Jenna Ortega Reflects on Controversial Comments About ‘Wednesday’ Role

The actress addresses her past remarks on changing lines and collaborating with writers, aiming for better communication and understanding

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Jenna Ortega reflected on her past comments regarding her involvement in altering lines for her character Wednesday Addams, acknowledging she “could have used [her] words better.” This introspection comes after a year of backlash following her appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, where she candidly discussed her approach to making Wednesday feel more authentic.

Ortega explained, “I probably could have used my words better in describing all of that. I think, oftentimes, I’m such a rambler. I think it was hard because I felt like had I represented the situation better, it probably would’ve been received better.”

In the podcast, Ortega admitted to sometimes being “unprofessional” in her quest to stay true to her character. “There were times on that set where I even became almost unprofessional, in a sense, where I just started changing lines,” she revealed. “The script supervisor thought that I was going with something, and then I would have to sit down with the writers and they would be like, ‘Wait, what happened to the scene?’ And I would have to go through and explain why I couldn’t do certain things. I grew very, very protective of [Wednesday], but you can’t lead a story and have no emotional arc because then it’s boring and nobody likes you.”

Looking back, Ortega recognized that her protectiveness over her character was also a way of asserting her independence on set. “Women have to be princesses,” she said. “They have to be elegant and classy and so kind and…then when they’re outspoken, they can’t be tamed and they’re a mess.”

Ortega also commented on how her remarks from the podcast were amplified by the media, describing the experience as surreal. “Everything that I said felt so magnified. … It felt almost dystopian to me. I felt like a caricature of myself,” she recalled. Despite the backlash, she was granted a producer credit for the second season, a role she had sought during the first season.

“I’m aware of my position as an actor. I know that I’m not in charge…. But I think with someone like Wednesday, who is in every scene, it only makes sense for that person to be that involved in what’s going on behind the scenes because she’s onscreen every second of the project,” she told Vanity Fair.

Tim Burton, the show’s director, supported Ortega’s outspokenness. “She’s very direct,” he told Vanity Fair. “She’s very no-nonsense, and I find that very refreshing and beautiful and artistic… I saw, from day one, she’s very aware. She’s more aware, sometimes, than I am.”

Previously, Ortega spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her determination to advocate for herself on the Netflix series. “Because I’m someone who is very opinionated or because I know what it’s like to be a people pleaser in this industry, and I know how unhappy or how frustrating it’s been in the past, when I went into Wednesday I really put my foot down and made it clear that everything that I had to say mattered and was heard,” she said during a 2023 comedy actress roundtable. “And as the show went on, we all got a better feel for one another, and it’s become a really collaborative experience, and I feel really lucky to be able to be in the room early next season and be talking about scripts and giving notes.”