It has almost been exactly one month since Netflix dropped its latest hit series Wednesday, which stars 20-year-old Jenna Ortega as the titular character, Wednesday Addams.
The eight-episode show follows teenager Wednesday as she is enrolled at a new academy after she was expelled from high school. The character is famous for her cold and emotionless personality, which makes her stand out against her peers.
Jenna has received rave reviews for her performance in the show, with many viewers thinking that she perfectly toed the line of making Wednesday unlike the other characters her age without it seeming like she was actively trying to be different.
But Jenna recently revealed that this wasn’t always the case and that the original script for the show had lines that she basically refused to say.
As she explained that she was able to make some changes to her lines for the sake of her character, Jenna made specific reference to the black vintage dress that Wednesday wears to her prom.
In Episode 4 of the show, Wednesday is seen briefly looking at the gown on display in an antique shop’s window, with Thing on her shoulder.
Later on, she is caught off guard when Tyler knocks to take her to prom and she begins looking in her wardrobe for something to wear. At this point, Thing directs her to her bed where the dress is lying.
Wednesday’s facial expressions make it clear that she is pleased with the gift, but she doesn’t explicitly say this — a conscious decision on Jenna’s part.
“I remember there’s a line where I’m talking about a dress and initially she was supposed to say: ‘Oh my god I’m freaking out over a dress, I literally hate myself,’” Jenna recalled in a Netflix Q&A.
“And I was blown away because that sounded like… It was just a bunch of little things like that,” she went on. “Where I felt like we were able to avoid a lot of dialogue in an attempt to make her sound human.”
The interview was posted to TikTok with the caption: “Jenna was about to go off on Wednesday writers I can’t believe that was a line.” The OP also wrote: “jenna says she got to change some of wednesday script bc some of the lines were cringe.”
And it didn’t take long for Jenna’s revelation to gain traction, with many people commenting to share their gratitude that she’d changed the line.
People argued that if Jenna had stuck to her script then Wednesday would have come across like a “pick me” character — someone who actively goes out of their way to appear quirky.
In fact, some went so far as to claim that Jenna “saved the show” by having input on Wednesday's lines.
“Yeah she definitely saved this show,” one fan commented. Another echoed: “Good god she saved this show.”
“Gotta give credits to actors who know their characters better than the writers sometimes,” someone else wrote. One more added: “I'm so glad that she didn't say that. Without Jenna, Wednesday would be typical ✨not like others ✨ gothic teenager.”
“Omg they were trying to make her a pick me,” another comment read. While someone else said: “I hate writers that just DO NOT understand characters it ruins so many shows I’m thankful for actors like jenna who speak up for changes to be made.”
But while Jenna may have had some power when it came to the script, she didn’t always get her way. In fact, the actor recently revealed that she “had to accept” the show’s love triangle storyline after the writers shot down her criticism.
In the series, both Tyler and Xavier are competing for Wednesday’s affections at Nevermore Academy, something that Jenna admitted she wasn’t on board with.
“As far as the boys went, I had to accept it,” she explained to Etalk. “Honestly I’m going to fight this love triangle thing so hard because this is just me being protective. I don’t think Wednesday would ever be in a love triangle.”
“I talked to the writers about this and they said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s not going to be that,’” she went on.
And she even shared her hope that Wednesday and Xavier would remain “platonic” in Season 2. She said: “I’ve always been against the love triangle idea. Now that Tyler’s off the table, I feel like she’s off boys for a while. I feel like her and Xavier are just getting to a safe place. I think there’s an opportunity there for a really sweet platonic relationship.”
“Because I don’t think it’s shown often enough,” Jenna added. “Men and women having safe platonic relationships that don’t become romantic and are just genuine, almost sibling-like relationships. I think that’d be wonderful to see.”
