Movies - TV
Why Shooting Wednesday Was A 'Freeing' Experience For Jenna Ortega
By DEMETRA NIKOLAKAKIS
The titular character of “Wednesday” is highly independent, confident, and unapologetically dark. Actor Jenna Ortega had an incredibly positive experience while playing her, and in an interview with Netflix's TUDUM, Ortega revealed that the role was much more liberating than her previous work.
Ortega’s sarcastic, “very dry” sense of humor had been earning her comparisons to Wednesday Addams long before she was cast in the role. Unfortunately, when living in the real world, it's tough to possess Wednesday's unwavering self-confidence — especially as a public figure.
Ortega had previously told Vogue that, much like Wednesday, she prefers not to wear color, but sometimes she’ll wear relatively bright, conventional outfits “because I feel like I have to.” Playing Wednesday gave the actor permission to express a side of herself that she might usually feel pressure to cover up.
Ortega elaborated on the experience: “It was a very freeing, gratifying experience, because you don't have to care. If you're in a bad mood, and you have a stink face, it doesn't matter ... [Wednesday] sticks to her guns, and she's not out to please anybody. Which, as someone who used to be an immense people pleaser, I really respect.”