'That's what life is': Wednesday director Tim Burton not worried about balancing horror elements for adults and children in his shows

AsiaOne

20 hours ago

Tim Burton has been a mainstay of dark fantasy and horror for nearly four decades now, with those of us spookily-inclined often growing up with his works.
The 66-year-old is the director and executive producer on Netflix's Wednesday and was recently asked during a press conference whether it is difficult to toe the line making horror for adults while also keeping it child-friendly.
"People say it's too light or too dark. Kids will like it, or The Nightmare Before Christmas is too scary for little children," Tim said. "They're like fables or fairy tales, you know? Those kinds of things, they remain with people because they incorporate light and dark and humour and drama and scariness.
"And so for me, I never think too much about it, because that's what life is, it's a mixture of all those things together."
It's difficult to imagine anyone else directing this modern adaptation of the legendary Addams Family, and the cast of Wednesday seem to agree.
"As soon as you step onto the set, it feels like Tim Burton," Fred Armisen, who plays Uncle Fester, said. "Every detail, every window you see, you're like, 'Oh, this is definitely Tim Burton', so it helps you get into it right away."
The 58-year-old added that he wants to do a good job as an actor, but he also grew up watching Tim Burton's movies and is a fan.
"So I keep it cool on the outside, but on the inside I'm still like, 'That's Tim Burton, that's totally Tim Burton, that's his hair, that's his jacket, that's him walking away, coming back, that's his hat'."
Jenna Ortega, who plays the titular character, said: "What I love working with Tim is nothing's really prepared for the day-to-day stuff.
"So, it's really wonderful to be able to walk onto a set, let him take it in, look at it from every perspective, and then, you know, it's something fresh every day."
The 22-year-old said that Tim keeps the TV show from feeling formulaic and routine through switching between "doing a lot of setups" and "fitting [the filming] all into one", or catering to the script and basing the shots "off a single line".
Tim praised Jenna in return: "I remember on the first day of the first season, Jenna was there before anybody else, watching everything, and so she knows more than everyone else. She knows more than I know sometimes.
"But that's the beauty of it. We have scripts and everything, but we go in each day, everybody knows their character - they surprised me - and I just love it. It keeps it feeling fresh, keeps it feeling like it's actually a movie we're making." 'None of it is made up'
Season two of Wednesday will be released on Netflix in two parts: The first four episodes on Aug 6 and the next four on Sept 3.
The show, which filmed its first season in Romania, moved its production to Ireland this time around, working in the same studio as the historical TV show Vikings.
"[They left] behind bits and pieces on the hillside, which is actually very good, because any artist knows that debris is better than [working on] a white sheet," said Joanna Lumley, who joins Wednesday as Granny Hester Frump in the new season.
"So, suddenly they've got this derelict stuff of bits of old rampant and hills and the challenges of a new studio.
"It must have been heavenly but hard to work in Romania, but I just think that Ireland, it has a natural feeling, because there's something in Ireland which is slightly otherworldly anyway, and it embraced the whole feeling of Wednesday."
The 79-year-old added: "Once you step into one of these sets, it gives you something completely different.
"You're not making it up, you're walking down a great creaking corridor, you're going into principal Dort's (Steve Buscemi) study, which is immense with a blazing log fire, the statues.
"Tim always does this, he always makes stuff that is perfect."
There's a scene where Hester is shooting clay pigeons and Wednesday comes to meet her, Joanna said.
"We hardly see it on screen, but she's got a croquet hoop set out and they're all made of bones," she continued. "Every detail imbues you with what the place is. It tells you who you are and how it's going to come across.
"And none of it is made up, none of it is cheapskate or small."
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Meanwhile, Catherine Zeta-Jones, 55, also praised the gothic grandeur of the set and teased about a camping scene.
"Let me tell you something, my kids and my husband are like, 'Come on, we'll get a trailer, we'll go camping,' and I'm like, 'Forget it.' But as Morticia Addams, I will go camping every day of the week."
"When people see that camping episode, everyone and their mother is gonna want an Addams tent," added 68-year-old Luis Guzman, who plays her onscreen husband Gomez, calling it "pure elegance, terribly".
The downside to Ireland, however, was that it was a bit too vibrant for the gloomy world of Wednesday.
"The only real challenge we had was fighting the green," Jenna said. "It was so green there, and it was so bright for the show. Suddenly the Addams looked alive, and it was like..."
"Take it down a notch," Tim finished, as the cast laughed.
Season two of Wednesday also stars Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams, with the students and faculty of Nevermore Academy including Emma Myers, Joy Sunday and Billie Piper.
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