The Netflix adaptation of Wednesday Addams played by Jenna Ortega has garnered stratospheric success after the once Disney child actor’s now infamous portrayal of the anti-social and possibly sociopathic character of the morbid Addams family. In this extraordinarily delightful series, directed by Tim Burton, one comes across Wednesday and instantly becomes enamored with her as a character that’s unflinching to a fault and unapologetic about her morbid personality in the face of a shifting society.
Jenna Ortega Saves Wednesday Addams From Stereotype
Jenna Ortega‘s representation of her Netflix character becomes essential in the very fact that she effortlessly pulls off the teenage Wednesday Addams in all her gory fascination without making it seem too hard. As such, she becomes one of the handfuls of actors who are destined for certain roles and in their lifetime, find the opportunity to play out these characters on screen. But this also makes the young and rising actor responsible for leaving behind an inscrutable legacy of their on-screen personality.
Jenna Ortega’s legacy as Wednesday was no different after the actress fought to preserve the Addams family character’s core identity and was prepared to defy the project’s writers in the process. In a recent Netflix Q&A, the actress reveals,
“I remember there’s a line where I’m talking about a dress and initially she was supposed to say: ‘Oh my god I’m freaking out over a dress, I literally hate myself.’ And I was blown away. It was just a bunch of little things like that where I felt like we were able to avoid a lot of dialogue in an attempt to make her sound human.”
The situation that the actress refers to here is about Wednesday’s black prom dress that Hunter Doohan’s character, Tyler bought her. Not only did Ortega save her legendary character from being prey to the stereotypical trope of the “pick me” character in popular fiction but also managed to play into the audience’s love for open interpretation when she simply captured the rather wholesome moment with a subtle yet sly smile.
Jenna Ortega Makes Wednesday Addams Iconic Again
What began with an immortal and captivating performance by Christina Ricci comes full circle with Jenna Ortega’s Netflix series, Wednesday. The iconic character created by The New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams was done justice to by the 20-year-old the moment she walked through the hallway of her high school without blinking even once.
Tim Burton’s love for the goth found an arena for growth and evolution and Wednesday’s personality remained intact till the end, especially after the climactic finale leaves the door open for a comeback and a rematch between the character and her monstrous love interest, Tyler.
Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.
Source: TikTok
