One person who didn’t want Wednesday to be quite so popular was series lead Jenna Ortega — at least, according to a new profile.
The interview comes ahead of the release of Season 2 of the hit Netflix series in August. The success of the first season shouldn’t be understated, as it quickly became one of the most popular English-language series on Netflix of all time. Though she had been acting since she was a child, beforehand, Jenna was best known for her roles in horror movies (or, for the connoisseurs in the room, the Disney series Stuck in the Middle).
In a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Jenna said that she initially didn’t want to take on the role due to the time commitment making television takes. “I was getting to this point in my career where I was doing movies and getting in the rooms,” she said. “So I kept telling everyone no. I almost didn’t want to hear what Tim [Burton] had to say, and really like it, and feel like I needed to do it — which is kind of what happened.”
“To be quite frank, after the show and trying to figure everything out, I was an unhappy person,” she continued. “After the pressure, the attention — as somebody who’s quite introverted, that was so intense and so scary.” Thankfully, things have gotten better with Season 2, as Jenna is a producer and the shooting location has moved from Romania to Dublin.
However, she is still concerned that the role may affect her future casting as a person in their early 20s. “I’m doing a show I’m going to be doing for years where I play a schoolgirl,” she continued. “But I’m also a young woman.”
She further echoed Natalie Portman’s thoughts on the difficulties of being a child actor and then a short adult. “I relate to that so immensely, and it’s always been really annoying, because you just don’t feel like you’re being taken seriously,” Jenna explained, noting that there can be pressure on girls to remain frozen at a certain age. “You know, it’s like how you’re dressed in the schoolgirl costume. … There’s just something about it that’s very patronizing. Also, when you’re short, people are already physically looking down on you.”
One thing Jenna does like about the character Wednesday is her honesty. “I mean, God, if you could speak to everybody like Wednesday — just say what you truly mean — it would be amazing!” she explained. “It’s pretty funny, when you think about it. She’s an outsider, but now she’s on these mugs, cereal boxes, and T-shirts. You’re just thinking, Oh, man, she would hate this!”
Jenna further emphasized that she’s “grateful” for her audience — but excited to take on roles that are “older and bolder and different.” You can read more here.