Have they come up with a color darker than black? Nearly two decades after retiring Wednesday Addams’ pigtails, Christina Ricci, the actress most associated with the self-proclaimed “not perky” character, is returning to The Addams Family universe in a new live-action show. The news comes with a twist, though: Ricci won’t be playing Wednesday this time around.
That honor goes to Jenna Ortega, the rising scream queen who is about to star in Netflix’s upcoming Wednesday series, a new chapter of The Addams Family from Tim Burton. Ricci will, however, play a “major part,” Deadline reports.
Morticia Addams? Guess again. She’ll be played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, opposite Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams. Details about Ricci’s character are still being kept under wraps “in order to protect the surprise for fans”—although, this news seems to have spoiled any element of shock—as she continues to work on the show. Ricci has been filming for months, with Wednesday set to wrap in Romania by the end of March.
Ricci debuted her iconic braid-donning Wednesday in the 1991 adaptation of The Addams Family, starring alongside Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, and Jimmy Workman. Fans were so keen on seeing Ricci in the new Netflix series that they started a petition to see her play the role again. Though it only earned a mere 630 signatures, the effort has (somewhat) worked, as Ricci is onboard (though not as Wednesday).
Jenna Ortega, who has recently seen an uptick in horror films with roles in Scream and X, will instead be starring as the titular character. Along with Zeta-Jones and Guzmán, she’ll be joined by Jamie McShane, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Gwendoline Christie, and Thora Birch, who have also joined the cast. The show has rounded out its main family, but the question remains: who will be playing Uncle Fester? Again, probably not Christina Ricci.
The series, which is teased as a coming-of-age comedy, will be penned by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar. Wednesday plans to follow the young weirdo’s supernatural years at the Nevermore Academy, and will be directed by famed fantasy creator Tim Burton.
Ricci’s recent credits include Monstrous, The Matrix Resurrections, and Z: The Beginning of Everything. Along with her work on Wednesday, she’s gearing up for a second season of Showtime’s recent smash hit Yellowjackets. Expect to see her in Wednesday first, though, as Netflix plots a 2022 release for the highly-anticipated series.
