Jenna Ortega on Her Insane WEDNESDAY Shooting Schedule, Saying She Cried Hysterically, "Did Not Get Any Sleep," and "Pulled My Hair Out"

Netflix’s series Wednesday was a humongous hit for the streamer, and fans can’t wait for a second season. But making the first season was no easy feat. According to the show’s star, Jenna Ortega, the filming schedule was grueling and hardly sustainable. Ortega explained to a Netflix-hosted Q&A panel in Hollywood last week:

“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. 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.’”

The actor said she had started fencing and cello lessons a couple of months prior to filming, continuing during the eight-month shoot in Romania. She said the “Paint it Black” cello sequence was particularly difficult to master, as she had to switch teachers when moving abroad and accurately depict a piece made for two cellos with only one.

“I did not get any sleep. I pulled my hair out. There’s so many FaceTime calls that my dad answered of me hysterically crying.”

Ortega put pressure on herself to not let down cellists watching the show, despite Wednesday director and executive producer Tim Burton assuring her, “Oh, don’t worry, you’re going to do great. It’s gonna look great,” the actor said, adding:

“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.”

The star wanted to film as much action as Wednesday as possible, but as the show’s filming neared its end, time constraints got in the way.

“We started running out of time because Wednesday’s in pretty much every scene. They had to start using stunt doubles or occasionally cello doubles if they didn’t have time to get hands, but I was very adamant about being as well prepared as possible because I wanted them to be able to use myself, because that’s so much more believable if you could see your face.”

These revelations follow Ortega’s sharing in December 2022 that she’d had COVID while shooting the iconic Wednesday dance that went viral on TikTok. Ortega is a trooper, and she definitely went through the ringer bringing us this fantastic series! I watched it with my family, and my kids have had it on a loop since we finished. It’s really fun, and they made a great show. Hopefully now that Ortega has taken all these lessons and learned these new skills, she won’t have such a rigorous schedule next season. A girl’s gotta sleep, after all.

via: Variety