The 20-year-old actress portrays the titular role in the hit Netflix series.
Playing Wednesday Addams was no easy task for Jenna Ortega, who detailed the intense filming schedule for the hit Netflix show Wednesday.
During a Q&A session at a Netflix-hosted event in Hollywood, the 20-year-old Golden Globe nominee said there were times when she didn't sleep, pulled her hair out and "hysterically" cried when she'd answer FaceTime calls from her father, all because of excruciating schedule she loaded up on her plate to play the iconic character.
Ortega said she took many lessons on a myriad of things, from fencing and learning to speak German to mastering the cello from different instructors in two different countries.
"It was show up to set two hours early, do that 12-14 hour day, then go home and then get on a Zoom and have whatever lesson that I had. Or show up to my apartment, my cello teacher was already waiting for me," Ortega said via Variety. "It was just constantly going, and if you could on a weekend, if we weren’t shooting the sixth day that week, it was ‘All right, well then, we’ll get your lessons in on that day.'"
Ortega said she was hard at work well before filming started for Wednesday, which has been renewed for season 2. She said she took fencing and cello lessons months before filming started. When it came to cello, Ortega admitted she didn't even know the basics.
"I didn't know where my hands were even supposed to go and then I had to make two cellos come out of one cello, which was ridiculous," Ortega said in reference to the "Paint it Black" cello sequence.
And, when filming started, the crew headed to Romania to film for eight months. That meant a new cello instructor in a new country.
"I did not get any sleep. I pulled my hair out," Ortega said. "There’s so many FaceTime calls that my dad answered of me hysterically crying."
Last month, Ortega opened up to ET and said she had some regrets over the iconic dance she helped choreograph, which went viral. A ton of celebs recreated the dance on social media, including Lady Gaga.
"Even that I still can't believe because even that was -- some of the moves I had planned, some of it was improv. That was one of the scenes I stay awake thinking about because I thought there was so much that I could have done and should have done," she confessed to ET. "So the fact that anyone is showing appreciation and try it themselves, it's not fathomable to me."
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