Before “Wednesday” became a global streaming phenomenon, Jenna Ortega was quietly panicking. The actor, known for roles in horror films and a Disney sitcom, was stepping into the iconic black boots of Wednesday Addams for Tim Burton’s Netflix reboot—and she felt entirely out of her depth.
Jenna Ortega on “Wednesday”
“I was scared s***less,” Ortega admits in new interview for Radio Times. “I didn’t know what I was doing, I met Tim once before starting to create the character. There was just an obscene amount of pressure and worry and I wasn’t sleeping… We didn’t even know that people were going to watch it.”
Of course, people did watch it—millions of them. The series smashed Netflix records, pulling in over 250 million views and racking up more than a billion hours watched in its first month. But Ortega could never have predicted the cultural tidal wave that followed: the Halloween costumes, the viral TikTok dance, the memes, the merchandise. She became the face of the most-watched English-language series in Netflix history. And all of it arrived like a lightning bolt.
“Every once in a while I remember the magnitude of things,” she reflects. And when she does? “Really scary and really overwhelming.”
Despite the scale of the success, Ortega says it hasn’t always been easy to handle the attention. “I think I just kind of got in my head and was maybe a little bit too frightened and wasn’t accustomed to that kind of exposure.” She’s candid about how unnatural it feels. “I try not to live in that space too much because it’s not naturally human, not part of what we’re supposed to be exposed to,” she says. “I take a step away. It’s important to appreciate things but not dwell on them. I want to make sure I’m present in my everyday life.”
The red carpet, in particular, feels alien to her. “Such a weird question,” she says about being asked, “Who are you wearing?”
Her real comfort zone? The set. That’s where Ortega thrives. “I understand what it is to move on set as a professional and to be number one on the call sheet, you definitely set the tone,” she says. “You want to make sure that everybody’s working in an environment where they feel heard and included and empowered. And I know what it takes to create a healthy work environment. And I want to make sure that everybody has that.”
Ortega threw herself headfirst into building her version of “Wednesday”. Finding the right tone, posture, and expression—or lack thereof—took an obsessive level of preparation. “Because a lot of what you hear of Wednesday speaking is in her head, I watched a lot of silent films when the actors’ eyes are telling the story,” she explains. “And because she’s not allowed to give a lot of expression, I landed on Buster Keaton because he was known as the deadpan man.”
Jenna Ortega On Inspiration Behind “Wednesday”
And yes, Ortega firmly believes the show makes a statement. “Yes, definitely. I think the whole show should be empowering to anybody, really, but I’m really proud of how strong our female characters are. Even outside the Addams family, in [Wednesday’s fellow high school students] Enid and Bianca, they’re very complex and layered people. And I think that there’s a woman for everyone.”
For all the stress and sleepless nights, Ortega says she’s grateful that people connected with the show. “We put in so much time and effort, the fact that people connect with it is very, very lucky and we’re very, very honoured.”
With season two on the way, Jenna Ortega isn’t just reprising a role. She’s continuing a phenomenon she helped build from the shadows—without blinking once. “Wednesday” Season 2 premieres on August 6.
