Jenna Ortega says it was important to portray Wednesday Addams as a Latina character

26 August 2022, 14:27 | Updated: 31 August 2022, 16:56

By Katie Louise Smith

"Wednesday is technically a Latina character and that's never been represented."

Loading audio...

Now, I don't know about you but Netflix's Wednesday is right at the top of my list of most anticipated TV shows of 2022. From the casting (Jenna Ortega! Catherine Zeta-Jones! Gwendoline Christie!) to Tim Burton directing the whole thing? I'm ready.

Jenna Ortega (You, Scream) plays the titular role in the series, which follows a teenage Wednesday as she transfers to the Nevermore Academy and finds herself tangled up in a supernatural murder mystery.

Jenna is set to bring a brand new version of the beloved character to the screen. And ahead of the show's launch on Netflix, the star has now teased exactly how she's worked to make her own Wednesday different to what we've seen in the past.

Jenna Ortega explains why it was important to portray Wednesday as a Latina character. Picture: Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection/Alamy Live News, Netflix

In a clip shared by Netflix, Jenna speaks about how she's gone about making her Wednesday different from all the other performances of the gloomy teenage icon (including Christina Ricci's legendary version).

"It was really important to me that I did something different, even though she's been done so flawlessly in the past," Jenna teased. "She's a bit more socially awkward. There's a confidence there but it's more concealed."

"I was honestly so nervous to do this part because I want to do her justice."

"Wednesday is technically a Latina character and that's never been represented. So for me, any time that I have an opportunity to represent my community, I want that to be seen." — @jennaortega pic.twitter.com/LYdHIJLpTQ
— Netflix (@netflix) August 24, 2022

On top of that, Jenna also expressed how important its been to make sure her version of Wednesday is portrayed as a Latina character – something which has not been present in previous iterations of the character.

"Wednesday is technically a Latina character and that's never been represented," Jenna explained in the behind-the-scenes video. "So for me, any time that I have an opportunity to represent my community, I want that to be seen."

In the few short teasers that have been released so far, Wednesday's heritage has been acknowledged briefly. It'll no doubt have a much larger focus in the actual series.

In previous versions of The Addams Family, Wednesday's father Gomez Addams has Castilian-Spanish origins. Seeing as Netflix's Wednesday is an adaptation, it's possible that the family ancestry in this version will reflect the actors portraying the characters. Jenna's real life parents are of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, while Luis Guzmán, who plays Gomez, is from Puerto Rico.

Luis Guzmán, Jenna Ortega and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Netflix's Wednesday. Picture: Netflix

There's no exact release date for Wednesday just yet, but we know that it'll be drop at some point later this year. Until then, we will be perched and ready to see Jenna's Wednesday Addams take over the internet.