The Addams family has been entertaining fans since 1964 in various styles and versions, but one thing has always stayed the same; they’re creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky. While they’re all together ooky, they’re a screaming and fun success for all fans and families.
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Netflix’sWednesdaylives up to these expectations in many ways, honoring the Addams family’s varied history without missing a beat. Some fans want to see deeper into the show — how it was made, and how they pulled off another fantastic addition to the core story. Luckily for them, we have plenty of details to fulfill their need to know more about how this show managed to live up to our expectations.
10Jenna Ortega Was Doused In Fake Blood When She Auditioned
While filming the movie “X” by Ti West, Jenna Ortega went on to audition for the part of Wednesday. Due to Covid, the auditions were on Zoom. During one of the video sessions, Ortega showed up on camera in full make-up for her movie; which, as it’s a slasher film, included plenty of fake blood.
With a fake gunshot wound, Ortega met with director Tim Burton to try for the role of Wednesday. While both the actress and the director were in laughs over her appearance, the stage makeup no doubt did wonders to help her land the role. Between her acting prowess and the image of her drenched in blood, Ortega was a shoo-in for the role!
9The Hyde Is Played By An Actual Person
A central mystery of the show revolves around a strange creature stalking the woods near Nevermore Academy. This creature, later to be known as the Hyde, is actually played by a real stunt actor; it’s not just CGI. Daniel Himschoot brings this fearsome creature to life, acting the scenes out seamlessly to bring the Hyde to life.
Himschoot wore both crutches and stilts to create the creature’s movements and behaviors. With fantastical creatures such as a Hyde, it can be difficult to make realistic movements. Thankfully for us, Himschoot knows his way around various props and how to use them to breathe life into such a being.
8Thing Was Played By An Actor
The Hyde wasn’t the only creature played by a real person; Thing also had a full-bodied actor behind the five-fingered hand. Victor Dorobantu, who is a magician and knows his way around hand movements, played Thing. While wearing a full-coverage blue suit, Dorobantu acted out every part of Thing, from each finger movement to every hand flex.
While wearing a blue suit to fully cover his body, Dorobantu was able to allow editors to remove everything except for Thing itself. This really gave a lot of perspective and life to Thing, leaving fans with a living hand that helped Wednesday through her joys and troubles during the show.
7Jenna Ortega Planned Wednesday’s Epic Dance
While most actors and actresses default to a choreographer for their fights or dances, Jenna Ortega turned down the option of one for the Nevermore Academy’s annual Rave’N Dance, deciding to create her own dance routine! In fact, she planned out the dance in only two days, and it landed just perfectly for the fans.
Ortega spent some time researching goth dancing from 80’s night clubs, wanting to prepare for the viral dance that has taken social media by storm. Many celebrities have mimicked Wednesday’s dance moves, leaving it as one of the most impactful scenes in recent media.
6During Wednesday’s Breathtaking Dance, Covid-19 snuck in
During many of Jenna Ortega’s dancing shots at the Rave’N Dance, she was unknowingly positive for Covid-19. She was feeling under the weather, and the production staff was giving her medicine between takes while she and all the staff were waiting for the results of her Covid test.
Unfortunately, Ortega was positive for the global virus. Saying she felt she’d been hit by a car and her throat was extremely scratchy before shooting the dance, Ortega didn’t know she was positive when she was doing her dance scene as Wednesday since the previous test was negative. Thankfully, no other cast member reported getting sick, and Ortega took time to isolate and recover before continuing on the show.
5Wednesday’s Uniform Was Hand Printed
Given Wednesday’s color allergy, her uniform had to vastly differ from the standard Nevermore Academy uniform. While the normal uniform has a rich blue and black scheme, Wednesday’s uniform is black and gray instead. Costume designer Colleen Atwood had wanted something different than what the rest of fashion offered for gray and black stripes.
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So, wanting better than what everyone else has, and in true uniquely Addams fashion, she drew up and painted her own uniform for Wednesday to display. Adding a silk screen helped soften the look of Wednesday’s uniform, making her uniform a wonderful show of artistic decision and Addams' attire.
4Emma Myers Attended A Werewolf Boot Camp
Wanting to better understand Enid Sinclair, Myers attended a “werewolf boot camp” to get more in character. While Sinclair had a difficult time transforming into a werewolf, much to her family’s bickering and even taunting, Myers wanted to make sure she was following the proper etiquette of werewolves.
About halfway through the season, Myers went to this camp, along with the actors playing Enid’s brothers. It consisted mostly of parkour, running on all fours on the floor, and growling. There were stunt people pretending to be sheep, and the students, or werewolves, were to hunt them. It was an unexpected and wild experience, but one Myers said she thoroughly enjoyed and helped her greatly with getting into Enid’s character.
3Jenna Ortega Learned The Cello For The Show
Several months before shooting, Jenna Ortega started taking lessons twice a week playing the cello, even switching teachers when filming moved abroad. While she’s not sure she can play too well now, given she’s been busy with filming and working, the cello is something she passionately wants to pursue. She has expressed interest in releasing neo-composing albums and composing ambient music.
So, in scenes where Wednesday is playing the cello, Ortega is actually playing the same song. It really brings Wednesday’s performances to life, giving fans a seamless connection to visuals and sounds for each of her musical scenes.
2Ortega Also Learned To Fence For The Show
Another skill Jenna Ortega learned to play Wednesday: she took fencing lessons a couple of times a week to learn how to master the sword for her role. While saying she had little to no sleep and was nearly pulling her hair out, Ortega did her best to fulfill Wednesday’s most demanding scenes.
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From dancing to the cello to fencing, she took all of it beyond seriously and gave her best for each piece of media fans got to enjoy. Learning how to play the cello and how to fence is an extreme dedication to character; Ortega has not slacked for even a moment in becoming Wednesday for the show.
1Wednesday Didn’t Blink
Many fans haven’t noticed, though a few have, but Wednesday doesn’t blink even once in the show. While her eyes are closed when she’s unconscious or asleep, she doesn’t blink during any episode. Tim Burton, the director, didn’t want Wednesday to blink, giving more to her gothic and unnerving nature.
Ortega had to request multiple takes on some scenes, as it was filmed in Romania, and the winter provided plenty of wind to force people to blink. The actress' and staff’s dedication to Wednesday not blinking has definitely paid off — once fans notice her creepy unblinking stare, it adds a whole new level of amazing to the show.
