Wednesday: Jenna Ortega Choreographed Iconic Dance Scene While She Had COVID
Not only did Jenna Ortega choreograph her popular dance scene in Wednesday, but she also filmed it while battling COVID. The Addams Family spinoff has been an instant hit for Netflix, landing in third place on the streamer's all-time Top 10 list for TV shows, only behind Stranger Things and DAHMER. Wednesday supplanted Bridgerton: Season 2 and pushed Ozark Season 4 off the list entirely. One of the more popular moments in Wednesday came when Jenna Ortega attended her school's Rave'N Dance, where she broke out an "interesting" dance routine. The star revealed the difficulty level that came when her performance, especially considering she had just been diagnosed with COVID beforehand.
Jenna Ortega was the subject of an NME behind-the-scenes feature back in November, where she detailed what all went into her Wednesday dance number. "I choreographed that myself!" Ortega told NME. "I'm not a dancer and I'm sure that's obvious. I'd gotten the song [The Cramps' 1981 single 'Goo Goo Muck'] about a week before and I just pulled from whatever I could… it's crazy because it was my first day with COVID so it was awful to film."
She also detailed the body aches COVID inflicted upon her body. "Yeah, I woke up and – it's weird, I never get sick and when I do it's not very bad – I had the body aches. I felt like I'd been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat and was scratching the walls of my esophagus. They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result."
MGM, Wednesday's production company, later confirmed to NME via email that "strict COVID protocols were followed and once the positive test was confirmed production removed Jenna from set."
"I asked to redo it but we didn't have time," Ortega added. "I think I probably could have done it a bit better…"
The Cramps' Goo Goo Muck Gets Chart Bump Thanks to Wednesday
Episode 4 of Wednesday, titled "Woe What A Night", saw Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) take to the dance floor at Nevermore Academy's Rave'N Dance and bust out some unique moves to The Cramps' "Goo Goo Muck." The early cult-punk classic is getting a boost on the charts thanks to the popularity of the Netflix series.
According to Rolling Stone, "Goo Goo Muck" has seen an increase in the number of daily U.S. on-demand streams — going from just 2500 the day before the series premiered to a staggering 134,000 by Monday, November 28th. According to the report, if fans continue streaming the song, it may well end up becoming The Cramps' first-ever Hot 100 hit.
Released by The Cramps in 1981, their version of "Goo Goo Muck" is a cover of a 1962 song released by Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads. If this version of "Goo Goo Much" does go on to chart for The Cramps, it will be a little bittersweet. The band has been defunct since the death of lead singer Lux Interior in 2009. However, this wouldn't be the first time that a Netflix series has seen an older song have huge success. The fourth season of Stranger Things saw Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" become a major hit in 2022 decades after its release.