Addams Family fans received a burst of great news in March when it was revealed that film franchise vet (and current Yellowjackets star) Christina Ricci would be lending her acting talents to Tim Burton’s upcoming live-action Netflix series, simply titled Wednesday. Ricci won’t be reprising the role of the sadistic youth, but will take on a new role within the darkly comedic killer thriller. Appropriately enough, even though she was the most recently announced cast member to join the project, she’s also one of the first cast members to open up about the project, as her filming duties came to an end already.
As the focus of her own panel during this year’s Steel City Con in Pittsburgh, Christina Ricci answered a slew of fan questions about her long career, and her work on such projects as Monster, Speed Racer, the Addams Family movies (obviously), and the upcoming supernatural thriller Monstrous. Naturally, the conversation turned to Tim Burton’s Wednesday at one point, and Ricci had only good things to say about the new show and its Latina star Jenna Ortega. In her words:
Yeah, I just finished it two weeks ago. It was great. It was great working with Tim, and Jenna’s amazing. I think people are going to absolutely love her as Wednesday. And Gwendoline Christie is in it as well, and she’s incredible. And all the kids in it are really fantastic. So I think it’s gonna be great.
It’s excellent to hear that Ricci, whose work as Wednesday Addams will arguably remain the most memorable take for the rest of time, is so enthused by Jenna Ortega taking on the role for the new show. Not that Christina Ricci comes across as a vindictive person in any sense, but it’s no mystery that a lot of people in Hollywood get very protective over certain roles and the way those roles are handled. Nothing of the sort on display here.
Wednesday will mark her reunion with filmmaker Tim Burton, who will be directing all episodes of the new series. They first worked together on the 1999 gothic thriller Sleepy Hollow, and somehow haven’t fully crossed paths in the decades since. But I think many would agree that this is the epitome of projects that they’d be paired best on, so thank goodness it all came together.
While it’s unclear how Christina Ricci will fit into Wednesday’s plot, it’s presumed that she will take on some of the storyline that was originally meant for Thora Birch’s character, the dorm mother Tamara Novak. Birch ended up exiting the production midway through filming for undisclosed reasons, leaving things a bit up in the air where her role was concerned. But I think we can all agree that Ricci could show up on screen to play a lamp post and it would be the most watchable and engaging lamp post on Netflix.
The fact that Ricci namechecked former Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie when talking Wednesday could indicate that they will be sharing scenes together. Christie will be playing the principal of Nevermore Academy, the school where Wednesday and others are students in the midst of the killing spree happening, so it would be fitting if Ricci’s character is indeed connected to the Academy.
One can only hope that she will also share scenes with other members of the Addams family itself, including Luiz Guzmán as Gomez and Catherine Zeta Jones as Morticia. Even if that doesn’t happen, though, I can’t wait to see how it all comes out, and with Danny Elfman’s musical expertise tying it all together.
With eight episodes lined up for its first season, Wednesday will debut on Netflix at some point in 2022. Stay tuned for more info, and stay up to date with everything else hitting the small screen this year with our 2022 TV premiere schedule.
