Wednesday stars Jenna Ortega and Catherine Zeta-Jones hosted a special FYC event at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery recently, and yes, the vibe was mysterious and spooky. On the Go with Deadline was there to speak with the stars and the creative team behind Season 2, which also included creators Al Gough and Miles Millar, composer Chris Bacon, music supervisors Jen Malone and Nicole Weisberg, as well as VFX supervisor Tom Turnbull.
“It was really interesting,” Ortega, who plays the titular Wednesday, said about Season 2 of the Netflix series going darker in tone. “I felt like, because we had already established the character in the world in the first season, in Season 2, you get to play and explore a little bit more.”
Gough teased that’s a theme that will continue in future seasons.
“Every season, she probably gets a little darker. In Season 2, [Wednesday] understood Nevermore, but then when she came back and was popular, that was something she didn’t like.”
Darkness aside, Millar discussed how expanding on the characters who play Wednesday’s family, specifically Zeta-Jones’ role as mom Morticia, was integral to Season 2’s story.
“The mother-daughter relationship is central to the show. Al and I both have daughters and see the day-to-day mother-daughter relationship, and how it can be fraught and traumatic,” Millar shared. “So it was ripped from the headlines of our own lives, and we loved the chemistry between Jenna and Catherine, which was so strong.”
Zeta-Jones was happy to explore the character of Morticia beyond the basics that were covered in Season 1, while the world and characters were being established.
“Morticia Addams is such an iconic image visually, and we didn’t want to deviate and go away from that at all,” Zeta-Jones said. “But we certainly wanted to find out more about who Morticia Addams is and the growing contentious relationship she has with her daughter and how caring she is as the matriarch of the family. Then having those moments with Jenna, where we get to sword fight and take our verbal play into a physical… it was just great. It was a lot of fun.”
One of the biggest moments from Season 2 was the introduction of Lady Gaga as Rosaline Rotwood. Not only did she play a character on the series, but she also recorded an original song that played during the ball in episode 6.
“It was a great experience. She and her team were so professional, and things went so much smoother than you might imagine they would,” said Weisberg.
Added Ortega, “I mean, how lucky are we? She’s so special and so sweet. You could feel the aftereffect of her being on set. It was so cute watching crew members, who you see every day, suddenly wearing a dress shirt, or when there is a walkway suddenly leading to the set. We’re all walking the walkway, and we’re like, ‘OK, this is the Lady Gaga treatment.’”
