Jenna Ortega (Scream) explains who Wednesday Addams is in the new featurette for the upcoming Tim Burton-directed Netflix series. While Wednesday is still the dark, outspoken girl we have come to love and slightly fear, Ortega is bringing a new dimension to the role.
“It was really important to me that I did something different even though she’s been done so flawlessly in the past,” Ortega says in the featurette interview. “She’s a bit more socially awkward. There’s a confidence there but it is more concealed.”
The Addams Family has been a touchstone of American culture for generations starting as comic strips in 1938 before being adapted into movies and television shows. With so many renditions and portrayals, coming up with nuanced takes on the character is a tall order. But Ortega took that as an opportunity to embrace an aspect of Wednesday that has never been fully embraced: her Latina heritage.
“Wednesday is technically a Latina character and that’s never been represented so, for me, any time that I have an opportunity to represent my community, I want that to be seen,” she explains.
Burton was also ready to make Wednesday’s Latina heritage part of the story with a scene referencing her family’s participation in Día de los Muertos. Along with this, it’s important to note that this isn’t a reboot or a remake. This is a journey into adulthood for an iconic character while exploring facets of her that have never been explored before, according to the team bringing this story to life.
Wednesday is slated for a release later this year on Netflix, and it already looks like something every Latine fan of The Addams Family will want to watch.