Jenna Ortega turned a lot of heads with her snakeskin look at the London Wednesday premiere on Wednesday, but I want to talk about one question she answered while on the purple carpet for the show’s second season. Following all the controversy over Ortega and her thoughts on the writer’s room, she was asked how she shaped Wednesday’s storyline as an executive producer this time around. And, her comments have me more excited for the episodes to come.
Jenna Ortega Shares Her Role As Executive Producer On Wednesday Season 2
MTV asked the actress about how her role as executive producer helped shape Wednesday Addams’ arc this season. Here’s how she responded:
The story arc was actually happening while we were filming, so it was just more so, you know as the scripts were coming in and as the episodes were going, it was quick shifts and changes, but we really have so much trust in our writers, so I kind of let them do what they needed to do, and then when Tim [Burton] and I felt the need to step in we did. But, it always was in a like adding on top of or elaborating to a further extent.
Have you heard the background on what happened last season? After the record-breaking debut of Wednesday, Jenna Ortega talked about being “almost unprofessional” on the set of Season 1 by changing lines and refusing to read certain dialogue because she didn’t agree with some of the material.
These comments led to one TV producer calling her statements “beyond and entitled and toxic,” and backlash about it blew up so much further that she was quoted on the writer’s strike picket line signs. She has since said that she “probably could have used [her] words better” and got so “sick” of herself and how her words came back to bite her later.
However, there was change on Wednesday, and now Ortega is more involved and seemingly a lot happier with the collaborative process.
Her New Comments Make Me More Excited For What’s To Come On Wednesday
These new comments show a much more cohesive opinion of the writers from Jenna Ortega, and signal to me that she, Tim Burton and the creators of Wednesday are on the same page regarding the direction of Wednesday as a series and the direction of Wednesday Addams as a character.
Previously, the creators of Wednesday had said that Ortega is “very involved” in the making of Season 2. But rather than the actress coming out and talking about all the things about the series she put her name on specifically, I appreciate how she is calling the TV show for what it is, a collaborative process where the writers are doing a lot of legwork to provide the storyline of the series.
As a fan, I definitely understood both points of view in the controversy, because I could see how, as a young woman, Ortega might not feel like she resonated with all the writing. However, at the same time how the writers might have felt undermined by her alleged behavior and attitude about it. With her now as an executive producer, she has more behind-the-scenes agency, and I think it’s going to make Wednesday Season 2 better all around for it.
Part 1 of Wednesday Season 2 is set to premiere for those with a Netflix subscription on August 6.
