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Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
‘I kept telling everyone no': Jenna Ortega opens up about almost turning down her iconic role in Wednesday
The modern gothic series Wednesday became a cultural juggernaut almost overnight, turning Jenna Ortega into a household name and redefining a beloved classic for a new generation. With her deadpan delivery and haunting stares, Ortega made Wednesday Addams not just iconic, but human. But in a surprising twist, the actor recently revealed she nearly said no to the role that would come to define her career. In a candid new interview, Ortega reflected on her most popular role and the nuance of Wednesday Addams. 'We're incredibly desensitised and disconnected from real interaction,' Ortega said in the interview. 'I mean, God, if you could speak to everybody like Wednesday — just say what you truly mean — it would be amazing!' But Wednesday is not burdened by that. 'She doesn't care,' Ortega said. 'It's pretty funny, when you think about it. She's an outsider, but now she's on these mugs, cereal boxes, and T-shirts. You're just thinking, Oh, man, she would hate this!' A post shared by Jenna Ortega (@jennaortega) Fresh off her high-intensity performances in You and Scream (2022), the first in a string of horror films — Studio 666, X, and American Carnage — that showcased her acting prowess, she was hesitant to fall back into the little girl roles that she had been typecast in so often. 'I was getting to this point in my career where I was doing movies and getting in the rooms,' she said. 'So I kept telling everyone no. I almost didn't want to hear what Tim [Burton] had to say, and really like it, and feel like I needed to do it — which is kind of what happened.' While filming X (2022) in New Zealand, Jenna Ortega connected with Tim Burton through a Zoom call. At the time, she was still wearing a prosthetic headpiece — the result of a gruesome scene where her character's head had been blown off — but Burton didn't even mention it. One memorable moment from their meeting was when she acted out a scene where Wednesday catches Thing spying on her and threatens to lock him away forever. Despite having been awake for 24 hours and planning to get some rest, Ortega found herself heading to the bathroom to shoot another take. 'I didn't want Tim to have that be his last impression of me,' she said. 'The next day, I was killing time in my hotel room, and I found myself thinking about her—like, maybe she moves like this. And then I realised, Oh, man, I think I'm stuck, because I really love this girl.' Despite her concerns about being typecast or trapped in another long-term franchise, Ortega ultimately saw Wednesday as more than just another reboot. As for Burton, he had big plans for the young actor. "When I read this thing, I went, like, Oh my God, this is written for a 16-year-old girl, but I can relate. People have said I act like that sometimes,' Burton said about Wednesday. 'But it all hinged upon finding somebody to play Wednesday. It had to be somebody who just had it in her soul, and when we saw Jenna, there was just no question.' Ortega was 18 when they started shooting season one, but those around her found that Ortega and Wednesday had more similarities than expected. 'What's so strange about a character like Wednesday is that Wednesday is an outcast and an outsider — but she's also a pop-culture icon,' said Ortega. 'So, in a strange way, I feel like I've become a pop actor — if that makes sense. And that's something I never saw for myself,' she said about the character and the fame, post her numerous, jarring (for herself) stints as a child actor. 'I'm very grateful for my audience, ' she said. 'And I want to be able to give back to them. But I also want to do things that are creatively fulfilling to me. So it's finding that balance of doing movies that they might be interested in and then doing movies that I'm interested in.' Right now, the plan is to pick up roles that are 'older and bolder'. Why? 'I want to be able to line up all of my girls and see something different in all of them.'
Axios
27-02-2025
- Business
- Axios
Behind the scenes at Butterworth's: MAGA's haute new hangout
Trump World 2.0 is busy building new D.C. clubhouses, and while Butterworth's bistro wasn't on many bingo cards, the nouveau French restaurant has quickly emerged as the destination du jour for MAGA elites. Why it matters: Trump's inner circle likes to own its social spots, or at least occupy them (e.g. Harry's Bar, the Kennedy Center), and all-day "Butterworth's Club" is the latest conquest — and one eager to accommodate. State of play: The grandmère -chic dining room on Capitol Hill opened in October before the election, but it was already primed to be a power player. Major investor Alex Butterworth, senior counsel for Uber, may have his name on the door. But ex-Breitbart editor Raheem Kassam, another mega-investor in the restaurant, draws a select clientele. Restaurant sources tell Axios that Amazon hosted their holiday party in a private room. One hospitality insider tells Axios people call it "Steve Bannon's restaurant," though he's not officially involved. The "War Room" podcaster lives nearby and holds court at private parties. Inside the room: Chef/partner Bart Hutchins tells Axios the bistro wasn't a MAGA magnet upon opening. He worked for years at neighbor Beuchert's Saloon, and at first, saw many of his old regulars from all sides of the aisle. "There're nights when it's just another neighborhood restaurant. And then there's a random Wednesday when everyone in here has half a million Twitter followers," says Hutchins. Inauguration weekend was the turning point when bold-faced names — Kash Patel, Elon Musk, singer Grimes — popped up along with right-wing media stars like Curtis Yarvan and George Santos. The bar poured "American Carnage" and "Covfefe" cocktails (private party hosts can name their drinks for the night). "People are like, OK, I went to that place 12 times in one week, it's now the place to be," Hutchins says. Zoom out: A hospitality veteran who opened "Canadian disco-bistro" Le Mont Royal, Hutchins curated the vibe at Butterworth's. His inspiration: throwback power rooms like LA's Spago and Dudley in New York — "places that become a scene for that city's industry, whether it's actors in LA or models in NYC." How it works: " We're meticulous about the reservation list every night," says Hutchins. He's moved from leading the kitchen to working the floor, armed with a fat lookbook of new appointees, congressional VIPs, and need-to-know media types and influencers. "Recognizing them is the big part. Having nooks and crannies to put people in when it's too busy," says Hutchins. "But if I know X-Y-Z is coming in at 8pm, and I have a full bar of celebrity watchers, I may need to set them up upstairs, turn down the lights, light some candles, and give them their privacy." Another golden rule: Know the room. "Who's feuding right now?" says Hutchins. "I'm trying to make sure that Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert aren't sat next to each other." The intrigue: Butterworth's menu of fried rabbit and natty wines bucks the Trumpian stereotype of McDonald's and well-done steak. But Hutchins, who measures success by selling more head cheese than cheeseburgers, says his field-to-table philosophy jives with the RFK Jr. acolytes and MAHA crowd. "They're super interested in bone marrow, liver, feet," says Hutchins. "Before, the audience for offal was Berkley hippie types who knew who Alice Waters was. Now it's right-wing staffers showing up and asking for the same stuff." Zoom in: While Trump Town 1.0 was famous for its Fireball affinity, the new crowd sucks down dry gin martinis — "We run out of martini glasses every night," says Hutchins — and rips through kegs of Guinness (four in one night, as of last week). "They're interested in low chemical, low intervention across the board," Hutchins says. Raw milk is a common request ("I wish I could, but I'd get in trouble"). Between the lines: Investors have reiterated that all are welcome at Butterworth's. The restaurant doesn't run at Inauguration fever-pitch 24/7, and private rooms are booked for Bannon brunch one day, and fantasy baseball dads the next. "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi will be just as welcome here as JD Vance, Steve Bannon and Mike Johnson," Butterworth told the Financial Review. What's next: There's a nostalgia to Butterworth's that seems to jive with MAGA populism — a throwback vibe that Hutchins plans to build on with a basement speakeasy for classic cocktails and live jazz in the future. "It's the type of pre-cell phone world I want to be a part of," he says. As for a visit from the Big Man, Hutchins isn't sure. It's not that Trump has never dined out in a D.C. restaurant beyond his steakhouse. "We don't have a back door, so I don't think the Secret Service will let him come, to be honest," says Hutchins. "But I wouldn't kick him out."
