Jenna Ortega has recently made headlines for being very, very honest about her work experience on the set of the hit Netflix series Wednesday and has been quite open about her relationship with director Tim Burton, the show’s writers, and the character of Wednesday herself. At first glance, Ortega’s complaints echo the experiences of a novice actor working on student films, so it’s interesting to hear a public story like this from one of the biggest shows of the last year.

Many seem to disagree with Ortega’s behavior on-set and her comments afterward. Television writer and producer Steven DeKnight denounced the way she handled the situation, claiming that “[actors] don't have the full picture (in TV) of where the story is going and why some lines are needed for the whole to make sense.” But the young actor admits she was being unprofessional, and though her comments may come to the detriment of Burton or the writers, her experience on-set speaks to the general struggle for actors to gain agency and authorship over the characters they portray.

We no longer reside in a time when directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick can disrespect or demoralize their actors, so it’s comforting to see young stars like Ortega finding their voice in an industry designed to tune you out.

Ortega’s Experience on Set

Wednesday Adams-2
Netflix

While on the set of Wednesday, Jenna Ortega reports multiple instances where she disagreed with writers and directors about the depiction of Wednesday and her eventual character arc throughout the show. In her interview with former Wednesday actor Christina Ricci, Ortega cites the show’s use of “multiple directors” as a point of contention, stating “everybody wanted different things from her [Wednesday].” While praising and showing admiration for Tim Burton, Ortega shows frustration towards the inherently fragmented nature of television production. Given that she is searching for a more consistent creative vision, it makes sense why she would disagree with some of the decisions surrounding her character Wednesday.

Related: Wednesday and Other Great Goth Heroes, Ranked

The series of disagreements during filming led to Ortega taking liberty with script changes and dialogue altercations. And this is what most people like DeKnight would consider unprofessional behavior. According to the Hitchcock's and Kubrick's, actors are merely pawns at the whim of the director's demands, and to speak out against that is disrespectful to the process. Yet Ortega exclaims, “[t]here were a lot of battles like that because I felt like people didn’t always trust me when I was creating my path.” The phrase "too many cooks in the kitchen" rings too true in this scenario and is ultimately the root of the conflict.

Though it can yield positive results, the collaborative nature of film and television often invites creative differences over character details and story elements. Especially within television, having multiple writers and directors with contradicting ideas can easily confuse and stifle an actor’s creative process. As with Ortega, it frequently leaves the actor with no choice but to take decision-making into their own hands. Whether it was appropriate or not for Ortega to publicly disclose this type of information, it does open a conversation about actors and their roles as authors within the filmmaking process.

Acting & Authorship

jenna-ortega-screamvi
Paramount Pictures

Ortega’s experience calls on the French New Wave and their infamous auteur theory, which centers the director as the driving creative force and main author of a film. However, when it comes to television shows such as Wednesday which utilize multiple directors, the creative vision can be muddled with inconsistent approaches to story, character, and visual design. Which puts the idea of authorship into question: on a show like Wednesday, who assumes responsibility as the author?

With several different writers and directors leading this project, Jenna Ortega remains the only constant and the sole driving voice behind the show’s titular character. It makes sense why she would be so protective and specific about who her character is and what she does within the story. Actors tend to develop closer relationships with their characters, more than any writer or director usually can, because they spend more time developing and crafting the character’s behavior. Ortega's eagerness to speak out on behalf of her character represents the intimate bond she created with the character of Wednesday.

Related: Every Actor Who Has Played Wednesday Addams, Ranked

Actors are already given a particular sense of authorship over their characters through costuming and hairstyle. Ortega recalls Burton including her in the character design of Wednesday, namely the iconic set of bangs. And the best creative choices come to life in this sentiment of collaboration between actor and director.

With Ortega being vocal about her time filming Wednesday, we gain an insider’s perspective on the mechanisms of a film shoot. Her strong voice asks us to challenge our preconceptions surrounding character authorship, and the role actors play in the creative process.