Creators Al Gough and Miles Millar revealed Netflix had other options, but none fit like Jenna Ortega. In an IndieWire interview, Gough alluded, “Netflix had given us a list of actresses that they liked, and Jenna was definitely on that list.” But as Millar pointed out, the creators were determined to cast the right actress. “We wanted to go through the process of seeing as many people as we could, just so that we were really sure we found the right Wednesday.”
It wasn’t just about finding someone to deliver the lines. For Gough and Millar, the key to Wednesday was precision—a trait that Ortega embodied from the start. “The lead of any show becomes your collaborator in the show; they just do,” Gough said. “There’s a precision to Jenna’s performance, there’s a precision to how the character’s written, there’s a precision to what Tim [Burton] does.” That precision was about bringing the character to life in a way that felt perfectly calibrated.
Ortega’s portrayal of Wednesday was much more than just another performance. It was a deep understanding of the character, her quirky, dark nature, and how she’d navigate the world around her. It wasn’t long before Ortega began pushing for changes to the dialogue to make the character even more authentic. For example, when a line was written where Wednesday would say, “Oh, my God, I’m freaking out over a dress; I literally hate myself,” Ortega knew this wasn’t something Wednesday would ever say. She fought for the line to be rewritten, keeping the character’s voice intact, something less collaborative actors might have just gone along with.
But Ortega didn’t just stop there. She also took creative ownership of the show’s most iconic moment: Wednesday’s dance scene in episode 4. The quirky choreography that became a viral sensation was Ortega’s own creation. She understood precisely how Wednesday would move at the school dance—awkward, bizarre, but still deliberate. Ortega’s instinct for how the character would express herself through her body translated perfectly to the screen, giving fans a truly memorable moment.
Between her keen insight into the character, her refusal to settle for anything less than perfect, and her behind-the-scenes contributions, Ortega proved that she was the perfect fit for Wednesday Addams. Gough and Millar’s precision and collaborative vision paid off big time.
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