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

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

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.

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.


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.”

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.

youtube-cover

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.

Quick Links