One of the most anticipated horror events of the year is the upcoming Wednesday TV series, in which Jenna Ortega will bring to life the iconic daughter from the Addams Family, with the actor taking to Instagram to show off a new look at the character. The first official look at the character came earlier this year, with this latest look instead being a behind-the-scenes photo. While this might not be the most polished look we’ve gotten of the character, Ortega sharing it on a Wednesday reminds us just how committed she is to the role and how excited she clearly is to embody the character. Wednesday is set to debut on Netflix later this year.
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Ortega captioned the photo of herself striking an iconic pose, “Good mourning.”
The series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.
The character was first brought into live-action for a TV series in the ’60s, as played by Lisa Loring, while it was Christina Ricci in two The Addams Family films in the ’90s that really cemented the character’s legacy. Chloë Grace Moretz has voiced the character in two animated films.
Ortega previously shared what makes this upcoming TV series so different from other versions of the character we’ve seen.
“We’ve never seen her as a teenage girl,” Ortega explained to Entertainment Weekly. “You know, it’s funny and sweet and almost charming to hear this eight-year-old’s obsession with murder and blood and guts. As she gets older, that nasty attitude or [those] biting remarks, it’s almost kind of hard to not make it sound like every other teenage girl. So, it’s like, how do we establish this character and give her the same fire without letting her become something that she’s not? Also, it’s eight-hour series so, for an emotionless character, there has to be some sort of an emotional arc.”
She added, “That’s been really interesting to figure out in terms of, okay, well, she’s got to be able to push the story forward in some way but how do we keep her true to her deadpan self? It’s been a bit of a challenge and I’m curious to see how it plays. I’ve never had the opportunity to play an iconic character before. I know she’s well-loved and well-respected and I just don’t want to mess her up.”
Stay tuned for details on Wednesday before it premieres later this year.
Are you looking forward to the new series? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
