Wednesday Star Jenna Ortega Details Show's Erratic Schedule, "I Pulled My Hair Out"

By Jamie Jirak

Wednesday debuted on Netflix towards the end of 2022, and it became an instant hit. The series was helmed by legendary director Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Batman) and ended up being a fun, new twist on The Addams Family. The series starred Scream's Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, and while the series was a ton of fun for fans, it wasn't all enjoyable behind the scenes. Ortega, who earned a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for the show, recently took part in a Netflix-hosted Q&A panel in Hollywood (via Variety) and talked about the grueling production schedule in addition to taking cello and fencing lessons.

"It was show up to set two hours early, do that 12-14 hour day, then go home and then get on a Zoom and have whatever lesson that I had. Or show up to my apartment, my cello teacher was already waiting for me," Ortega said. "It was just constantly going, and if you could on a weekend, if we weren't shooting the sixth day that week, it was 'All right, well then, we'll get your lessons in on that day.'"

"I did not get any sleep. I pulled my hair out," Ortega added. "There's so many FaceTime calls that my dad answered of me hysterically crying." The actor explained that she was worried about her cello performances in the show. "I didn't know where my hands were even supposed to go and then I had to make two cellos come out of one cello, which was ridiculous." She added that Burton reassured her by saying, "Oh, don't worry, you're going to do great. It's gonna look great."

Is Wednesday Getting a Season 2? 

It was announced last month that Wednesday has officially been renewed for a second season. "Thanks to everyone who made this upcoming season possible. This has all been pretty surreal," Ortega shared across her social media platforms. Recently, Ortega talked more about the challenges of playing the character.

"We've never seen her as a teenage girl," Ortega told 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."

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Ortega said "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."

The first season of Wednesday is streaming on Netflix. 

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