'Wednesday' star Jenna Ortega responds to backlash from controversial comments about show

Jenna Ortega is responding to the backlash she received following comments she made about changing her lines on “Wednesday.”

During a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Ortega admitted she “could have used [her] words better” when it came to describing her involvement in the development of her character, when speaking about changing some of her lines in a 2023 interview.

“I think, oftentimes, I’m such a rambler. I think it was hard because I felt like had I represented the situation better, it probably would’ve been received better,” she told Vanity Fair.

Her statements are in reference to comments she made during a March 2023 appearance on Dax Shepard’s podcast, “Armchair Expert,” in which she said many of the “Wednesday” scripts did not make sense to her and that she would change things without consulting the writers room.

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Ortega says she could have worded things differently when speaking about the writers of “Wednesday.” (Raymond Hall/GC Images)

“There were times on that set where I even became almost unprofessional in a sense where I just started changing lines,” she said on the podcast. “The script supervisor thought I was going with something, and then I had to sit down with the writers, and they’d be like, ‘Wait, what happened to the scene?’ And I’d have to go and explain why I couldn’t go do certain things.”

The “Scream” star made the comments on the verge of the 2023 writers strike, which caused many listeners to criticize her online, calling her “entitled” and insisting she support the writers on the picket line.

“I probably could have used my words better in describing all of that. I think, oftentimes, I’m such a rambler. I think it was hard because I felt like had I represented the situation better, it probably would’ve been received better.”

— Jenna Ortega

Looking back on the experience, Ortega shared that it “felt almost dystopian” and as if everything she said was “magnified” and picked apart, explaining, “I felt like a caricature of myself.” In the end, the experience taught her a valuable lesson about living life in the public eye.

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“You’re never going to please everybody, and as someone who naturally was a people pleaser, that was really hard for me to understand,” she said. “Some people just may not like you… and that’s entirely fine.”

Jenna Ortega on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards.

Ortega learned that you can’t please everyone in life. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

Ortega went on to say that part of the backlash could have resulted from overexposure to the public. She said the backlash was “fair enough” considering her “face was everywhere” in 2023, joking, “I got sick of myself last year.”

The “Beetlejuice 2” actress explained she would have reacted the same way if she “were opening [her] phone and… saw the same girl with some stupid quote or something,” saying she “would be over it too.”

Her portrayal of Wednesday Addams in the popular Netflix show earned Ortega an Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nomination. She is set to return to play the iconic character in the second season of the show, returning not only as an actress, but also as a producer.

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“I think the feel that we’re going for is a little bit more horror-inspired,” Ortega said of the second season. “Not to say that suddenly we’re the goriest show of all time, I mean, there’s six-year-olds watching… We’re doing this thing now where Wednesday just kind of appears. She is a little bit of a jump scare herself.”