Jenna Ortega, the star of Netflix’s “The Addams Family” spin-off, “Wednesday,” was slammed by veteran Hollywood producer and filmmaker Steven DeKnight for recent comments she made on a podcast.
Appearing on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast earlier this month, Ortega, who plays the character Wednesday, revealed how much she’d changed the show’s script because she’d wanted to “protect” the character and prevent her from being portrayed in ways that didn’t make sense.
“Everything that she does, everything that I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all. Her being in a love triangle made no sense. There was a line about like, this dress that she has to wear for a school dance and she said, ‘Oh, my God, I love it. Ugh, I can’t believe I said that. I literally hate myself.’ And I had to go, ‘No, there’s no way,’” the actress said.
“There was times on that set where I even became almost unprofessional, in a sense, where I just started changing lines. The script supervisor thought that I was going with something, and then I would have to sit down with the writers and they would be like, ‘Wait, what happened to the scene?’ And I would have to go through and explain why I couldn’t do certain things,” she added.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on ‘Wednesday,'” Ortega concluded.
Listen:
The remarks did not sit well with DeKnight.
In a Twitter thread posted a day after Ortega’s podcast appearance, he slammed her as “entitled and toxic” for her behavior.
To help convey his point, he asked her to imagine how she’d feel if the show’s “showrunners” had trash-talked her on a podcast.
Look:
I love talking with actors about their lines/stories. But by the nature of the beast, they don’t have the full picture (in TV) of where the story is going and why some lines are needed for the whole to make sense. https://t.co/jewHLX4bKk
— Steven DeKnight (@stevendeknight) March 7, 2023
She’s young, so maybe she doesn’t know any better (but she should). She should also ask herself how she would feel if the showrunners gave an interview and talked about how difficult she was and refused to perform the material.
— Steven DeKnight (@stevendeknight) March 7, 2023
This kind of statement is beyond entitled and toxic. I love her work, but life’s too short to deal with people like this in the business.
— Steven DeKnight (@stevendeknight) March 7, 2023
Doubtful since she clearly shit on the showrunners/writers publicly. https://t.co/3gtB0pOIEl
— Steven DeKnight (@stevendeknight) March 11, 2023
As of mid-March, Ortega had yet to respond to DeKnight’s criticism, though he did appear to backpedal in discussions with other Twitter users.
“Again, I can’t stress this enough: She’s an amazing talent. It was just an unfortunate situation to expose creative differences publicly, and also I’ll admit that writers are on edge because of the impending strike, myself included. A perfect storm,” he tweeted Wednesday evening.
Absolutely! Again, I can’t stress this enough: She’s an amazing talent. It was just an unfortunate situation to expose creative differences publicly, and also I’ll admit that writers are on edge because of the impending strike, myself included. A perfect storm. https://t.co/hQw6qBseIn
— Steven DeKnight (@stevendeknight) March 15, 2023
Meanwhile, DeKnight faced plenty of criticism from Ortega fans who thought he was making much ado about nothing.
“Lord, the industry is full of ‘method’ male actors who openly make life difficult for everyone and Edward Norton still has a career, but if a girl says something 5% of that it warrants a take down. Sure it is just another coincidence,” one critic wrote, inconspicuously accusing DeKnight of being sexist.
“Stop crying about it. Ur whole twitter page is filled about tweets of her. U got some weird obsession or something? She made the show 10x better with her changes so she is allowed to speak up and let people know. Not her fault the writers did a shitty job wurh some scenes,” another critic added.
View some more criticism below:
So she’s the show if this was anyone else 40 or older nothing would be said give me break
— hmmmmm (@ibedatdude29) March 15, 2023
What a pathetic ass, sad sack of shit you are. Take your own advice, and worry about yourself, you hypocritical adult sized child.
— inTHEsane (@inTHEsane) March 15, 2023
She says what she thinks and she has every right to, you are an asshole who must have been dumped by her to live talking about her. Leave her alone.
— Wednesday dos anos 90’s (@Wandinha_Add4ms) March 15, 2023
Oh so she “should know” her place…that’s what you’re saying? Women should be seen and not heard hmm??? You sound toxic af and bitter that she wouldn’t sleep with you Wienstien Jr.
— Farrah Fawxx (@FFawxx) March 16, 2023
I’m sorry that a ‘teenage actress’ is better at characterisation; for a deadpan female teenage role, than a gimpy old man with no hair in a throwback suit? Professionalism goes both ways. Know your audience, she was on the mark, that bit of shit script could have killed the show.
— H Marks (@Squeakylinks) March 14, 2023
That said, DeKnight did have some supporters.
“As her career success hinges on the success of the show, she should have some input as she IS the character. However, professionalism matters. Going to press and throwing them under the bus is not a good look,” one wrote.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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