Who knew Wednesday Addams would be so trendy? After the launch of the successful Netflix series Wednesday, the titular character of Jenna Ortega went viral on TikTok with her “Wednesday dance,” which was even seen and recreated by Lady Gaga. Now Ortega explains how Tim Burton asked him to do the choreography and how the viral dance came about.
Jenna Ortega recently appeared The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where the two touched on the subject of the iconic dance. In the fourth episode, Wednesday goes to the Rave’N dance, where he does a strange but distinctive dance. Ortega explained how she and director Tim Burton decided what to do:
Well I read episode 1.04 very early and we didn’t know what song we were going to use, we didn’t know what the situation was. They originally wanted a flash mob, but I was like, ‘No, there’s no way Wednesday would be great for dancing and cheering people on. So the director, Tim Burton and I talked about it a little bit, and he said, ‘Yeah, we don’t go around in circles, we do our own thing. I remember about a week before the dance shoot, he picked the song “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps, and the Cramps are one of my favorite bands. So I was super excited, super excited — it was on my playlist for episode 4. And he came to my trailer about two days before we shot it and he was like, ‘Hey Jenna, I know you said you wanted to choreograph yourself. because I refuse to see a choreographer. I know you have it, you have been working on it. I don’t even care. I trust you.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you know. Everything is so good. And I was by no means over it.
While Ortega was clearly excited to choreograph the dance, he underestimated how much work would be involved. He said he also had to take fencing and cello lessons, probably as well as learning lines while trying to learn to dance. Luckily (and obviously), she got away with it. After much research, Jenna Ortega came up with what is now an amazing and iconic dance that many love and recreate:
He was kicking me, I felt like a fool. I said to myself: ‘I’m not a dancer. I do none of that. I have no experience in this area. And then, yes, I haven’t slept for two days. Watched videos of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Denis Lavant at Beau Travail. I found archival footage of goth kids dancing in clubs in the 80’s. Lene Lovich, Nina Hagen, anything I could get my hands on. And that day, I was like, ‘Well, that’s okay. Let’s see what happens.
Between Wednesday’s clearly unique dancing skills and Ortega’s lack of dance experience, the routine turned out to be quite amazing. It goes to show that even making things up on the spot can be quite true to character, and if there are any behind-the-scenes videos from filming that day, I’d love to see them.
Since when Wednesday‘s, the show has become one of the most successful shows on Netflix and has gone viral in more ways than one. Dancing isn’t the only thing buzzing on TikTok, as Reese Witherspoon reacted to Revenge of a blonde reference in the series, which was a crossover that nobody knew was coming, but it was a fantastic addition.
Meanwhile, viewers have also shared their thoughts WednesdayThe Season 1 finale, and consensus seems to be a combination of disbelief and hope for a Season 2 renewal as a holiday treat. It is clear that this new series has opened the door to a new generation of fans the Addams familyand if a second season of Wednesday happens, one can only hope he continues his one-of-a-kind moves in celebration.
You can see prom Wednesday and more in all eight episodes of Wednesday streaming now on Netflix with a subscription! Be sure to check out Netflix’s 2023 TV show to see what’s to come for the streamer in the new year.
Source: Cinemablend
