MOVIE NEWS – Jenna Ortega avoided asking Christina Ricci for advice on how to play Wednesday Addams because she wanted to play the character her own way.

There were two Wednesdays on the set of Wednesday, but neither of them mentioned this fact to the other. Wednesday, the Addams Family reboot recently debuted on Netflix, reimagining the titular character of the creepy and wacky family with Jenna Ortega in the role. During the filming, Thora Birch unexpectedly dropped out, so Christina Ricci took her place. This was significant because Ricci, who was a former child star, was famous for playing the younger Wednesday in two live-action films of the 1990s.

In a new interview with MTV News, Ortega talked about the Netflix series with co-star Emma Myers. He revealed that even though Ricci was on set, they never once discussed playing the same character. Ortega said that he believes Ricci didn’t want to influence his performance. From his perspective, Ortega felt it was best to focus on his performance so Wednesday wouldn’t look like a carbon copy of Ricci.

“I think when he was on set, neither of us said it was Wednesday to the other. I think it was because he knew he couldn’t say anything to me… I don’t think he wanted to get in the way of my performance and he didn’t want feel like he’s too pretentious. And I felt like I didn’t want to pull something that he did 30 years ago. For my own benefit, but also, yeah, I didn’t want to put him down and look too much like him. I think our our series has superpowers, outcasts, and evil spirit pilgrims. Two very different people, our Wednesdays, I think.”

You can watch the full interview below.

In the series, Ortega brings to life a reimagined version of Wednesday Addams, who attends Nevermore Academy after leaving the family mansion. Ricci plays Ms. Thornhill, a botany teacher at Nevermore Academy. Additional cast includes Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, Percy Hynes White, Jamie McShane, Hunter Doohan and Emma Myers. Addams Family members who will appear in a second season if Netflix renews the series include Luis Guzman as Gomez, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia and Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley.

“The show is really about a girl who sees the world in black and white and learns that there are shades of gray,” co-creator and co-showrunner Al Gough recently said via TVLine where can season 2 go. “I think like any relationship or friendship, it can be complicated by other factors. It’s never going to be smooth sailing. And it’s really about learning how to navigate the ups and downs of friendship.”

Wednesday is now available for streaming on Netflix; you can read the series review here.

Source: Movieweb