Netflix’s TV show “Wednesday” is loved by millions of audiences worldwide. It’s an American horror TV show based on the character “Wednesday Addams,” and it’s the most-watched TV show on Netflix. It stars Jenna Ortega in the lead role along with Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, Hunter Doohan, Percy Hynes White, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Georgie Farmer, Naomi J. Ogawa, Christina Ricci, Moosa Mostafa, and Game of Thrones actor Gwendoline Christie, appearing in supporting roles. The show’s storyline is Wednesday Addams attends Nevermore academy, where she investigates a mystery that caused a series of murders in the local town while making new friends and foes and also trying to master her psychic abilities. Jenna Ortega shines as the lead actress bringing a sardonic character to life. Here are 35 facts you might not know.
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1. Jenna Ortega Choreographed herself.
Well, you must’ve been a fan of the viral tik tok dance of Wednesday’s dance steps. But those fantastic dance steps were choreographed by Jenna Ortega herself. Wednesday, Addams shows her Dance moves at Rave’N Dance in Nevermore Academy in addition to Lady Gaga’s viral Tik Tok, and it’s been a massive success.
The song she danced to is “Goo Goo Muck” by the Cramps. And The Cramps is Ortega’s favorite band, so she was super excited about the Dance. She choreographed the Dance in two days and watched the videos of Siouxsie, Banshees, Lene Lovich, and other rock bands.
2. Top streamed Netflix Show.
Netflix’s Wednesday is the most streamed show of all time, crossing the records of Stranger Things with over 1,237,150,000 watch hours in the first 28 days. With an amazing milestone that only shows like Stranger Things and squid are able to accomplish, the show became a hit on Netflix.
3. Shoot in Romania
The first season of the show was shooted in a beautiful city in Romania while some scenes were filmed in Spain. The castle of Nevermore academy is Cantacuzino castle in Busteni. At the same time, Academy’s greenhouse was shot in Bucharest Botanical Garden.
After World War II, the castle was owned by the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, and later it went open to the Public for anyone to visit. With effects and editing, the beautiful and vibrant castle turned into a Dark and spooky Nevermore academy.
4. Ortega was affected by Covid- 19
This might not be a cheerful fact, but the production of Netflix’s series Wednesday began during the pandemic, and Ortega was not feeling well. Despite unfeeling, she pushed herself to shoot, and later she’d been reported as covid positive while she’s been taking medication in between shots while waiting for Covid test results.
She said, “I woke up, and it’s weird. I never get sick, and when I do, it’s not very bad. I felt like I’d been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat and was scratching the walls of my esophagus”.
5. Wednesday shouldn’t blink.
Wednesday’s smile and blinking are pretty inhumane in the show. In the whole season, she smiled just once, which was after seeing Uncle Fester, and blinked a few times during the show.
However, she closes her eyes during the car ride with Morticia and during the confrontation with Bianca when she hugs Enid in the final episode. She never talks about her emotions but rather uses nonverbal cues to express her feelings. Tim Burton decided that the character “Wednesday” shouldn’t be blinking, as the original characters in the Addams family are depicted as having unblinking expressions.
6. Blood Shower Scene
It took multiple takes to shoot the Blood prom Dance scene. This is due to technical issues like sound, camera angles, and lightning. However, it is uncommon to take multiple takes if there is the involvement of a large number of performers and talented choreographers.
For every take, the makeup and hair teams had to clean the blood off the actors and also replace the wigs, which added a lot of extra work.
7. Poe cup canoe Scene
The scene in which Wednesday Addams and her friends canoeing on the lake are being chased by a monster. It was filmed on two different lakes. The scene is filmed in Squamish, British Columbia, and another is located near Vancouver. It creates an illusion that the scene is filmed on the same lake with a combination of special effects, CGI, and editing.
For initial shots, Vancouver lake is used, and for the later scene, Squamish lake is used, in which the monster appears. Although the scene includes a dozen of practices, and the practice starts at 5:30 in the early morning and goes on for hours, the cast must hate canoeing now.
8. Fred Armisen shaved his head.
Fred Armisen has been a member of the cast to play the role of Uncle Fester, who has a major influence on Wednesday’s upbringing. In reality, he actually had to shave his head to play his role, and thankfully eyebrows were still left.
He further added, “They really did such a great job with the makeup and everything. I had no eyebrows. It was prosthetics over my eyebrows to give me that look,”
9. Learned cello
The cello performance played by Wednesday Addams was mind-blowing, but in reality, Jenna Ortega had never played any instruments before. She took lessons twice a week to play the cello for the role of Wednesday. She learned the basics to give the character a representation of the Instrument, as there wasn’t sufficient time.
In an interview with Wired, she said that she took cello lessons two months before the shooting of “Wednesday” began, and she fell in love with the Instrument, and it is something she’ll probably continue to pursue.
10. Jenna compliments Emma
Despite being a well-performing and hardworking actor, Ortega’s humbleness is on the ground. Unlike her character, “Wednesday,” Ortega is full of praise and blessings. Each morning while on a shoot, Ortega compliments Emma Myer, “How beautiful and wonderful she is,” which is so sweet and kind.
Jenna and Emma are closest friends. Each morning Jenna wakes up, she sends voice memos to Emma before even being conscious. She’s fond of Emma and often thinks about her.
11. Only wear black
Ortega looks gorgeous in black and also makes her character so astonishing. While filming Wednesday, Ortega made a decision that she’ll only be wearing black to depict her character as far as possible.
In an interview with New York Magazine, she said, “for some reason, my closet just lost all its color,” and she’ll stick to darker and earthy tones in her closet.
12. Demanding role of Wednesday
Wednesday’s role was pretty demanding, both physically and mentally. To make her fit for the role, she had to learn kickboxing, archery, canoeing, and German lessons and attend cello lessons twice a week.
Between busy schedule and all this effort made her very stressed with the demand of this role. All this effort does reflect on her character, making her so extraordinary she couldn’t even get any sleep for two-three days.
13. German Wednesday
Do you know that the German version of Wednesday “Thing” translates to Iscaltus, which means cold little hand? Now next time you see “The Thing,” it’ll remind you of little cold hands.
14. QWERTZ German Layout
The typewriter was used by Wednesday, and the thing is of german layout QWERTZ instead UK’s QWERTY. In German typewriters, “Umlaute” ä, ö, and ü are German letters and are still found and widely used in German-speaking countries.
15. Ortega was in another movie named “X.”
When Ortega auditioned for the role of “Wednesday,” she was already shooting another American horror movie named “X,” which was released on March 18th, 2022. Being on two projects at once was stressful for Ortega, but she managed to do it with dedication and commitment.
She’s been impressive to the casting director with her audition despite her busy schedule. Her successful audition while being part of another movie shows her talent as an actress.
16. Wednesday’s designer costume
Colleen Atwood, Wednesday’s costume designer, put a wardrobe of printed dresses with platform shoes. She wants to contrast the American public school we see on TV shows and films. Many online users wanted to buy the costume worn by Wednesday’s character in the show. High fashion and designer costumes may not be available easily.
17. Tim Burton’s interest in Jenna
Burton reached out to Ortega as he was very interested in her playing the role of Wednesday. Burton praised Ortega that she was perfect for the role. Burton said she’s like a silent character who is able to express herself without words. He further quoted, “can’t imagine any other Wednesday.”
18. Blood
While interviewed on the zoom call for the role of Wednesday Addams, she was covered in fake blood because of her previous role in another movie named “X.” Ortega actually ended up getting cut while filming, so she showed up on a zoom call with an actual wound.
Ortega, herself, is attracted to darker topics like murder podcasts and serial killers and has worked on different horror projects, including Insidious chapter 2, the babysitter: killer Queen, X, and Scream 5. This could be the reason for making the character “Wednesday” more memorable.
19. The Thing
The role of “The Thing” plays an important role in the show. However, the character is not the work of CGI. The role was played by a magician, Victor Dorobantu, in scenes wearing blue clothes and being removed through digital effects in post-production.
It’s hard to express feelings with just hand movements. Dorobantu was even forced to a small space to shove his hand under the covers or through holes. Dorobantu brings a character in the show who doesn’t even have a face.
20. Ortega finds work overwhelming
Ortega recently shared in an interview that she found the schedules to be overwhelming and emotionally draining, pushing her to the boundary. She cried wildly, even pulling off her hair in some challenging scenes. The demanding schedules required her to work 12-16 hours a day, which took her both mentally and physically.
She said the show’s Dark and horror theme made it hard for her to get back into real life when the camera stopped rolling. However, despite all the challenges, she’s grateful for the role of Wednesday, in which she performed greatly.
21. Catherine Zeta-Jones took the longest time to make up.
Zeta-Jones, cast as Morticia Addams on Wednesday, always takes the longest time in makeup among other casts. She’s an experienced actor with a diverse range of roles throughout her career. The character Morticia Addams is known for her iconic look, long black hair, whitish skin color, and pretty red lips. Achieving this look requires a lot of time and effort in the makeup department.
However, it’s good to see that the production team is always aiming to deliver a high-quality production, highlighting little details in it, as it constantly needs to be done throughout the whole season.
22. Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams
Christina Ricci, who played the character Marilyn Thornhill, a Nevermore Teacher in Wednesday, also played the character “Wednesday Addams” in Addams Family in her childhood. She was only nine years old when she played the role of Wednesday Addams.
Ricci’s role on Wednesday helped in her career at the initial stage, and having more experience in different roles throughout her career, she does perfectly with her character. Overall, Ricci’s contribution to this show brings an extra layer of charm.
23. German God Odin
The German God Odin can be compared to Roman God Mercury due to their similar roles as messengers, travelers, and guides. So, Wednesday is derived from the German God Odin. According to German mythology, Odin is the god of wisdom, war, death, and poetry.
24. Wednesday, every time
Wednesday TV- show falls perfectly on Wednesday each time. Curious why? Well, Ortega said she’d play the Wednesday character on Wednesday of the calendar. The shoot was completed on March 30th, 2022, which is Wednesday on the calendar, and It’s released on November 23rd, that’s also a Wednesday.
25. Gwendoline Christie’s inspiring clothes
Gwendoline Christie played the role of Larissa Wheems, wearing clothes inspired by the character Tippi Harden from the movie “The Bird.” It is a classic horror movie by Alfred Hitchcock. In the movie, Harden’s character is known for iconic fashion, featuring stylish outfits ahead of their time.
Taking inspiration from iconic fashion styles from other movies is quite common and also helps to create a memorable character.
26. The Nevermore
Nevermore academy comes from the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan, where the bird quotes, “Never again.”
27. Woe
In Season one, the title of each episode has a common word, “woe.” Morticia explains she named Wednesday after the line “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.”
It’s a nursery rhyme from the American Psychiatric society, and the rhyme goes to “Monday’s child is fair of face,” “Tuesday’s child is full of grace,” “Wednesday’s child is full of woe,” “Thursday’s child is full of grace,” “Friday’s child is loving and giving,” “Saturday’s child works hard for his living”… and so on.
28. Credits
Opening credits are only featured in the first and last episodes of the First season, and others simply feature the Title and Name. This approach is commonly used in TV shows where opening episodes are used to set the tone and style. The opening credits of the show add creative touches and help to make “Wednesday” stand out.
29. Ortega changed the script.
In a recent podcast, Ortega said that many of the “Wednesday” scripts made no sense to her. She moved ahead and changed the script without the writer’s consent. However, it’s common for scripts to any modifications during the shooting and to ensure the vision of the project is clear.
30. Emma Myer goes to the Warewolf camp.
Emma Myer plays the role of Enid Sinclair as Wednesday Addams’s roommate. She revealed in an interview with Jimmy Falloon that she participated in the Warewolf camp. The camp involved doing a lot of parkour, running on floors, and jumping over things.
She conveyed, “We did this werewolf boot camp one time because there’s episode six, where the parents come, and the families come, and I had four or five brothers, and they really had to get them into the werewolf spirit.”
31. Show’s soundtrack
The soundtrack plays a major role in creating a show’s feeling of dark and horror. Danny Elfman, the composer, has worked on several films before and is known for his unique and eclectic musical style, therefore, giving a soundtrack with perfect visual style and tone.
32. German Wednesday
Wednesday translates to Mittwoch in German, is the only day of the week that doesn’t end with “tag,” which means “day” The other days of the week are named after the planet which has the word “tag”- Montag (Monday), Dienstag (Tuesday), Mittwoch (Wednesday), Donnerstag (Thursday), Freitag (Friday), Samstag( Saturday), Sonntag (Sunday).
33. Ortega wouldn’t talk with Christina Ricci.
During the shoot, Ortega avoided talking with Christina Ricci to avoid being influenced by Ricci’s thoughts and make the character unique to her preference. Ortega revealed while Ricci was on the set, they never spoke about playing the same character.
34. Emma Myers for Wednesday’s Audition
Emma Myers played the role of Enid Sinclair, at first came to audition for the role of “Wednesday.” But later, she ends up having the role of adorable “Enid.” Since 2010, she’s been cast as small in movies and TV- shows, with some of her top movies including A taste of Christmas, Girl in the basement, and, of course, Netflix’s Wednesday.
35. Tim Burton
This is the first time that Tim Burton has officially worked on any Addams family movie. Burton loved the original “The Addams Family” comics, and so he was very much attracted to this project.
36. Jenna Ortega was a Vegan
Ortega revealed in an interview with a health magazine that she’s been following a vegan diet till the shooting on Wednesday began. It shows Ortega’s love for animals. However, she’s been with a nutritionist to make sure she gets all the nutrition she needs from a vegan diet.
While filming in Romania, she stopped following a vegetarian diet and became a Pescatarian, as the food in Romania was very different from what it used to be, and Ortega lacked nutrition. She occasionally adds fish like Salmon or tuna to her diet.
37. Development started in 2019.
Development on the series started way back in 2019, and eventually acquired the rights from the Addam family. The show was supposed to be released on the Hulu platform but ended up on Netflix.
The original Addams family has a long back history, and for the development of Wednesday, Tim Burton considered a fresh and clear approach to all the characters.
38. Wednesday Promotion
“The Thing” roaming in the streets of New York to promote panicking locals. At the same time, it’s actually a robot designed by Spectral Motion.
The campaign actually created excitement among the New York locals and online audiences, with over 36 million views. As studios are always looking for new ways to promote their shows, this type of strategy and creativity have become common nowadays in the Entertainment industry.
39. Thora Birch
In the show, Thora Bich played the role 0f Botany Teacher, but due to some Family illness, she had to exit, and her role was replaced by Christina Ricci. However, as Christina has been a part of the “The Addams Family” storyline, Ricci became an ideal role.
40. Tackles important issues
Apart from the dark and horror atmosphere which the show provides, it also tackles some important issues like identity, acceptance, and family.
As “The Addams Family” is known for its supportive bond to family, Wednesday also highlights family importance. This can be a potential reason that the show’s target audience is of all ages and backgrounds. That’s it, and I hope these facts might interest you and help you build a deeper connection with the show and its characters. Wednesday is a must-watch TV show if you haven’t yet. With Ortega’s amazing performance and “The Addams Family” storyline, the show is a masterpiece breaking all records and has been nominated for the Oscars.
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