Netflix has revealed why Jenna Ortega hardly blinks at any point during her performance as Wednesday Addams in its hit new show Wednesday. Here’s a clip that Netflix shared in order to prove the point that it's making:
The show, which is an adaptation of the hugely popular Addams Family franchise, has been top-rated on Netflix since releasing, with many fans praising the choice of casting, as well as the general look and feel of the show.
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If you have watched it, you’ll almost certainly have noticed that Jenna Ortega – playing the title role – deliberately doesn’t blink throughout the show, giving her that classic Wednesday Addams weirdness.
Well, that was actually a deliberate decision from Tim Burton, who directed half of the episodes in the eight-episode first season.
Burton was affiliated with two other Addams Family projects back in the early 1990s, but chose to pass on both of those opportunities.
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However, he now gets his chance to add his own take to the spooky family franchise, and so far it’s been a pretty large success.
Burton obviously knows a thing or two about creating a surreal and eerie atmosphere, having directed films such as Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, as well as other more traditional horror films like Sleepy Hollow and slasher flicks like Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Anyway, we’re coming to the point here, which is that when he sees something creepy, he seizes upon it.
That happened when he asked Ortega to perform one of the takes without blinking, and liked the results so much that he then told her that she shouldn’t blink anymore during any of her takes as Wednesday Addams.
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As Netflix’s Twitter account revealed: “After trying one take where she didn’t blink, Tim Burton was so enamored with the result he told Jenna Ortega not to blink anymore when playing Wednesday.
“So she didn’t.”
Weirdly, not everyone was so cool about hearing this.
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In fact, one person said: “That's dedication to a role but also on the unfair side to expect that of someone.
“Don't get me wrong, she did amazing and made a believer out of me lol, but still.”
Others pointed out that she does actually blink on occasion, but only when she seems to be uncomfortable.
Most of the comments though were just asking for a second series, which you can pretty much guarantee given how popular it has proven.
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Still, nothing is certain in this world, so we’ll just have to wait to see what decision Netflix eventually takes.
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Netflix, Weird, Jenna Ortega
Tom Wood