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Finding a goofy “Family” star for “Wednesday”
Nov
Casting the new Netfilx sitcom “Wednesday” was crucial. The part of raven-haired, pigtail-braided Wednesday Addams requires a young actress who could portray an iconic figure.
The casting decision for the lead role in the upcoming Netfilx series “Wednesday” has a lot on the line. The part of raven-haired, pigtail-braided Wednesday Addams needs to go to a young girl who could rise to the occasion of portraying a character from such a classic work in addition to someone who could pull off eerie, quirky, mysterious, and frightening.
In an interview with CNN, casting director John Papsidera noted, “It’s always a little bit intimidating when you start a process with such tradition and historic roles surrounding it.”
The program is a return to the Addams Family universe, which was first seen on screen in the legendary black-and-white comedy from the 1960s and then in the adored early 1990s movie by Barry Sonnenfeld. The world is based on the drawings of Charles Addams. In the new series, Wednesday finds herself attending the Nevermore Academy, a boarding school where any kind of freak may wander freely.
Think again if you’re anticipating a mockery of “The Addams Family,” replete with the double-snap theme music. The showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar call this “teen-centric dark comedy,” but it is not a remake; rather, it is a deeper look at and appreciation of the notably macabre and razor-sharp elder sister of the Addams family.
Gough and Millar worked with casting directors Papsidera and Sophie Holland, among others, to find their ideal Wednesday, and they told CNN in an email that it “was always our aim to cast a Latina woman” for the part because we wanted to respect Gomez Addams’ ethnicity. Gomez, the family patriarch, was played by white actor John Astin in the 1960s comedy “The Addams Family,” while Puerto Rican actor Raul Julia played him in the Sonnenfeld films. Veteran actor and fellow Puerto Rican Luis Guzmán plays Gomez in “Wednesday.”
In the end, adolescent it-girl Jenna Ortega (“Scream,” “You,” “X”), an actress of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, was cast in the part of Wednesday’s daughter. The moment Gough and Millar saw Ortega, they said, they knew they had found their Wednesday.
A young Latina actress always comes out on top when the topic is brought up.
In preparation for the casting process, “I had spoken a lot about Jenna,” Papsidera said of Ortega. “There aren’t many females who can take the strain of being the first on the call sheet while still being successful in their own way. A young Latina actress always comes out on top when the topic is brought up.”
To “guarantee that the scripts represented Jenna’s unique origin,” according to Millar and Gough, the program hired a Mexican creative consultant.
“Authenticity is really important to this generation. The showrunners said, “We were extremely deliberate in every area of the casting process.” “We wanted to make sure that Nevermore Academy pupils were accurately representative of contemporary American culture. It concerns the breadth of casting over the whole series, including background extras, rather than just the series regulars.
The casting team for “Wednesday” also succeeded in landing Christina Ricci, who played the part of Marilyn Thornhill in Sonnenfeld’s films in an enduring manner. Due to Ricci’s busy schedule and dedication to her popular Showtime series “Yellowjackets,” it nearly didn’t happen.
“Christina, it was a very nice, lengthy game,” stated Papsidera. “We had always discussed her from the start. Her schedule didn’t free up until practically the very end, at which point we changed course and “Wednesday” director Tim Burton called her to make arrangements.”
Ricci and Burton previously collaborated on the 1999 movie “Sleepy Hollow,” which marks Burton’s first effort at directing a television series.
The prospect of working with Tim once again, according to Papsidera, “was perhaps the greatest benefit in our camp.” “I also believe she got the concept that it was extremely significant for everyone involved, and she was taking part in something she loves too.”
Without a doubt, “Wednesday” doesn’t waste any time in covertly celebrating Ricci’s contributions to the role. Without giving too much away, the pilot episode depicts a group of pilgrims who meet a tragic destiny, which brings Ricci’s Thanksgiving scene from “Addams Family Values” from 1993 to mind.
Holland said, “There’s a certain serendipity to the entire series in that regard. It seems as if things have sometimes come together at the last minute, other times when we were tearing our hair out, thinking, “We can’t find this, we can’t locate this.” Something would then lock into place after that. And if you watch the whole series, you’ll see that it all kind of fits together like a Rubik’s cube.
Gwendoline Christie, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Joy Sunday are among the notable actors that appear in “Wednesday.”
Burton oversaw the casting process; according to Papsidera, Burton had a distinct vision for the series and its characters.
The conversation, according to Papsidera, “sort of began and finished with what Tim observed and who he felt he was pulled toward as these individuals.”
It was intended to “attempt to reimagine what it is without throwing away the essence of it” while entering such a well-established environment, he said.
Holland concurred, adding, “There’s some pressure because we’re fans as well.”
In relation to the franchise, Holland said that she intended to “fulfill everyone’s requirements and wishes” and “take appropriate care of what we do.”
“You’re looking for the core of what those original personalities were, but in a different manner,” Papsidera stated. “So that’s always the struggle and the joy when you achieve it.”
Right now, “Wednesday” is available on Netflix.
From Macallcloth
