WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Wednesday season 1!Wednesday star Jenna Ortega didn't seek any tips from Christina Ricci. Ortega is the latest actor to play the iconic Addams family daughter, Wednesday Addams, in Netflix's Wednesday, which was helmed by Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and famously gothic director Tim Burton. While there have been several Addams Family adaptations over the years, one of the most popular is the 1991 movie The Addams Family, which starred a 10-year-old Christina Ricci as the dark and peculiar Wednesday. Despite starring in many other films and series since her turns in The Addams Family and 1993 sequel, Addams Family Values, Ricci is still often considered synonymous with the name Wednesday, and viewers were eager to see how Netflix's Wednesday would uphold her legacy with the character.
Ricci stars alongside Ortega in Wednesday as the secretly villainous Ms. Thornhill, who bonds with Wednesday before eventually being discovered as the one behind the murders Wednesday seeks to investigate. Ricci has previously praised Ortega's interpretation of the character, stating that she appreciates the modern elements in the character's look. In addition, Ortega previously expressed her excitement and nervousness at being able to share the screen with Ricci, of whom she is a fan. Despite the actors' mutual appreciation for one another, Ortega revealed during a conversation with MTV News, that she didn't seek advice from Ricci about portraying the Addams family daughter. See what she had to say below:
"I think when [Ricci] was on set, neither one of us said Wednesday once to each other. I don't think she wanted to get in the way of my performance and feel like she was overbearing. I felt like I didn't want to pull up something that she did 30 years ago. For the sake of my own benefit, but two, yeah, I didn't want to rip her off and I didn't want to be too much like her. Our show has super powers and outcasts and evil ghost pilgrims. They're two very different people, our Wednesdays."
Ortega's Version Is A Perfect Modern Wednesday
Ortega's point about herself and Ricci playing very different versions of Wednesday shows that she made the right decision in forming her own iteration of the character without outside influence. In addition, Ortega plays a teenage version of the character in Wednesday and Ricci played the character as a child, leading the two iterations of Wednesday to have slightly different personalities and interests which can benefit from a new perspective. For example, House of the Dragon, which featured the same characters at different stages in their lives, made the decision to recast the aged-up characters rather than keep the same actors in order to achieve that contrast.
Ortega's goal to create a unique portrayal of Wednesday rather than copying what had been done before by Ricci also allowed her to lean into Netflix and Burton's modern retelling of Wednesday's story, which included the character's Latine roots being represented on-screen for the first time. In addition to her ethnicity differing from the 1991 version, Ortega's Wednesday has an updated wardrobe that stays true to the character's gothic roots while including more modern elements, with the character's shoes and pants earning praise from Ricci, who donned a long patterned dress as young Wednesday. As a modern teen herself, Ortega was also able to infuse Wednesday's protagonist with a relatable and fitting personality as well as blending the character's established traits into her portrayal.
Burton has also praised Ortega's portrayal of Wednesday, stating that she has truly committed to making the character her own. Ortega's previous history as a scream queen on the rise has shown her affinity for the macabre, which Ricci clearly shares considering some of her other roles, including her recent turn in Yellowjackets. Though Ortega clearly appreciated sharing the screen with Ricci while filming Wednesday, her decision to bring a unique iteration of Wednesday to life served to elevate the series and set it apart.
Source: MTV News