Jenna Ortega Revisits Her Controversial Wednesday Comments

Shortly before the 2023 writers and actors strikes, Wednesday star Jenna Ortega revealed that she felt the need to rewrite some of her character’s dialogue on the set of the Netflix series. Ortega believed that the lines as written were out of character for Wednesday Addams, but her remarks weren’t well-received by Hollywood’s screenwriters. Now, Ortega has had a lot of time to reflect on what she said, and how she would have done things differently.

“I probably could have used my words better in describing all of that,” Ortega told Vanity Fair. “I think, oftentimes, I’m such a rambler. I think it was hard because I felt like had I represented the situation better, it probably would’ve been received better.”

Ortega’s comments were ridiculed on Writers Guild picket signs. That surprised Ortega, but it also taught her how to deal with the situation.

“Everything that I said felt so magnified… It felt almost dystopian to me,” said Ortega. “I felt like a caricature of myself… You’re never going to please everybody, and as someone who naturally was a people pleaser, that was really hard for me to understand. Some people just may not like you… and that’s entirely fine.”

For Wednesday Season 2, Ortega is now a producer who is encouraged to give notes on her character and the show itself. Executive producer and director Tim Burton even told Vanity Fair that he believes Ortega “could direct [the series] if she wanted to.”

“I saw, from day one, she’s very aware,” continued Burton. “She’s more aware, sometimes, than I am.”

Wednesday Season 2 will premiere on Netflix in 2025.