It was recently announced that actress Jenna Ortega would be playing the iconic, deadpan don’t-fuck-with-me character Wednesday Addams in Tim Burton’s forthcoming Netflix live-action Addams Family series appropriately titled Wednesday.
This is kind of a big deal.
As far as we know, Ortega would be the first Latinx actress to play the character — which makes total sense considering the late, great Raul Julia played Gomez Addams in the The Addams Family live-action feature franchise. Julia was Puerto Rican so the Addams family had to be at least half Latinx. That said, Ortega’s casting makes all of this come full circle and maybe we’ll see an entire Latinx Addams family.
Wednesday is as a coming-of-age comedy and is written by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar and to be directed by Burton. It is described as “a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. That’s where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships.”
Ortega takes the mantle as Wednesday Addams from previous Wednesdays Christina Ricci, Chloë Grace Moretz and the OG Lisa Loring. She is a rising star that Hollywood has been sleeping on and Wednesday will hopefully give her the shine she deseres. She was seen in the Netflix featureYes Day as well as the series You, Elena of Avalor, Jane the Virgin and Stuck in the Middle. She served an impressive dramatic performance in the SXSW-winning The Fallout written and directed by Megan Park. She can also be seen in the forthcoming Scream revival.
Burton will direct and exec produce the series. Gough and Millar will exec produce alongside Andrew Mittman, Kevin Miserocchi, Kayla Alper, Jonathan Glickman for Glickmania and Gail Berman. The series comes from MGM/UA Television.
Ortega posted the news yesterday on Instagram saying, “New chapter. Hope I can do Wednesday Addams justice. *snaps twice*.”
