Jenna Ortega is all about Hump Day…
The 18-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress has landed the title role in Wednesday, Tim Burton’s live-action Addams Family series for Netflix focused on the iconic character of Wednesday Addams.
The coming-of-age comedy, written by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar and to be directed by Burton, is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ (Ortega) years as a student at Nevermore Academy. That’s where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships.
The YA series, Wednesday Addams’ first solo vehicle, marks Burton’s first live-action show and his television directing debut.
Ortega is taking over the role from Christina Ricci, the actress most closely associated the character, who played Wednesday in both feature films, The Addams Family in 1991 and sequel Addams Family Values in 1993.
Burton executive produces with Gough and Millar, who will serve as showrunners on the series. Wednesday is produced by MGM Television, which controls the underlying rights to the IP.
Ortega burst onto the scene in 2014 with two major recurring roles on Fox’s Rake and the CW’s Jane the Virgin. The latter, where Ortega played younger version of the title character, put her on the map, and Ortega quickly landed her first series lead role on Disney Channel’s Stuck In the Middle.
A lead role on Season 2 of Netflix’s You followed. On the streamer, Ortega also recently co-starred in hit feature comedy Yes Day.
Her recent feature credits also include leads in The Fallout and the upcoming Scream.
Ortega shared the news on Instagram: