While turning up for an audition covered in blood and cuts may not get many people a job, it certainly didn’t hurt Jenna Ortega when she nabbed the title role in Wednesday. The actress recently spoke about her Zoom audition with Tim Burton, which she turned up for straight after filming her death scene in the movie X. Thankfully, the unconventional look didn’t cause the actress more than a bit of embarrassment, and it certainly seemed to amuse Burton.
In an interview with Wired, Ortega revealed that due to filming the movie X on the same day she joined Burton for her audition, she did not have time to change in between and looked massively run down. She said:
"When I met Tim Burton for my Wednesday audition, I had just done [my death scene in X] so I had stage blood and glycerin sweat in my hair, and a massive cut on my face, and had been up for over 24 hours. I got on the Zoom and he actually laughed. It made me laugh. I thought it was endearing."
Jenna Ortega has been blasting her way up the Hollywood hot list, starting out on Disney Channel’s Stuck in The Middle and appearing in Netflix’s You, 2021’s The Fallout, and horror movies X and Scream this year. Now in taking on the iconic role of Wednesday Addams, Ortega is about to reach a whole new audience as the dour Addams Family icon.
How Will Tim Burton’s Wednesday Match Up To Previous Addams Family Projects?
When developing a new version of any well-loved character, there will always be comparisons between the new and the old iterations. The previous iteration of Wednesday, Christina Ricci’s performance in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, gave Burton and Ortega a mountain to climb. However, it seems they have done just that, with early reactions to Wednesday being mostly positive.
Even though she had big boots to fill, Ortega received most of the praise as the titular character. The show itself could still have some people to win over, but in the main, it seems like next week’s release is going to be another big hit for Netflix. Hopefully, it will not be the only time we see Ortega in the role, as she has brought a new version of Wednesday to life that can undoubtedly carry the series.
Having to act alongside the original star Christina Ricci in the series has made Ortega’s time as Wednesday stressful. Ricci joined the cast as Ms. Thornhill, one of the teachers at Nevermore Academy, and Ortega previously revealed how nerve-racking it was to act alongside Ricci. She said:
“I felt like I was genuinely having a panic attack when I was told. I was terrified. She’s a really cool lady. I was fine meeting her, but the first time we did a scene together, and she had to see me done up the way she was done up 30 years ago, it was nerve-racking.”
Wednesday premieres on Netflix on November 23.