Wednesday: Christina Ricci says Jenna Ortega has a great modern take on Addams Family character

Jenna Ortega (Scream 2022) takes on the role of Addams Family character Wednesday in the upcoming Netflix series that shares its name with the character, and we know what she looks like in the character’s wardrobe. The teaser trailer embedded above and the image below show us that. We don’t know what her performance is going to be like, though. Someone who has seen Ortega’s Wednesday in action is her co-star Christina Ricci, who previously played Wednesday herself in the live-action feature films The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values. And Ortega’s performance has definitely been given Ricci’s stamp of approval.

Speaking with Variety, Ricci said,

Jenna is incredible. I saw some of the wardrobe photos before I went [to set] so I knew [what she looked like in character] and I was like, it’s such a great modern take on Wednesday. It’s so true tonally to the heart and soul of [the original], but it’s then it’s incredibly modern and it’s great.”

Directed by Tim Burton and created by showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, Wednesday is described as

a comedic, supernaturally-infused coming-of-age series that follows the teenage girl’s years as a student at Nevermore Academy, where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the town, and solve a mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new relationships at Nevermore.

Ortega is joined in the cast by Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta-Jones as her parents, Gomez and Morticia. Also in the cast are Riki Lindhome as Wednesday’s therapist Dr. Valerine Kinbot; Joy Sunday as Siren Nevermore student Bianca Barclay; Emma Myers as Wednesday’s sunny roommate Enid Sinclair; Hunter Doohan as townie Tyler Galpin; Moosa Mostafa as quirky Nevermore student Eugene Otinger; Georgie Farmer as awkward and shy Nevermore student Ajax Petropolus; Naomi J. Ogawa as vampire Nevermore student Yoko Tanaka; Percy Hynes White as supernaturally artistic Nevermore student Xavier Thorpe; Jamie McShane as Sheriff Donovan Galpin, Tyler’s father, who has a vendetta against Gomez; Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems, “the principal of Nevermore Academy who still has an axe to grind with her former classmate Morticia Addams”; Victor Dorobantu as Thing, the non-verbal disembodied hand; Issac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams; George Burcea as Lurch; Tommie Earl Jenkins as Mayor Walker; Iman Marson as Lucas Walker; William Houston as Joseph Crackstone; Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as Deputy Santiago; Oliver Watson as Kent; Calum Ross as Rowan; and Johnna Dias Watson as Divina.

Thora Birch had signed on to play a character named Tamara Novak, “Wednesday’s dorm mother and the only ‘normie’ on staff at Nevermore Academy, with a focus on all things botanical.” Sadly, due to a family illness, Birch had to leave the production in Romania and return to the United States before filming was complete. It was said that her role won’t be recast, with a new character being added into the story instead. That might be the “exciting new character” being played by Ricci.

The 8 episode Wednesday series marks Burton’s TV directing debut. Burton is also executive producing the show alongside Gough, Millar, Jonathan Glickman of Glickmania, Andrew Mittman of 1.21, Kayla Alpert, Gail Berman, Steve Stark, and Kevin Miserocchi of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation.

Ricci added that Wednesday is “super fun”, and she enjoyed working with Tim Burton and Gwendoline Christie.

Wednesday is expected to premiere on Netflix sometime this fall. Will you be watching the show? Let us know by leaving a comment below.