Fans slammed Wednesday star, Jenna Ortega, after she revealed that she had COVID-19 while filming the viral dance sequence for the hit Netflix series.
Twitterati was left horrified after the lead actress casually confessed the shocking bit of information in a recent interview with the British publication, New Musical Express (NME), last month.
Jenna Ortega talked about her experience filming the gothic dance sequence and her preparations, and nonchalantly remarked that she was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. She stated that she was allowed to film the scene as she awaited her test results.
She explained,
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.
Jenna Ortega added,
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.
Netflix confirmed her story and clarified,
Strict COVID protocols were followed, and once the positive test was confirmed production removed Jenna from the set.
However, netizens harshly criticized Jenna Ortega and the producers for being careless and irresponsible.
this is a bad thing right? we all agree that this is not some "persevering through hardship" moment, its a why the fuck didn't she get sent home, she could get horrendously sick or infect others kinda moment pic.twitter.com/dBlwOf2ulr
— Lily Simpson is putting the T(rans) in YouTube (@LilySimpson1312) December 3, 2022
Jenna Ortega having COVID on set and working unmasked around other unmasked performers is not a flex. She should not be praised for “working while sick.”
The above the line crew could’ve possibly disabled or killed someone for their irresponsibility.
— v ✨🦋 (@hereisviolet) December 6, 2022
https://twitter.com/Mystical_Faerie/status/1599341718704656384
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
— shir (@cancion_il) December 3, 2022
jenna ortega filming that dance scene while she had covid is not impressive, it’s horrible. absolutely callous disregard for her coworkers.
— Teresa (@teresaw_) December 3, 2022
i love jenna ortega but why on earth does she sound like she's bragging about working while super sick and waiting on her covid test…which ended up being positive. why is exposing the entire cast and crew to a severe virus such a flex??
— j. (@sadlittlejuice) November 28, 2022
Disappointed to learn that Jenna Ortega had COVID symptoms on set but was still allowed to film the Wednesday dance scene while she waited for her positive test result. I wonder how many people got sick? And how many people those people got sick?
— Lola Méndez (@lolaannamendez) November 29, 2022
The scene in question is from episode four of the Netflix original in which Wednesday Addams stuns her date, Tyle, with an attention-grabbing dance routine to the song Goo Goo Muck by The Cramps.
The scene has gone viral on social media with people recreating the dance routine on TikTok.
Jenna Ortega admitted that she did not anticipate the viral success of the scene as she felt “insecure” about it.
About Wednesday
The new Netflix series is a spin-off of the beloved cartoon series The Addams Family. It centers around Wednesday Addams, a 16-year-old goth girl who is enrolled in a boarding school called Nevermore Academy where she tries to master her psychic abilities to solve a bizarre murder mystery that took place two decades ago.
The show stars Jenna Ortega in the titular role alongside veteran actress Catherine Zeta-Jones as her mother, Morticia Addams, Luis Guzmán as the patriarch, Gomez Addams, and Isaac Ordonez as Wednesday’s brother, Pugsley Addams.
The series also features Game of Thrones actress Gwendoline Christie and actress Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday Addams in the 1991 film, The Addams Family.
The dark comedy recently dethroned Stranger Things as Netflix’s most-watched series in the world.