Jenna Ortega Rewrote ‘Wednesday’ Scripts and Acted ‘Almost Unprofessional’ to Improve Her Character

Jenna Ortega, a.k.a. the latest goth queen, has opened up about having to “put her foot down” while on the set of Netflix’s Wednesday series, in which she plays the titular character. 

While appearing on yesterday’s (March 6) episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, Ortega revealed that when she “first signed onto the show,” she thought the series was going to be “a lot darker.” But after reading the scripts, she realized, “Oh, this is for younger audiences.” 

From there on, the actor grew “protective” of her popular character, she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on Wednesday,” Ortega expressed in the podcast, per Variety.

She continued, “Everything that Wednesday does, everything I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all. Her being in a love triangle? It made no sense. There was a line about a dress she has to wear for a school dance and she says, ‘Oh my god I love it. Ugh, I can’t believe I said that. I literally hate myself.’ I had to go, ‘No.’”

Ortega suspected that she acted “almost unprofessional” while trying to make her character more consistent and developed. The actor recalled “changing lines” and having to sit down with the writers. 

“I grew very, very protective of her. You can’t lead a story and have no emotional arc because then it’s boring and nobody likes you. When you are little and say very morbid, offensive stuff, it’s funny and endearing. But then you become a teenager and it’s nasty and you know it. There’s less of an excuse,” Ortega explained.

More recently, in a profile with Elle, Ortega revealed that she will be executive producing the next season of the smash hit series, which was renewed in January after shattering the Netflix record for most hours viewed for an English-language show in a single week.

The actor said that she will be setting clear boundaries while on set as she is hoping to take a month off for recreational travel.

“I have to work things around my schedule to make sure that that month stays open,” she said. “There’s a part of it that’s stressful because it’s like, ‘Oh my God, can I tell this director that I don’t want to work these two weeks? Can I?’ I don’t know, but I am also making the rules.”

Wednesday Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.