Wednesday star Jenna Ortega has revealed TVthat filming the Netflix’s hit show was a downright grueling experience, revealing that she barely slept and started to pull her hair out due to the overwhelming filming schedule.
Speaking at a Netflix-hosted Q&A panel in Hollywood on Thursday, Ortega revealed just how demanding the show’s eight-month production in Romania was, according to Variety.
“It was show up to set two hours early, do that 12-14 hour day, then go home, and then get on a Zoom and have whatever lesson that I had,” she said. “Or show up to my apartment, my cello teacher was already waiting for me. It was just constantly going, and if you could on a weekend, if we weren’t shooting the sixth day that week, it was ‘All right, well then. We’ll get your lessons in on that day.'”
Ortega, who picked up the cello specifically for the show, said the “Paint It Black” cello sequence, in which she played a piece written for two cellos with only one, was particularly difficult.
“I did not get any sleep. I pulled my hair out,” she recalled. “There’s so many FaceTime calls that my dad answered of me hysterically crying.”
Ortega added: “I didn’t know where my hands were even supposed to go, and then I had to make two cellos come out of one cello, which was ridiculous.”
Although the actor attempted to record as much of the cello playing herself, the sheer demands of her schedule forced her to occasionally utilize stunt doubles or cello doubles.
“We started running out of time because Wednesday’s in pretty much every scene,” she said.
Ortega has previously been vocal about the demands of shooting “Wednesday.” While filming the first season’s now-iconic dance sequence, for instance, Ortega had COVID-19.
“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,” she said of the experience. “They were giving me medicine between takes, because we were waiting on the positive result.”
All of Ortega’s hard work, however, has paid off. With 341.2 million views in its first week, “Wednesday” broke the record for the most hours watched on Netflix, and the show was renewed for a a second season.
Ortega was also nominated for a SAG award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series.
