After the success of Wednesday, Jenna Ortega seemed a little uncomfortable with her newfound fame, and probably didn’t realize that a few casual comments could spark outrage, but everyone has to learn somehow, and unfortunately most of the time it’s because of a podcast.
On a March 2023 episode of the “Armchair Expert” podcast, Ortega said that she had to “put her foot down” and ask for changes to her Wednesday character because they made “no sense.” She even admitted that she “became almost unprofessional” when it came to changing her dialogue. This caused quite a stir on social media, especially from writers and producers who called the comments “toxic.” Now, Ortega sees the situation differently.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Ortega said that she didn’t do a good job explaining the situation. “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.”
Ortega then revealed that it was a valuable lesson. “Everything that I said felt so magnified… It felt almost dystopian to me,” Ortega said. She explained how she’s grown from the situation,”You’re never going to please everybody, and as someone who naturally was a people pleaser, that was really hard for me to understand. Some people just may not like you…and that’s entirely fine.”
Ortega has been vocal about her goals for a darker second season and that seems to be the direction they are going, so hopefully she won’t have to suggest too many edits again.