Jenna Ortega says playing Wednesday Addams is a challenge because she is not a typical teenager

Portraying a teenager that doesn’t act like a typical teenage girl has been a challenge for Jenna Ortega. The actress, who is playing Wednesday Addams in Tim Burton’s Wednesday, recently revealed that making her character sound authentic is hard.

During an interview with EW, the 19-year-old actress said Wednesday’s emotionless personality is tricky. “We’ve never seen her as a teenage girl. You know, it’s funny and sweet and almost charming to hear this 8-year-old’s obsession with murder and blood and guts,” Jenna told the publication.

© Jenna Ortega

“As she gets older, that nasty attitude or [those] biting remarks, it’s almost kind of hard not to make it sound like every other teenage girl. So, it’s like, how do we establish this character and give her the same fire without letting her become something that she’s not?” she added.

According to Jane the Virgin, You, and Scream (2022) star, showing emotion in a worldwide known emotionless character is interesting. “It’s eight-hour series, so, for an emotionless character, there has to be some sort of an emotional arc,” she says. “That’s been really interesting to figure out in terms of, okay, well, she’s got to be able to push the story forward in some way, but how do we keep her true to her deadpan self? It’s been a bit of a challenge, and I’m curious to see how it plays.”

Ortega, a philanthropist and activist against discrimination wants to honor her role. “I’ve never had the opportunity to play an iconic character before. I know she’s well-loved and well-respected, and I just don’t want to mess her up,” the actress says.

© Agencies

Wednesday will premiere on Netflix and tell the story of Wednesday Addams, the only daughter of Morticia Addams and Gomez Addams. The 13-year-old was introduced as a cartoon character in The New Yorker in 1938, and then she and the rest of the Addams Family were adapted to the 1964 television series created by Charles Addams.

Charles created the characters as a satirical inversion of the perfect American family, giving it a macabre tone and careless personality. After the comic strip TV show, the beloved but frightening family appeared in video games, films, merch, and more.

The upcoming series will feature other cast members, including Riki Lindhome, Gwendoline Christie, Jamie McShane, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams.

The horror-comedy could potentially arrive in the Fall of 2022.