Jenna Ortega Legit Cried During A Wednesday Scene
"Wednesday" might be a big ol' hit for Netflix and a star making role for Jenna Ortega, but it's pretty clear by now that the show wasn't exactly easy to shoot. The story of the Addams family's oldest child starting her studies at Nevermore Academy has involved all sorts of strangeness, from Ortega coming under fire for filming the show's famous dance scene with COVID to the intense training program she went through to play the role.
Knowing the physical and mental rigors Ortega faced when she took on the iconic role — while co-starring with previous Wednesday Addams actor Christina Ricci, no less — it's not difficult to believe that the wringer she went through was quite demanding on occasion. As such, it's not awfully shocking to hear her admit that she legitimately wept during one particular scene. However, the actual reason for her tears might just surprise you.
Ortega was moved to tears when the Thing held her hand
The Thing is an iconic part of any Addams Family property worth its salt, and the highly mobile hand-creature naturally plays a role in the Netflix show, as well. Filming the Thing's scenes in "Wednesday" was achieved with the help of nimble magician Victor Dorobantu, who performed the character's movements with his own hand that was made up to look like the Thing.
This means that whenever the Thing interacted with Wednesday, Ortega was acting opposite a real human hand attached to a real human man — and, as she told Sean Evans of "Hot Ones," in one particular scene this led to very real human emotion.
"It actually was that Thing operating room scene. [The cameras] weren't really on him, but they were shooting my coverage, and it's the first and only time Wednesday cries," Ortega explained. "And I went and reached my hand out to him, and he pet my hand, and he was like comforting me. And I actually started crying. Like, I restarted the line because it actually made me sad, and we just laughed, and that was a real bonding moment for Victor and I."
It takes a special kind of talent to play the Thing. By being able to move Wednesday Addams to tears like that, Dorobantu certainly proved once more that he has that kind of talent.