Before Jenna Ortega was heralded at Gen Z’s reigning scream queen, she was a frequent flyer on shows like You, Jane the Virgin, and Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle. But film had always been the actor’s main goal, which is why she passed on playing the titular role of Netflix’s Wednesday — multiple times — before she was finally swindled into the Addams family.
Ortega spoke about becoming Wednesday Addams and the ensuing chaos in a recent profile with The Times UK, noting that she hadn’t auditioned for the role. “I had done so much TV in my life, all I’ve ever wanted to do is film,” she said of her initial instinct to pass on it. “When I first started acting, I don’t want to say nobody believed in me, but at the same time nobody believed in me. You have to prove yourself.”
She continued: “It’s only in the last three or four years that I’ve been able to start going up for film. I was scared that by signing on to another television show it could prevent me from doing other jobs I really wanted and cared about. The only reason I went back is because Tim [Burton] is such a legend, and we just happened to get along very well. But even then I said, ‘Ah, no—I think I’m OK,’ a couple [more] times.”
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When Ortega finally decided to don to the pigtail braids and collared dresses, she assumed Wednesday “wasn’t going to be watched,” thinking the show would just “be a nice little gem that someone finds.” Instead, it racked up 341.23 million hours watched in its premiere week, breaking a Netflix viewership record set by Stranger Things Season 4. Perhaps some of its success is due to Ortega’s careful portrayal of Wednesday, having self-choreographed that viral goth dance and even tweaking her lines on-set.
From an outsider’s perspective, taking on Wednesday didn’t seem to hamper Ortega’s film pursuits; in the last two years alone, she’s starred in Ti West’s X and the latest two installments of the Scream franchise. Up next on her agenda, she’s set to star in an untitled feature film opposite The Weeknd, and she was reportedly offered a role in the long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel as Lydia Deetz’s daughter. And, oh yeah, Wednesday is getting a Season 2.
Ortega also recently ticked off a major bucket-list item by hosting last weekend’s Saturday Night Live.
