Netflix’s Wednesday faces backlash over Jenna Ortega’s Covid dance scene revelation
Netflix’s series Wednesday has received criticism from fans after Jenna Ortega revealed that she had Covid while filming her featured dance scene.
In the fourth episode, titled “Woe What a Night”, Ortega’s Wednesday Addams asks her love interest, Xavier (Percy Hynes White), to their school’s Rave’N Dance.
As The Cramp’s 1981 single “Goo Goo Muck” plays during the night’s event, Wednesday treats Xavier to an eccentric choreographed dance routine.
Speaking to NME about the scene – which has since gone viral, even becoming a TikTok trend – Ortega revealed that she had in fact “choreographed that myself”.
“I’m not a dancer and I’m sure that’s obvious,” she added, explaining: “I’d gotten the song about a week before and I just pulled from whatever I could… it’s crazy because it was my first day with Covid so it was awful to film.”
Ortega recalled having “body aches” and a sore throat, while “they were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive results”.
Wednesday’s production company, MGM, told the publication that “strict Covid protocols were followed and once the positive test was confirmed production removed Jenna from set”.
However, many fans have still expressed disapproval at the 20-year-old actor having filmed the scene with Covid, with one claiming it was “dangerous, unethical, and extremely selfish”, “both on her part, and on the part of the directors and producers”.
“There’s absolutely no positive way to spin an actress knowingly exposing hundreds of cast members and crew to Covid,” they tweeted.
“This is a bad thing right?” a second questioned. “We all agree that this is not some ‘persevering through hardship’ moment, it’s a ‘why the f*** didn’t she get sent home, she could get horrendously sick or infect others’ kinda moment.”
The Independent has contacted Netflix and Ortega’s representative for further comment.
Wednesday is adapted from the Addams Family characters created by cartoonist Charles Addams, and follows Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, prevent a killing spree and solve a 25-year-old mystery concerning her parents.
Following Wednesday’s release in late November, the series has already set a surprising Rotten Tomatoes milestone.
The Independent’s Jacob Stolworthy, meanwhile, has argued that the series’ success could spell trouble for Netflix further down the line.
