Wednesday Star Jenna Ortega Walks Back Controversial Comments About Netflix Show’s Writing

Jenna Ortega was a star on the rise when she was cast in Netflix’s The Addams Family spinoff Wednesday, but the success of that series launched her stardom to new heights. In the wake of Season 1’s release, Ortega had often expressed the struggles she faced while filming, which included her disappointment in a love triangle involving her character, though she has more recently addressed those remarks and confessed that she is a “rambler” and that she seemingly misrepresented the situation. In addition to her critiques of the series’ overall storyline, she had also previously admitted to suffering through COVID while filming, along with other discomforts on set. Season 2 of Wednesday is now in production.

“To be fair … I think I probably could have been … I probably could have used my words better in describing all of that. I think, oftentimes, I’m such a rambler,” Ortega revealed to Vanity Fair, with the outlet noting how long her pauses were while crafting her responses. “I think it was hard because I felt like had I represented the situation better, it probably would’ve been received better.”

With The Addams Family being such beloved figures in pop culture, there was understandably a lot of pressure to find the best way to craft a spinoff, which presented a lot of challenges to the cast and crew. Luckily, all those gambles paid off and Wednesday became one of Netflix’s biggest hits of 2022. Ortega previously expressed how the experiences on the first season impacted the next batch of episodes, which includes getting herself more involved in the show’s trajectory.

“We’ve decided we want to lean into the horror aspect of the show a little bit more,” Ortega revealed during a 2023 conversation with Elle Fanning for Variety. “Because it is so lighthearted, and a show like this with vampires and werewolves and superpowers, you don’t want to take yourself too seriously.”

She added, “We’re ditching any romantic love interest for Wednesday, which is really great.”

Despite how much of a hit the series was from the start, Ortega’s comments criticizing certain components date back to 2022.

“I’ve always been against the love triangle idea. Now that Tyler’s off the table, I feel like she’s off boys for a while. I feel like her and Xavier are just getting to a safe place. I think there’s an opportunity there for a really sweet platonic relationship,” the actor detailed to MTV News in December 2022. “Because I don’t think it’s shown often enough, men and women having safe platonic relationships that don’t become romantic and are just genuine, almost sibling-like relationships. I think that’d be wonderful to see.”  

Stay tuned for updates on Season 2 of Wednesday.

What do you think of the actor’s remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!