Yes, Wednesday Addams is a Latina character. The majority of the cast for Netflix's Wednesday adaptation of The Addams Family are Latino. Casting traditionally white characters with actors of different racial backgrounds has become popular in Hollywood over the past decade. Numerous well-known movie and television series, including Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and even Star Trek, have cast their iconic roles with black, Asian, Latino, and native actors.
For instance, Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta was cast as Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac was cast as Marc Spector in Moon Knight.
In reality, this is an instance where the character has been accurately cast; at first glance, it appears that the show is adopting the same Hollywood trend of casting a racially diverse actor in a traditionally white role. In addition to Jenna Ortega confirming she is portraying a Latina Wednesday Addams for the Netflix series, the character has actually been Latina since the 1960s.
What are the origins of the character Wednesday Addams?
In 1938, Charles Addams published the first cartoon featuring the Addams Family in The New Yorker. The members of the Addams Family, who were at first unnamed, parodied the ideal American family in the early 20th century by subverting numerous wealth-related stereotypes.
The Addams Family terrified others with their macabre interests and way of life, rather than being envied for their wealth. The Addams Family gained popularity over the following two decades and was ultimately adapted for television by David Levy and Donald Saltzman, which aired on ABC from 1964 to 1966.
Charles Addams assisted in naming the characters as part of the process of creating them for television. The matriarch of the Addams Family was given the name Morticia after the profession of mortician, and Wednesday was given the name after the well-known nursery rhyme "Wednesday's child is full of woe." Pugsley was initially going to be called Pubert as a reference to "puberty," but that name was rejected because it was deemed too sexual for 1960s television. Uncle Fester's name was fairly self-explanatory and the family patriarch was the only one to receive a traditional name. Charles Addams gave actor John Astin the freedom to choose the character's name because he was unable to decide between Repelli and Gomez. Astin ultimately decided on the Spanish family name Gomez.
When the Addams Family finally received another live-action adaptation, it was for The Addams Family from 1991 and Addams Family Values from 1993. Raul Julia, a Puerto Rican actor, was cast as Gomez Addams to reflect his Spanish-speaking heritage, effectively making him a Latino character and his two children biracial. Ironically, even though Gomez has been Latino for close to 50 years, it wasn't until the 2022 Wednesday series that the casting for his two children also reflected their heritage.
Is it confirmed that the Addams Family are Latinos?
Jenna Ortega mentioned how significant it was for her as an actor of both Mexican and Puerto Rican descent to represent her character's Latino heritage in a Netflix featurette where she was talking about playing Wednesday Addams. "Wednesday is technically a Latina character, and that's never been represented," Ortega stated. "For me, any time that I have an opportunity to represent my community, I want that to be seen."
Of course, Ortega was not the only person to have those ideas. Along with producer and director Tim Burton, the character's creators, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, decided to openly represent the character's Latino heritage. The two actors who were chosen to play their father Gomez and her brother Pugsley, respectively, were seasoned performers Luis Guzmán and Isaac Ordonez.
Additionally, Gough and Millar revealed Wednesday's Mexican heritage in a clip where she tells her friends that her family celebrates "a year-long Dia de los Muertos” on an altar in the living room.
It's interesting how the Addams Family's theme of being social outcasts who don't "quite fit in" with American society is enhanced by the explicit confirmation of their ethnicity as Latino. The constant reminder that Latinos come from a different culture and adhere to values that don't entirely interlock with those of American society is just one of the many experiences of being Latino in the United States and is the interconnection between the fictional characters and the harsh reality.
Who is Wednesday Addams?
The fictional Addams Family was created by American cartoonist Charles Addams, and Wednesday Addams is the central character's only daughter. The character, who has appeared in numerous media adaptations since 1964, serves as the inspiration for the Netflix series Wednesday, which premieres in 2022.
The members of the Addams family were unnamed in the New Yorker cartoons that first appeared in 1938. Charles Addams named Wednesday based on the nursery rhyme line, "Wednesday's child is full of woe," when the characters were adapted for the 1964 television series. Actress and poet Joan Blake, a friend of Charles Addams, suggested the name. The only daughter of Gomez and Morticia Addams, Wednesday is Pugsley Addams' sister. Earlier adaptations depict her as the younger sibling, while later adaptations depict her as the elder Addams child.
Wednesday Addams has an obsession with death. For "fun" or as punishment, Wednesday performs the majority of her experiments on her brother Pugsley Addams. Wednesday has made numerous attempts to murder Pugsley. She likes to take care of spiders and study the Bermuda Triangle. Her gothic personality has a tendency to startle people. Wednesday's pale skin and long, darkly braided pigtails are her most distinctive features. She is typically resentful and rarely displays emotion. She typically dresses in a black dress with a white collar, black stockings, and black shoes.
FAQs
Q. Who Portrayed Wednesday Addams in the Netflix show Wednesday?
A. Jenna Ortega, an American actress of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent, played Wednesday on Netflix.
Q. Is there a connection regarding the Addams Family being Latinos?
A. As the Latinos don't exactly fit with the stereotypical American population, the Addams don't fit in the society with their macabre interests and unusual attributes.
Q. Why was Wednesday Addams named Wednesday?
A. Charles Addams named the daughter of the Addams family “Wednesday” after the nursery rhyme line “Wednesday’s child full of woe.”
