Up-and-coming actress, Jenna Ortega has landed her next star-making role, as the title character in Netflix’s upcoming live-action show, Wednesday. The news of the performer’s casting as Wednesday Addams comes after the comedy was ordered to series at the streaming service in February.
Ortega is taking over the role from Christina Ricci, who’s the most closely associated with playing the character. The latter actress played Wednesday in the franchise’s live-action feature films from the early 1990s, including The Addams Family and its sequel, Addams Family Values. More recently, Chloë Grace Moretz voiced the part in the 2019 animated movie and its upcoming sequel, which is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2021.
Wednesday is Ortega’s latest into television, after she first garnered attention for playing the younger version of the eponymous protagonist on Jane the Virgin. Soon after appearing on the CW’s Golden Globe-winning romantic comedy-drama, the performer landed her first series lead role on the Disney Channel family comedy, Stuck In the Middle. Her most recent arc on the small screen was when she played Ellie Alves on the second season of another Netflix show, You, in 2019.
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, Tim Burton is making his directorial television debut with the limited series, which will comprise of eight episodes. The coming-of-age comedy creators, Al Gough and Miles Millar, will serve as the writers and showrunners of the new show from MGM Television. Burton, Gough and Miles Millar will all also serve as executive producers on the series, alongside Steve Stark, Andrew Mittman, Kevin Miserocchi, Kayla Alpert, Jonathan Glickman, and Gail Berman..
Wednesday will mark a turning point for the title character, as it’s her first solo vehicle; previously, she was only portrayed on television and in movies, video games and musicals as part of an ensemble cast with her family. The comedy will also mark the protagonist’s first young adult television series.
The show will follow Wednesday’s years as a student at Nevermore Academy. She’s 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 at Nevermore.