Jenna Ortega has Christina Ricci’s stamp of approval. The “Scream” star is set to play Wednesday Addams — a role Ricci famously played in the 90s movies — in Netflix’s upcoming Addams Family series, “Wednesday.”
On Saturday night, Ricci shared with Variety what it was like stepping back into the Addams Family world.
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“It’s super fun. I loved working with Tim [Burton]. I worked with Gwendolyn Christie, it was amazing. And Jenna is incredible,” she said during “Yellowjackets” FYC Event. “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. It’s so true tonally to the heart and soul of [the original], but it’s then it’s incredibly modern and it’s great.”
The upcoming series depicts Wednesday as a teen, while “The Addams Family” and “Addams Family Values” portrayed her as a young girl. The new show, produced by MGM Television for Netflix, will follow the character as she “attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.”
MATTHIAS CLAMER/NETFLIX
Catherine Zeta-Jones stars as matriarch Morticia, while Victor Dorobantu plays Thing, Isaac Ordonez portrays Wednesday’s brother Pugsley and George Burcea plays Lurch. Luis Guzmán guest stars as Wednesday’s father Gomez. Creators Al Gough and Miles Millar serve as executive producers while Burton will also produce and direct multiple episodes.
Ricci’s role has not yet been revealed.
In the meantime, she’s gearing up for Emmys season and promoting Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” which will soon begin filming Season 2. While she originally was in the lead actress race alongside co-stars Tawny Cypress, Juliette Lewis and Melanie Lynskey, she is now set to compete in the supporting category for her role as Misty, a character unlike anything Ricci has ever done.
“I just love that she’s like, ‘Fuck it. No one is ever going to give me anything. I’m gonna have a great time in this life. I’m gonna do whatever I want to and screw you,’” Ricci told us. “She’s having the best time. Every one else is having a bad time, she’s like, ‘I don’t know what your problem is!’”
While the character does have a darkness about her, Ricci doesn’t feel pressure to tap into that before filming.
“I have felt extreme feelings of wanting to kill someone but I never would because I’m sane. But I can take that crazy feeling that I had and just imagine not having any sanity, and then it works,” she said. “I love playing characters like this because they’re so different from who I am as a human being. So I think when something’s far from you, it’s easier to go there.”
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