Netflix's Wednesday has finally dropped! ICYMI, the Tim Burton-directed series stars Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams who was shipped to Nevermore Academy, a boarding school for supernaturally gifted outcasts. In the series, Jenna reels you in with a meaningful stare, and you'll then start to notice: She doesn't blink!
Speaking with Teen Vogue, the 20-year-old star reveals that it was actually a deliberate choice that Tim Burton made her do in their early stages of filming. "At some point during the first couple weeks of shooting, I did a take where I did not blink at all," Jenna recalled. "And Tim [Burton] said, ‘I don’t want you to blink anymore.'"
Jenna further explains that her own creepy take on her character centered on posture, voice, and small mannerisms. The biggest detail being her sharp death-stares and deadpan look. "The thing about the blinking is, I didn’t realize that I was doing it. It just kind of happened," she admits. Jenna shared that in every take, she'd "reset" her face, "I would drop all the muscles in my face," she said.
Tim took a liking to Jenna's version of [Stanley] Kubrick's stare, who popularized the look in the 1980 film The Shining. Jenna goes on to explain, "Tim really liked the Kubrick stare, where I stare through my eyebrows. It’s just a bit intimidating. Clearly it struck something with him and I trust his opinion so much because he’s Tim Burton."
In another interview, Jenna also reveals exactly how she kept herself from blinking. "I think I got annoying about it on set, to be honest, 'cause I would have to restart a take if I started [to blink]," she recalled. Keeping her eyes open in Romanian windy winter triggered tears, so Jenna shares that she "learned to blink on other people's lines." The dedication!Â
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This story originally appeared on Preview.ph. Minor edits have been made by the Candymag.com editors.
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