Jenna Ortega made changes to the “Wednesday” character

JENNA ORTEGA became an overnight sensation following its Netflix release Wednesdaywhich is currently the streamer’s second-biggest English-language series of all time.

However, the path to bringing Wednesday Addams to life beyond the script required Ortega to be directly involved, which she had never done before on a television or film set.

Ortega said in a recent episode of the armchair expert Podcast that many of the original Wednesday Scripts didn’t make sense to her from a character perspective.

“As I read the entire series, I was like, ‘Oh, this is for a younger audience,'” Ortega said.

“When I first signed on to the show, I didn’t have all the scripts. I thought it would get a lot darker. It wasn’t…I didn’t know what the tone was like or what the score would sound like.”

She went on to explain that she had to step on the gas multiple times because “everything that didn’t make sense that Wednesday,” like being in a love triangle.

Ortega further admitted that she had become “almost unprofessional.” Wednesdaywas set by changing lines, which resulted in the script director and writers having to sit down with her to get an explanation.

Essentially, the actress wanted Wednesday to be more three-dimensional than the page’s depiction of the character.

She didn’t want to play a Wednesday that lacked growth and was constantly monotonous, morbid, and droll. For Ortega, that approach wouldn’t work for a teenager.

“When you’re little and you say very morbid, insulting things, it’s funny and endearing. But then you become a teenager and it’s bad and you know it. There are fewer excuses.”

The changes Ortega made clearly worked, as her portrayal and characterization of Wednesday was enthusiastically received by fans and critics alike.

Most recently, at the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, Ortega won the award for Favorite Female TV Star and the show was named Favorite Family TV Show.

The series has also been renewed for a second season.