Twitter slams Wednesday as Jenna Ortega says she shot crowded scene with Covid

The Addams Family spinoff Wednesday has been streaming successfully on Netflix for over two weeks now. The show has received moderate praise from critics but a lot of love from fans. However, some of that love has turned into anger now, following a shocking revelation by lead star Jenna Ortega. In a recent interview, the 20-year-old said she shot a pivotal crowded dance scene on the show while she was Covid positive. Fans have criticised the show’s team and the producers for allowing the actor to be in close proximity with other artistes despite being ill.

While Jenna’s interview about shooting through Covid took place last month, that part gained traction online only this week after it was shared by some social media users following the release of the show. Last month, in an interview with NME magazine, Jenna had said about the dance sequence, “It’s crazy because it was my first day with COVID so it was awful to film. Yeah, I woke up and … 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 oesophagus. They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result.”

NME added that MGM, the production company behind Wednesday, told the magazine that “strict COVID protocols were followed and once the positive test was confirmed production removed Jenna from set.” However, fans are dismayed as to why the shoot was allowed to continue despite the actor showing symptoms even before the test took place. Journalist Lily Simpson tweeted, “This is a bad thing right? we all agree that this is not some “persevering through hardship” moment, its a why the f*** didn’t she get sent home, she could get horrendously sick or infect others kinda moment.”

Many others criticised Jenna and the production house for being irresponsible. “Jenna Ortega filming a whole scene while waiting for her covid test results AND with obvious symptoms isn’t “professional”, it’s just completely irresponsible,” tweeted one user. Another wrote, “As someone who’s worked in production, hearing she was *on set* with Covid is TERRIFYING! There are supposed to be safety measures in place that should prevent this so the fact that she was made to film possibly ill, maskless, in close proximity with cast and crew, is worrying.”

Wednesday stars Jenna as the titular character along with Christina Ricci, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, and Gwendoline Christie. The series premiered on November 23.