Wednesday: Addams Family Spinoff Loses The Walking Dead Star

Filming on the Netflix series Wednesday, focusing on the daughter of the Addams Family, is currently underway in Romania, but Deadline has reported that The Walking Dead star Thora Birch has returned to the United States due to a “personal matter” and will not be returning to the production. The outlet claims that the actor had completed a majority of her scheduled scenes for the project and that the role won’t be recast. However, the report notes that the project will likely add a new character and that it’s currently unclear if this character will fulfill the duties that Birch’s character won’t be completing.

A statement from the producers reads, “Thora has returned to the States to attend to a personal matter and will not be returning to the production.” The outlet also noted that their sources claimed the matter was related to a family illness.

Birch was playing Tamara Novak, who Netflix previously described as “Wednesday’s dorm mother and the only ‘Normie’ on staff at Nevermore Academy with a focus on all things botanical.”

Jenna Ortega stars as the titular character, with the series set to focus on Wednesday’s time at the Nevermore Academy. Luis Guzman will be playing Gomez Addams and Catherine Zeta-Jones will be playing Morticia. The rest of the cast and the characters they will be playing are as follows:

• Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay: One of Nevermore Academy’s most popular students, Bianca descends from a long line of Sirens with a mesmerizing power to persuade.
• Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair: She is Wednesday’s sunny and colorful California roommate at Nevermore Academy. Enid hails from a pack of San Francisco Werewolves.
• Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin: A townie who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Wednesday Addams. Tyler has a troubled relationship with his father, the local sheriff.
• Moosa Mostafa as Eugene Otinger: One of Nevermore Academy’s quirkiest students and president of the school’s bee-keeping club.
• Georgie Farmer as Ajax Petropolus: A student at Nevermore Academy who also happens to be a Gorgon. Awkward and shy, Ajax is anxious about looking someone in the eye.
• Naomi J. Ogawa as Yoko Tanaka: A vampire with Harajuku-inspired Goth flair and one of the cool kids at Nevermore Academy.
• Percy Hynes White as Xavier Thorpe: A charismatic and supernaturally artistic Nevermore Academy student, who comes from wealth thanks to his celebrity psychic father.
• Jamie McShane as Sheriff Donovan Galpin: Born and bred in Jericho, this Sheriff has always had an issue with Nevermore Academy and a vendetta against former student Gomez Addams.
• Riki Lindhome as Dr. Valerine Kinbot: A local therapist in the sleepy town of Jericho who takes a particular interest in her newest patient, Wednesday Addams.

Stay tuned for updates on Netflix’s Wednesday.

Are you disappointed that Birch has left the production? Let us know in the comments below!