In Wednesday’s long-awaited second season, Wednesday Addams, perennial outsider, finds herself – bewilderingly – on the inside. After foiling the villain and saving Nevermore school, Jenna Ortega’s teenage misanthrope is the institution’s new “It-girl”. All eyes are on her, and predictably enough, she hates it. It’s a predicament to which the creators and stars of Wednesday can surely relate.
Netflix’s gothic comedy-drama – based on the dark, satirical characters concocted by cartoonist Charles Addams – finds itself in a similarly discomfiting spotlight. When the first season debuted in 2022, Wednesday was the streaming site’s third-biggest series ever. Ortega, its now 22-year-old lead, became movie-star famous nearly overnight. One episode even kicked off a viral dance trend. “Everything I do, whether it’s a success or a failure, it’s always a surprise to me,” says Tim Burton, who produces the series and has directed half of the episodes to date. “And I’m not the kind of person who goes, ‘Oh, this is why season one was successful, and therefore I know what to do.’ I don’t get very worried about this.”
