Jenna Ortega admits she was ‘terrified’ when one of her co-stars signed on for ‘Wednesday’

The upcoming Wednesday – Netflix’s television series set in The Addams Family franchise – fittingly arrives on a Wednesday, in this case November 23. Jenna Ortega stars as the titular character, but the lead admits she was scared when one of her co-stars signed on.

The 20-year-old shares her thoughts on Christina Ricci returning to the property in an interview with Empire. Ricci’s turns as Wednesday Addams were in 1991 and 1993, and Ortega says she wanted to be sure the former incumbent of the gig did not feel like her work from years ago was being ripped off when they first did a scene together.

“I felt like I was genuinely having a panic attack when I was told. I was terrified. She’s a really cool lady. I was fine meeting her, but the first time we did a scene together and she had to see me done up the way she was done up 30 years ago, it was nerve-racking. It’s really important to me that I wasn’t ripping anyone off. Christina Ricci’s performance is flawlessly done. It’s pitch-perfect and I wouldn’t change anything about it, which is another reason it was hard for me to do this job.”

Ortega does not reveal who Ricci is playing in the project, and her role remains undisclosed for the time being. The Scream star adds a part of the show is technically picking up from where Ricci left off, and, some parts of it initially made her wary of signing on.

“When you get older and you say these sarcastic, bitchy one-liners, it can come off less charming and more rude or obnoxious. That was something I was really wary of.”

Wednesday will feature eight episodes in its initial season, and promises a lot of Easter Eggs for fans to keep an eye out for. As well as Ortega and Ricci, the Tim Burton-backed fantasy also features Luis Guzmán as Gomez Adams, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems and someone is playing Uncle Fester, though producers have not said who.