Jenna Ortega was catapulted to international fame with the release of the wildly popular Netflix hit Wednesday. The series is a magical mix of timeless humor and macabre themes that has resonated with audiences of all ages and made it so famous.
Besides this, Wednesday Addams’ (played by Jenna Ortega) iconic style is off the charts. Her black dress and those signature braided pigtails? That’s like the superhero costume that got her recognized everywhere. Even the fashion world has embraced her iconic look and made her status as a pop culture superstar.
Everything worked in favor of Ortega. But do you know it was not all a walk in the park for her as she faced many difficulties while taking on that character?
Wednesday‘s Shoot Was One of The Most Intense One For Jenna Ortega
During a panel discussion for the Netflix series Wednesday, Jenna Ortega revealed that Wednesday‘s shoot was one of the most intense shoots ever.
She had a lot on her plate as not only did she have to nail the character, but she also had to tackle some hefty tasks like fencing, speaking German, and even playing the cello. Ortega admitted (as reported by Variety):
“It was show up to set two hours early, do that 12-14 hour day, then go home and then get on a Zoom and have whatever lesson I had or show up to my apartment where my cello teacher was already waiting for me.”
Shooting for the series took place over eight months in Romania. The young actress revealed that shooting certain scenes, like that iconic “Paint it Black” cello, which is actually intended to be played by two cellists — led her to break down.
She said that she didn’t know where her hands were even supposed to go, and then she had to make two cellos come out of one cello, “which was ridiculous.” Ortega also shared in the same Netflix-hosted Q&A panel (via Variety):
“I did not get any sleep. I pulled my hair out. There’s so many FaceTime calls that my dad answered of me hysterically crying.”
Thankfully, the show director, Tim Burton, was really supportive of her. He’d reassure Ortega by saying, “Oh, don’t worry, you’re going to do great. It’s gonna look great.”
Jenna Ortega Had Regrets Over Her Viral Dance “Goo Goo Muck”
Do you remember the scene in episode 4, Woe What a Night, when Wednesday wears her little black dress and heads to Nevermore Academy’s annual Rave’N dance? She did steal the show with her wild dance moves.
But the star revealed that she had some regret over those viral dance moves in the Tim Burton series, and because of this, she would stay awake at night thinking how she could’ve done them differently.
Not only did Ortega take on the responsibility of choreographing the dance to “Goo Goo Muck” that went mega-viral on TikTok, but the actress also confirmed that she performed the dance while battling COVID. She told NME:
“I felt like I’d been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat and was scratching the walls of my esophagus.”
“They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result.”
It sounds like the timing was so tight that Jenna Ortega never had the chance to redo her viral dance moves without a viral infection. However, she delivered one of the most unforgettable and wacky dance scenes since Elaine danced her heart out on Seinfeld in the ’90s.
Watch Wednesday on Netflix.
