Jenna Ortega became an overnight sensation after the release of Wednesday. (Image via @M1SSTHIS/Twitter, @OnePieceAnimeUS/Twitter)

"Absolutely callous disregard": Jenna Ortega slammed over COVID revelation while filming iconic Wednesday dance scene

By Nikita Nikhil

Modified Dec 07, 2022 11:25 GMT

American actress Jenna Ortega was slammed online for filming a scene for her new series, Wednesday, while suffering from coronavirus. The iconic dance scene in Netflix's supernatural comedy, set to The Cramps’ 1981 single Goo Goo Muck, has made the 20-year-old actress an overnight sensation.

However, in a recent interview with NME, Ortega revealed that it was her first day of COVID when she shot the dance sequence featured in episode 4.

Teresa

@teresawprice

jenna ortega filming that dance scene while she had covid is not impressive, it’s horrible. absolutely callous disregard for her coworkers.

Jenna Ortega stated that she had "body aches," and the crew was giving her medicine in between takes. The actress continued with her shooting schedule while waiting for a positive result on her COVID test.

The news was confirmed by Netflix and MGM, the production company behind Wednesday, who stated that the set and crew followed strict protocols when it came to COVID. They further explained that Jenna was removed from the set as soon as her test report came positive.

Twitter reactions on Jenna Ortega's COVID revelation

After news of Jenna Ortega suffering from novel coronavirus while filming Wednesday's iconic dance scene broke online, the Twitterati was left furious.

Several users called out the production team of Wednesday for being careless on the set, while others criticized Ortega for "flexing" that she battled COVID but, at the same time, was surrounded by several other cast and crew members.

Lola Méndez

@lolaannamendez

Disappointed to learn that Jenna Ortega had COVID symptoms on set but was still allowed to film the Wednesday dance scene while she waited for her positive test result. I wonder how many people got sick? And how many people those people got sick?

v ✨🦋

@hereisviolet

Jenna Ortega having COVID on set and working unmasked around other unmasked performers is not a flex. She should not be praised for “working while sick.”

The above the line crew could’ve possibly disabled or killed someone for their irresponsibility.

shir

@cancion_il

jenna ortega filming a whole scene while waiting for her covid test results AND with obvious symptoms isn’t “professional”, it’s just completely irresponsible

@sadlittlejuice

i love jenna ortega but why on earth does she sound like she's bragging about working while super sick and waiting on her covid test...which ended up being positive. why is exposing the entire cast and crew to a severe virus such a flex??

Hillary Monahan

@HillaryMonahan

Everything wrong with America's reaction to Covid is encapsulated in people applauding Jenna Ortega for doing her Wednesday dance scene while she had Covid.

... she should have been masked and home.

Masokissed

@Mystical_Faerie

Jenna Ortega proudly talking about how she had covid while filming the dance scene is seriously not the flex she thought it was

Erin Ekins (she/her)

@QueerlyAutistic

I'm seeing so many people respond to finding out Jenna Ortega had covid whilst filming the dance scene with 'omg, how dedicated is she?!' when my first reaction upon hearing it was absolute horror for her and the people around her.

garbo

@garbogool

jenna ortega seems chill, and that dance in the new wednesday show is cool, but no one else finds it concerning that she admitted she had covid during that scene? like even if she was waiting for the test to come back, why not delay filming? she put the cast and crew at risk

Veerender Singh Jubbal

@Veeren_Jubbal

Jenna Ortega having Covid, and filming scenes is not some feel good moment (of triumph) some folks are trying to spin.

Jenna Ortega shared details about shooting the iconic dance scene in her interview

In her interview with NME, Jenna Ortega detailed her experience of filming the dance scene in Wednesday, revealing she had gotten the song a week before it was shot:

“It’s crazy because it was my first day with COVID so it was awful to film. Yeah, I woke up and – it’s weird, I never get sick and when I do it’s not very bad – I had the body aches.”

Describing her condition, Jenna stated that she felt like she had been "hit by a car" and how it seemed as if:

"A little goblin was scratching the walls of my esophagus.”

»»— daylight archer ☾ *ੈ✩‧₊˚

@daylightarcher

@jennaortega we need a dance tutorial #wednesdaynetflix #wednesdayaddams

The actress further mentioned:

“They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result. I asked to redo it but we didn’t have time. I think I probably could have done it a bit better.”

In a behind-the-scenes video posted by Still Watching Netflix on November 28, Jenna revealed that she had choreographed the dance featured in episode four herself.

Ortega confessed that she did not think the dance scene would gain the kind of popularity it did, adding that she felt "insecure" since she made the moves herself:

"I actually felt really insecure about this. I choreographed that myself and I think it’s very obvious that I’m not a dancer or a choreographer."

Helmed by Tim Burton, Wednesday is currently streaming on Netflix, and also stars Gwendoline Christie, Christina Ricci, Riki Lindhome, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, Isaac Ordonez, Emma Myers, and Hunter Doohan in key roles.

Edited by
Susrita Das