of the character depicted as a bit older than the younger child in previous adaptations, following Wednesday as she attends Nevermore Academy alongside an all-new cast of characters. There are also special appearances from the other family members, including Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Gomez (Luis Guzman), Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen), and Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez).
The series is created by showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar. Tim Burton, who directed the show's first four episodes, also collaborated with the two on putting the series together through his role as director and executive producer. Part of that process was finding the right person to play their Wednesday Addams, as Millar recalls in a new talk with NetflixQueue.com. Millar says that it was agreed with Gough that Ortega was their only choice for the role. He adds that they knew this right away from their very first Zoom meeting, even though Ortega was exhausted at the time.
“Al and I first met Jenna over Zoom. She was on the other side of the world shooting a horror movie in New Zealand. She had been up all night running through the woods. But even though she was tired, we knew she was special.”
Tim Burton concurs. He also tells the outlet that the most important ingredient in making Wednesday work was having the perfect person for the part. Burton says he cannot even imagine anyone other than Ortega in that role, suggesting the show may not even exist if it hadn't been for the Scream star's casting. As Burton explains:
"No matter how good the writing was, without the right Wednesday, the show wouldn’t really exist. I can’t imagine any other Wednesday. She’s like a silent movie actress in the sense that she’s able to convey things without words.”
Jenna Ortega Was Hesitant to Accept the Part
The Wednesday team was clearly wanting Ortega for the part, but it was not an immediate yes for the rising Hollywood star. Ortega says that she had actually "turned away" from joining Wednesday before ultimately agreeing to take the role. She says that what helped her come to accept the part was by observing Netflix's insistence that a Latin person get the role, as she knew that this would be another big step for representation, given the popularity of that character. As Ortega says:
“I was very hesitant to do the show, and I actually turned away from it a couple of times because it’s been done so perfectly. The fact that Netflix was so adamant about a Latin person being cast in a position like this... I can’t think of a Latina character who has the same reach [that] Wednesday Addams does."
The first season of Wednesday is streaming on Netflix. Season 2 does not yet have a premiere date.