“Wednesday” has been one of Netflix’s biggest hits, in large part, thanks to its lead star. Jenna Ortega has been slowly and steadily building a career, with “Wednesday” launching her status to new heights and earning her a Golden Globe nomination. The series creators, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, have a great amount of respect for Ortega, calling her a “once in a generation” type of talent.
The Wrap magazine spoke with Millar and Gough, who spoke about the series unpredictable success and Ortega’s magnetic performance. “We had a million discussions with Tim [Burton, one of the directors of the series] before the casting because we were like, ‘If we don’t get the right Wednesday, we’re all screwed.’ Once we got Jenna on board, it was a million discussions with her. We all wanted to do the character justice and make it great. And look, I think the response has been fantastic. She’s now the iconic Wednesday.”
Gough and Millar are also working on Ortega’s upcoming project, “Beetlejuice 2.” They said that she was “fantastic” in one of the cast’s read throughs. “Those kind of people come along once in a generation,” they said.
Gough also talked about the series’ positive reception, and how “shocking” it was to see the amount of people that were invested in the story. “We were very proud of the show, but you never know how people are going to react to it. So many people have reacted so positively, and it’s brought so many emails and texts from people from all eras of our career saying how much they enjoyed it. My parents, who are 80, were getting texts from their friends saying it’s the first show they’ve watched with their grandkids. It’s kind of incredible.”
