Steven DeKnight and Jenna Ortega. (Image via Kevin Winter/Getty Images, Vivien Killilea/Getty)

What did Steven DeKnight say about Jenna Ortega? Hollywood producer slammed for lashing out at Wednesday star

Modified Mar 16, 2023 10:54 GMT

American filmmaker Steven DeKnight was slammed online after he commented on Jenna Ortega's unprofessional behavior on Wednesday's set.

On March 8, 2023, the 58-year-old director responded to a Twitter user who was criticizing the 20-year-old actress' remarks made during the Armchair Expert podcast. While there, Ortega stated that she was unhappy with the writers' work on the show.

DeKnight stated that he loves discussing lines and stories with the actors. However, sometimes they aren't aware of which lines are and aren't important for the storyline to make sense of it.

Steven DeKnight

@stevendeknight

I love talking with actors about their lines/stories. But by the nature of the beast, they don’t have the full picture (in TV) of where the story is going and why some lines are needed for the whole to make sense. twitter.com/niceolecookies…

Niceole Levy

@niceolecookies

Actors, you talk to the writers. You don't rewrite them. That's just not how this works. twitter.com/ZSharf/status/…

He further continued that even though she is young, she should know how things work. DeKnight added that Jenna Ortega should ask herself how she would feel if the producers gave an interview talking about how "difficult she was and refused to perform the material."

Steven DeKnight

@stevendeknight

She’s young, so maybe she doesn’t know any better (but she should). She should also ask herself how she would feel if the showrunners gave an interview and talked about how difficult she was and refused to perform the material.

Steven DeKnight concluded the statement by tweeting that he loves her work. owever, he also blasted her off by calling her "beyond entitled and toxic."

Steven DeKnight

@stevendeknight

This kind of statement is beyond entitled and toxic. I love her work, but life’s too short to deal with people like this in the business.

Twitter reactions to Steven DeKnight's comments on Jenna Ortega

After Steven DeKnight's comments about Jenna Ortega's remarks to Wednesday's writers went viral, Twitteratis bashed the filmmaker online.

Several users called him out and said that Ortega's additional input on the script made the show iconic and that he should be more considerate of the actor's opinions than criticizing it. Meanwhile, others asked him to do better professionally than criticizing a budding actress.

Chatterbox

@poKsAiRtMiAve

So this is making it’s rounds across social media, if this is true then up yours #StevenDeKnight. If #JennaOrtega changed lines/scenes and was able to make the character of Wednesday iconic, then kudos to her…. sounds like she needs a writer/director credit, or just replace this… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Millie

@Meilleyy

Jenna has been acting since she was a kid...stop gaslighting ppl. The only ones that did not know what they were doing were the writers & directors who were making cringey ass material. Ofc a STEVEN DEKNIGHT is attacking a JENNA ORTEGA. She shouldn't come back for S2 twitter.com/stevendeknight…

Steven DeKnight

@stevendeknight

Here’s the thing: she shouldn’t have said any of it. How do you think she would feel if the showrunner gave an interview saying her delivery was so bad that they had to put their foot down and constantly give her line readings because she didn’t understand how to act? twitter.com/BloodeeJacob/s…

Brett Perry

@sincitybrett

I like Steven DeKnight's work, but his take on Jenna Ortega is wack. She's not toxic. She's standing up for her art and her character. Holding writers accountable for inconsistency and shitty work isn't unprofessional. It's the opposite.

Krit

@Kr1tical

Bro why is Steven DeKnight attacking a girl half his age on Twitter lmao. Bro you're like 60, leave Jenna Ortega alone onabout toxic

Steven

@CrazyZombie16

@stevendeknight You mad she did a better job of playing a character and changing lines to make it work better than you ever could? Lol. Only seen one movie you did, and Pacific Rim uprising sucked compared to the first one. Maybe do a better job before you critique other people in the business.

@Waleedksj

@stevendeknight I’m going to disagree, her critiques of the writing seem valid… she’s calling out bored tropes of love triangles for female characters not changing the plot willy nilly. We also have no idea how much of a dialogue was had and if everyone ultimately agreed.

Cheli

@selbitches

@stevendeknight the changes Jenna made helped Wednesday be interesting and the success that it is. The writers wanted to force a love triangle with a character we know would never do that. Toxic are producers who don't accept opinions and ruin a project by being proud.

ahappybody

@ahappybody

@stevendeknight Maybe the writers should write better lines. I'm not sure which lines she changed, but that show was phenomenal. I LOVE Wednesday

What did Jenna Ortega say during the Armchair Expert podcast?

During the March 6, 2023, episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, 20-year-old Jenna Ortega revealed that she got involved with script writing on the set of Wednesday, and sometimes even revolted against the script supervisor because she has been protective of her titular character.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down on a set in the way that I had to on Wednesday because it’s so easy to fall into that category, especially with this type of show.”

She stated that initially in the script that everything she did or roles had to play in the past did not justify the show's titular character at all.

“Everything that she does, everything that I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all. Her being in a love triangle made no sense. There was a line about like, this dress that she has to wear for a school dance and she said, ‘Oh, my God, I love it. Ugh, I can’t believe I said that. I literally hate myself.’ And I had to go, ‘No, there’s no way.’”

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She also pointed out that there were times on set when she would become "almost unprofessional" and start changing lines.

“The script supervisor thought that I was going with something, and then I would have to sit down with the writers and they would be like, ‘Wait, what happened to the scene?’ And I would to have to go through and explain why I couldn’t do certain things.”

Netflix's comedy series Wednesday is a spin-off of Addams Family, a macabre, dark family based on the characters written by Charles Addams.

Aside from Ortega, the series also stars Hunter Doohan, Percy Hynes White, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Christina Ricci, Gwendoline Christie, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Luis Guzmán.

Edited by
Priya Majumdar