Jenna Ortega Willingly Submitted Herself To Intense Training For Netflix's Wednesday

"The Addams Family" is a long-running franchise in popular culture that combines dark humor with elements of horror and satire across an original cartoon, a live-action TV series, two films, and several reboots within the same formats. For modern audiences, the franchise is likely remembered for the two live-action feature films from the 1990s, "The Addams Family" and "Addams Family Values." Both movies left an indelible mark on what can only be called a "supernatural dark comedy" genre. While we do not know very much about the upcoming Netflix comedy series "Wednesday," we do know that Tim Burton has been attached to direct episodes, some minor plot details, and Jenna Ortega will play the titular role of Wednesday Addams.

Of all the memorable characters, Wednesday Addams, the teenage daughter of Gomez and Morticia Addams, adds many shades of darkness to the comedic proceedings. Wednesday was edgy, moody, and a wee bit tortuous to her younger brother, Pugsley, but she also made a strong statement about empowerment in the face of adversity, namely adolescent bullying. For any teen who went through a "goth" phase, Wednesday was the personification of misunderstood angst. Notably played by Christina Ricci in the '90s movies, Jenna Ortega will step into the role with the hindsight of those who came before her in mind. This is one detail of many in her intense training for the part.

Jenna Ortega was born and raised in California, where she began acting at the age of nine (via IMDb). Her talent won her roles on TV shows such as "Stuck in the Middle," "Jane the Virgin," and "Richie Rich." Ortega won the part of Wednesday, and without missing a beat, immediately began researching the character that led her to some difficult training to play the role authentically. She told Netflix, "I was so nervous to do this part because I just want to do her justice. So I went to fencing lessons twice a week, [and] I went to cello lessons twice a week. A big part of it, too, was just physicality. I would walk like Wednesday, and I think that people thought I might have been kind of crazy."

Her hard work and fierce commitment to capturing the essence of the character have seemingly paid off. Speaking at an FYC event for "Yellowjackets" (via Variety), Christina Ricci mentioned the actress and said, "And 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." Ricci is also set to star in the series, although her role remains a mystery at this point. Although Ortega's commitment to the character was vigorous, winning the seal of approval from another Wednesday Addams performer must feel gratifying.