"When we started the show, I was 18 and had never worked with a director as big as Tim," reflects actress Jenna Ortega - beloved for her portrayal of the titular role on Netflix's hit series, 'Wednesday', and signature deadpan stare. About the success of the show, she continues: "I had led a show before, but not with a character that was so well known and loved prior to me joining. It’s a relief, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I still don’t feel super anxious or feel like I have something I need to live up to every day on set. Maybe that’s a good thing, but it hasn’t gotten easier... It’s still quite difficult to comprehend. I see the effects and changes that it’s had on my life and my castmates’ lives, but it’s something that you’re very detached from. If you see a number, it looks kind of crazy, but it’s not like I’ve seen it in a room or anything like that. I just try not to pay too much attention to that stuff because success for me is more about feeling accomplished and being able to put something out into the world and feel proud. It’s wonderful that it’s been received so well, because there’s a lot of pressure."
And Ortega is excited about Season 2 of the show: "Wednesday Addams is one of the coolest characters of all time, so to have gotten the opportunity to play her once was incredible, and then to be able to slip into the costume and tone again, it’s so much fun. She runs circles around everyone that she has a conversation with. Getting to play someone who’s so much more intelligent than you will ever be is quite funny and strange and enjoyable. There’s no real emotional growth being made here, which is the joke with her, because she doesn’t really grow emotionally. She has moments of weakness here and there, and there’s always something with her mom, there’s always something with Enid. Maybe because it’s a new environment for her, or Nevermore was a new environment for her in the first season, in the second season she’s gotten a little bit more comfortable. She relishes and enjoys her surroundings more, even though they’re obnoxious, even though they’re terrible. She’s learned to take things maybe slightly less seriously - or be a bit more playful."
Also starring Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin, and Gwendoline Christie returning as Larissa Weems, Coup De Main spoke to some of the cast of 'Wednesday' and director Tim Burton ahead of the release of 'Wednesday' Season 2: Part 2...
CDM: In conversation with Enid, Wednesday misquotes Machiavelli as saying that "friendship is watching a person's slow drip of miseries and feeling honoured to be present for their most dismal moments". The actual quote is from 'A Little Life' by Hanya Yanagihara, but what does friendship mean to you personally?
EMMA MYERS: Hmmm.. It means a lot! Some of the most meaningful relationships in my life are my friends, and I wouldn't have gotten through a lot of the things in my life without my friends, so I'm grateful to them.
JENNA ORTEGA & TIM BURTON: <laugh together>
TIM: Wow, how many minutes do we have? No, I don't really have any friends, so I can't really answer that.
CDM: Jenna, do you have any thoughts on friendship?
JENNA: No.
CDM: Wednesday tells Agnes that: "I'd rather no one read my novel than make a compromise." Do you agree or disagree with her unwillingness to compromise on her art?
JENNA: I agree.
TIM: Yeah, I like Wednesday because she's uncompromising. But in fact, that's why we aspire to be her because we all compromise. I mean, I compromise - life is made up of compromise. You just try to compromise the least amount as you possibly can, but her aspiration is correct.
CDM: If Larissa Weems, Lorne, and Brienne of Tarth had all gone to school together, do you think they'd be friends or frenemies?
GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE: No one's ever asked me this question before. I think that Larissa Weems would make it her business to be friends with Brienne and with Lorne. I think Brienne would be very shy, and I think Lorne would hate both.
CDM: Are there any albums or songs that you like to listen to as a source of comfort - similar to how Wednesday finds it therapeutic to play her cello?
JENNA: There's an album by this woman in the 70s, and I think her son released it years later. It's called the 'Color Green' by Sibylle Baier. I don't know [when], it was released in the early 2000s or something, but I think that's a really beautiful album.
CDM: School friendships are such an important part of the world of 'Wednesday' - are you still friends with anyone that you went to school with?
HUNTER DOOHAN: Oh my god, yeah, so many. I'm going to my best friend Grace's wedding later this year - we actually moved out to LA from Arkansas together originally. It is hard, but you gotta really try to make the time and have great people that do the same. It's hard, but that's adult friendships in general.
GWENDOLINE: LOADS!
TIM: No.
JENNA: Well, I guess, but [as] you get older, it gets very distant.
CDM: And everyone's in different stages.
JENNA: Yeah, especially at the age I'm at right now, everyone's kind of exploring and becoming different people.
CDM: And you travel for work a lot, so that must be tricky too?
JENNA: Yeah.
CDM: If Wednesday had to enlist the help of Lydia Deetz and the Corpse Bride in one of her investigations, do you think they would be helpful or a hindrance?
TIM: Wednesday is a loner, and I think she likes to work in the dark alone, so I don't think she really requires any help.
CDM: If you had your own secret society like The Nightshades, what would be your main rules, like in 'Fight Club'?
HUNTER: No early morning meetings. We would make sure we go see The Mayhem Ball and meet Lady Gaga that time. And honestly, I'm loving being here, so I think I'm gonna set it either in New Zealand or Australia.
TIM: See, I wouldn't have any group. I don't like clubs, and I don't like groups of people.
CDM: Because you don't have any friends?
TIM: Exactly. So yeah, that's not a good question for me.
JENNA: You said, rules?
TIM: Don't join.
JENNA: Yeah, I was gonna say I don't see myself joining a club of any sort.
TIM: So, don't join. If you have a secret club, just say: "Don't join."
JENNA: Yes, there you go.
CDM: That feels very true to Wednesday... If you were to challenge someone to a duel, which sport or game would you challenge them in?
TIM: Staring contest.
JENNA: Really?!
TIM: Yeah, I could be pretty good.
JENNA: I've never done that. I don't know, maybe... It's been a minute, but when we were doing archery for this show, I was pretty good. They would tie an apple to a string up there, and I would shoot the apple and things like that - in competition with the other actors.
TIM: You were surprised at how good I was at archery in Japan. And I was really good at throwing those ninja stars too.
JENNA: Oh, I've never thrown a ninja star, and I've always wanted to.
TIM: I swear you'd love that one.
JENNA: <sighs in disappointment>
HUNTER: We played a lot of UNO on set, and a little mini Connect Four game we were playing a lot as well in Ireland. Think I could take my chances at pretty much any one.
CDM: Jenna, if you were to pen your own Viper De La Muerte novel, what would the plot be?
TIM: She can't reveal that one. <laughs>
JENNA: Yeah, I don't know. You don't want me writing a book.
CDM: What do you think Wednesday is most scared of in the world?
JENNA: Intimacy?
TIM: Yeah, sounds right to me.
JENNA: Intimacy... crowds. There's a lot of things.
CDM: Do you relate to that at all?
JENNA: <laughs> I easily could, but... I also could not... a big part of my job is that. So I wouldn't say that, no, but maybe, crowds. I don't like crowds. That's quite intimidating or overwhelming at times.
'Wednesday' Season 2: Part 2 will be streaming on Netflix from September 3.
Watch a trailer below...
