Jenna Ortega and Catherine Zeta-Jones dive deeper into spooky family dynamics in Netflix’s Wednesday Season 2.

The two stars told Blavity/Shadow and Act’s Managing Editor Trey Mangum how Ortega’s character, Wednesday Addams, has to have increased contact with her mother, Morticia (Zeta-Jones), while at school at Evermore Academy.

Jenna Ortega on Wednesday being “annoyed” by her mother’s increased presence

“I mean, she’s infuriated and incredibly annoyed. Just when she thought she had gotten rid of her, she moves into the school’s. cottage,” said Ortega. “So yeah, it’s quite unfortunate and not in the pleasant way. As an actor, of course, it’s incredible to be able to spend more time on screen or in front of the camera with Catherine.”

She continued, “I really love the dynamic between our two characters, and it feels very authentic and real. And to be able to weave that into such a supernatural story, it’s just such a great opportunity as a performer. It adds great complexity and depth and just makes the days more exciting. But for Wednesday, you know, like any teenager, you want space to grow and be as independent as possible, and sometimes it’s hard to feel like your own person when you have your parents hovering over you.”

Catherine Zeta-Jones on Grandmama Hester’s introduction

Morticia has her own mommy issues to deal with the arrival of Grandmama Hester (Joanna Lumley). Zeta-Jones said how Morticia’s relationship with her mother is a reminder of what Morticia doesn’t want for her and her daughter.

“I think it was a genius idea to bring Grandmama, even more genius that they decided to bring Joanna Lumley in, which is like, for me, I was speechless for days.”

Zeta-Jones described the interactions between Morticia and Grandmama as “interesting.”

“What I portray to my mother [as Morticia], the contentious relationship sometimes is exactly what I do not want to have with my own daughter [Wednesday]. And history does repeat itself. My mother, Hester Frump, has a little bit more of a mean bone in her body than Morticia and Morticia is always family first as [her] mother wasn’t,” Zeta-Jones continued. “And then we have the relationship with Wednesday who has always been fiery and it’s always going to be a little strange and contentious, but now she’s going into dangerous waters–Morticia as a mother [has] always been there to catch her if she falls. But she’s in a situation now where she feels that she won’t be able to catch her, and if she does, she may even drop her.”

“Everything’s heightened on an emotional level between these really three iconic, strong women,” Zeta-Jones added. “I think it’s so relatable and interesting dynamic to watch.”

Watch the full interviews with Wednesday cast members above.

Season 2, Part 1 of Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.

Catherine Zeta-Jones

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