Jenna Ortega has opened up about sparking backlash after her comments about the scripts for Wednesday last year – confessing that she ‘got sick of herself’ at points.
The 21-year-old won praise for her portrayal of Wednesday Addams in the hit Netflix series in 2022, and is currently filming the second season.
However, she came under fire from some after publicly criticizing some of the writing on the program last year, revealing that she ‘put her foot down’ behind the scenes on several occasions after disagreeing with decisions about the character.
Although the Scream icon was praised for some of her remarks, writers on social media were quick to call her out, suggesting that the comments were ‘beyond entitled and toxic’.
In a new interview, Jenna reflected on the anger she was met with, explaining that she felt like a ‘caricature’ of herself over the response.
‘I probably could have used my words better in describing all of that. I think, oftentimes, I’m such a rambler,’ she told Vanity Fair. ‘I think it was hard because I felt like had I represented the situation better, it probably would’ve been received better.
‘Everything that I said felt so magnified…. It felt almost dystopian to me.
‘You’re never going to please everybody, and as someone who naturally was a people pleaser, that was really hard for me to understand.
‘Some people just may not like you…and that’s entirely fine.’
Over the last few years, Jenna has shone in roles including You, Scream, Miller’s Girl and X, and is currently preparing for the release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, while also filming for the second season of Wednesday.
Basically, she’s booked and busy, with her work calendar showing no signs of getting any less full.
However, she conceded that she was ‘everywhere’ without meaning to be, which may have led to her infamous remarks rubbing people up the wrong way.
‘Igot sick of myself last year,’ she admitted. ‘My face was everywhere…so it’s like, fair enough, if I were opening my phone and I saw the same girl with some stupid quote or something, I would be over it too.’
Jenna detailed her efforts on Wednesday during an appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast last year, shedding light on the changes she made for the benefit of her character.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down on a set in a way that I had to on Wednesday, because it’s so easy to fall into that category, especially with this type of show,’ she told the host.
‘Everything that she does, everything that I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all.
‘Her being in a love triangle made no sense. There was a line about a dress that she has to wear for a school dance, and she said, “Oh my god I love it. I can’t believe I said that – I literally hate myself.” And I had to go, “No.”’
She confessed that, at certain points, she ‘even became almost unprofessional in a sense’ as she would just start ‘changing lines’ with no warning to writers.
The Yes Day star continued: ‘The script supervisor thought I was going with something, and then I’d have to sit down with the writers and they would be like, “Wait, what happened to the scene?”
‘And I would have to go through and explain why I couldn’t do certain things,’ she stated.
‘I grew very, very protective of her, but you can’t lead a story and have no emotional arc, because then it’s boring and nobody likes you.’
For the second season, Jenna will be serving as producer – as well as lead star – and teased that it will be ‘a little bit more horror-inspired’.
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