Netflix and its mega-hit new series Wednesday are now facing backlash because of an admission Jenna Ortega just made.
The actress, who stars as Wednesday Adams in the massively popular new show, has admitted that she had COVID-19 while filming a crucial scene in the series. In episode four, Jenna as Wednesday does a dance that has quickly become viral, even becoming a trend on TikTok.
Speaking to NME, Jenna shared of filming the dance:
“I choreographed that myself! I’m not a dancer and I’m sure that’s obvious. I’d gotten the song [The Cramps’ 1981 single ‘Goo Goo Muck’] 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.”
She went on to elaborate on that day:
“Yeah, I woke up and – it’s weird, I never get sick and when I do it’s not very bad – I had the body aches. I felt like I’d been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat and was scratching the walls of my esophagus. They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result.
I asked to redo it but we didn’t have time. I think I probably could have done it a bit better.”
Wednesday’s production company MGM stated that “strict COVID protocols were followed and once the positive test was confirmed production removed Jenna from set.”
But the series is still facing backlash on social media for allowing Jenna to be on set in the first place when she was already experiencing COVID symptoms – even if her positive result had not yet been released at the time.
Fans however are defending Jenna, with many concluding that she most likely felt obligated to still show up and work while she was still testing negative.
