- A lot of our crew members were English, and they told me that I had the humor of like a 50-year-old
taxi driver in Leeds. (Elle laughs) - That's a compliment.
- Which I hold very near and dear to my heart. But also, people are a lot
scarier when they're still, because I think that I look
like a pug or something. Like, I've just got like a little- - What? - A little. (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Hello. - Hello, Jenna. - How are you?
- I am good. I don't think people, I don't know, they might think that we know each other, but we have never met before. - Yeah, never, which
I'm kind of surprised. - I know.
- I feel like we tend to be in the same, or worked
with similar people. - Yeah, 100%. I know. I'm so, when I heard that I was getting paired up
with you, I was so excited. - Yeah, I was very excited. I have to, before I forget,
'cause otherwise I'll, I don't know, be remiss.
- Yeah. - But when I was younger, I told my mom, "The only reason why I'm acting is because I said I wanted to be the Puerto Rican Dakota Fanning." And so we were obsessed
with Dakota's work, and we were following, we were following. And then she said, "Did
you know she has a sister?" And I was like, "She has a sister?" So for the longest time, I
idolized the both of you guys, and I would follow your
careers because I wanted to be in your guys' shoes.
- Oh my God. - You guys were like this
enigmatic, super glorious, talented figures in my head. And then it's just really,
really strange to be here- - Oh my God.
- With you now. Yeah, but just immense respect
for everything that you do and all that you've accomplished. - Oh, man.
- It's really, really special. - Thank you so much, wow. I gotta tell Dakota. She'll love it. - And I'm so happy to be here with you. - I know that you've been acting since you were a child actor, right? - [Jenna] Yeah, yeah. - So we definitely have that
in common, and I think, just- - But you were a fetus.
- Right, I was- - You were like two years old
- That's right. - [Jenna] Which is insane. - I was very small. I guess it's interesting because there are kind
of certain milestones because of course, you're
getting older in your life, but as an actor that like,
oh, I hit a milestone, and you feel yourself growing or maybe people start to view
you in a more grown up way or a different, did you
feel like you had that? I mean, we're both still very young, but do you feel like you
had that growing out of, 'cause people saw you since you were like nine years old, you know?
- A little bit. And then also I think I naturally appear and sound a bit younger than I am. I think I have like a
little bit of a baby face. So I tend to do younger roles- - Me too.
- Or characters, definitely. - Yeah.
- That was a little bit hard. And then I also did a little
time on Disney Channel as well. So I was also doing
children-oriented work, which I think breaking out
of that is its own challenge and journey in itself. But I did a movie a couple of years ago where it was a horror film and I went from like super
conservative Christian girl turned adult film star. And I think that that was a
little bit of a turning point. - Was that "X?"
- That was "X." - Yeah, I saw "X."
- Oh, no way. - Yeah, yeah, I loved "X."
- That was incredible. Ti West, the director is just, he's one of my favorite
directors I've ever worked with. Just very, very assertive and
brilliant and collaborative. But I think that that was a
huge turning point for me. What about for you? - Gosh, yeah, mine's kinda similar too, 'cause it kind of maybe
was a more horror genre. - [Jenna] Yeah. - Which you're definitely- - Yeah, I do a lot of that-
- That's you. Yeah. The it girl of horror. I don't
know how you feel about that. - I would never call myself like that. - [Elle] Do you like horror movies? - I love, horror is home. - Really? - People really like to see
me hysterical like on the- - You have a good scream. - I don't even say I have a good scream, but it's just very instinctive. And I think I have a
really ugly crying face, which people just feed on. If you're in a theater and you see someone who looks like atrocious
while crying, you think, ah man, she's really in it. - Yeah. Are you a good auditioner? I'm a terrible auditioner. - Oh god, I'm awful.
- Awful. - Awful.
- Yeah. I'm not a good auditioner at all. I fainted an audition once. - How old were you? - I think I was like 12. Yeah, it was, but I got like Pinkberry and Burger King afterwards, so I was like, oh, this is great. Didn't get the job. They were like-
- Yeah. - "This freaky girl who's fainting." - No.
- But they make me so, I don't know, they make me so nervous. - They made me really nervous. I had really awful experiences with like screaming and things like that. Well, first time I ever had
to scream for an audition, we were driving on the way there and it was like a three-hour drive. I'm from the Coachella
Valley, so my mom was saying, "Hey, do you wanna practice that scream?" And I told her, "Oh no,
I got it. I got it." I went in there, did not have it. My voice cracked. It
was awful, embarrassing. And she looked back at me
and she was so frustrated 'cause she was sacrificing so
much for me to be out there. I felt awful. She was like, "Jenna, how
are you gonna be an actress if you can't even scream?" And then it's just weird that that's been- - And then ever since, like
I take my vengeance. Yeah. - I think it's part of,
I'm very, very stubborn. So I think as soon as that was an issue, but I've never fainted. Have you been yelled at
by a casting director? - No, I've never been yelled at. - I apologize too much. - They yelled at you for saying- - Yeah, because I just kept
cutting off my monologue by going, "Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry, I messed
it up. Oh, I'm sorry." - And they're like, stop. - They were like, "Stop
apologizing, you're good." And I said, "Oh, I'm sorry." And she said, "Stop, you're good. Don't worry about it anymore." - Yeah. You can't apologize for anything. - I didn't do the job though. I don't remember which
one it was, not too bad. (door locks disengaging)
(Jenna whimpering) - [Robotic Voice] Doors unlocked (Jenna screaming) You've stayed in LA and kind
of been a part of that world- - I have.
- All your life. - Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I started acting
from such a young age, and obviously, my sister,
I had her as a role model. - Yeah.
- A built-in person to look up to.
- Yeah. Did you go to public school?
What was the normality in it? - So I was homeschooled
up until fourth grade. - Okay.
- And then, yeah, like nine years old, I was like, "Mom, I have no friends.
I need to be around kids." And she's like, "All right,
let's put you into school." So then I got to go to like
a private school here in LA- - Nice.
- And I got to go to proms and parties and have
that whole experience, which I'm really happy
that I got to do that. So yeah, from fourth grade to senior year. I did not go to college but- - Neither did I.
- Yeah. - I really wanted to.
- You did. - I tried for a minute. I was always told that, as
soon as the ball is rolling, especially in an industry like
this that is so up and down. - Yeah.
- You just never know when a job is gonna be your last job or when you're in and when you're out. And I think I was just working too much. I was too scared to, which
as I've gotten older, I feel like especially trying to make a name for
yourself in the industry. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I'm definitely an overthinker. But yeah, as I've gotten older, I've realized that you
can create space and time for your personal life
and have real experiences and I feel like that's something
that I still have to learn. Do you feel like you're good at balancing? - I think I'm still learning too, yeah. - Yeah. It's hard. - Especially, when you're on these shows, I mean we gotta talk about
"Wednesday" 'cause it's like- - It was great.
- It's so good. It is so good. And you are absolute perfection. There is not a single word, physicality, that's like out of place. And it's also so exciting
to have a new "Wednesday" 'cause I always think, I
think of Christina Ricci. - Yeah, so do I.
- You know? - Yeah.
- And did she give you any advice or anything on set? Like how cool is that? - No, it was, oh, almost a bit awkward. I didn't-
- Yeah. - It's a bit strange meeting someone where you're kind of doing cosplay or a version of them 30 years ago. - Right. - So to be dressed in front of her and obviously I think that
she is the perfect Wednesday, it was like the perfect age. I'm very, very impressed
by her 11-year-old self and everything that she's
continued to do onwards. So also just naturally
having so much respect and admiration for her as an actress. I was very, very nervous and I don't think she really wanted to give me too much input and
I didn't wanna ask for input because it was really,
really important to me that I didn't try to
knock off her performance because it was already so perfectly done. If anything, that's kind
of embarrassing on my part, and I feel like it's kind of my job, especially, it's such a different time, that was 30 years ago to
integrate more modern ideas or more modern take on a character so that she continues to be timeless and appeal to a new audience. But then still weave in
nostalgic throwbacks to her role and her character so that- - I love the snap. - Yay, yeah.
- Oh, that was cool. - That was really sweet. Yeah. I thought it was cool they
integrated that into the story. - That boy's family was going to file
attempted murder charges. How would that have looked on your record? - Terrible. Everyone would know I
failed to get the job done. I'm awful with accents. I can never be a British queen, whatever. - If you had a good
dialect coach, you can, which I do and she helps me. - You are so, so, so funny in your show. I was not anticipating. I went into it completely blind. So it was just a lot more
violent than I expected. But then also the, I love comedy that isn't addressed too much and it's almost kind of just chaotic and you're not able to
process what's going on, which is entirely what your show is about. But you yourself are so stoked
and strong and just funny. For me personally, comedic
acting is a lot more difficult than something dramatic. - I know, I agree, which I
don't think I ever realized that 'cause I didn't really do
a lot of comedic things before "The Great."
- Yeah. - Yeah, my roles were
probably more dramatic. And then through "The Great," I actually learned really
how difficult it was and how kind of unembarrassed you have to feel with yourself to just go there. And I think with the
cast, their background, a lot of it is like, they're from theater so they're so gifted
dramatically and comedically but they were all really there to help me along with the rhythm of it. And 'cause I don't know,
also like on "Wednesday" too, where like there are such specific jokes. - Yeah. - And especially like very deadpan jokes that you have to hit and
there's like a punchline there. I don't know 'cause that
sometimes I would read scripts and in "The Great," you're like, "Oh, that's a punchline, That's a joke." Like I want people to laugh at
that moment. I hope they do. But it's a real, people who are so gifted and talented at that, I really, I envy it. But I think I've gotten
a little more comfortable in the comedy world now
that we're on season three. - I don't know what to do about prisoners. Kill them, torture them, let them go. - Surely not in that order. - Your outfits are also ridiculous. I would never ever feel... Have you done period
pieces that, well, yeah, the Coppola film. - Yeah, that's right. That was Civil War. So that was a little
different but still corsets. - [Jenna] Yeah. - Have you ever worn a corset in a film? - No, only in my casual life. - Yeah. - In my personal life, yeah. I do love a corset, I have to say. - Yeah, but never for set. And that's not even just a
corset, it's every layer. Actually, in "Wednesday"
there was one outfit that I had to wear that
was corseted and it was- - The prom dress, no? - No, I was playing an
ancestor or someone- - Oh yeah, yeah.
- Goody, and she was from Pilgrim Times. - Right.
- And that was so annoying to get into you and took forever. - Yeah.
- But it was great once it was on because it looked insane. - Yeah, I know. Clothes, I think they play
such a, they're important to me in costume and the design especially. I'm sure Tim Burton was very
specific with that, right? Did Colleen Atwood do it? - Yes, she did. - Yeah. Colleen Atwood is incredible. That was like definitely one
of that highlights of the job in terms of just watching
someone that gifted at what they do work was such an honor. And I completely agree with you. Oh, a good set of wardrobe
completely changes the way that you can perceive
a character in my opinion. I tend to get a lot more
creative or have a lot more ideas when you're working with clothes that you feel comfortable
or right for the character. And Colleen is a master at that. - How did you, I'm like, I'm so curious about your
physicality as "Wednesday". How did you come up with that? Because you're very, you don't blink much. - Yeah. - And you also are like,
there's a real, which you're- - Yeah.
- You're not like, I mean, it's a character. - Kinda slinky, it's all very- - I guess it's a little spidery or something to her that very rigid. Was that talked about? Or did Tim want that or did you... Like, how did that come about? - It wasn't talked about, but I'm sure that you run into it a lot. Oftentimes, teenage girls are just brats or for some reason, super
against the world and just nasty and it's great for Wednesday because that's what she is and it's fun and she's just excited by evil things. - Yeah. - But I needed something that
was gonna differentiate her from past iterations, but then also just from
other characters that I do, I want everything that I do to stand out or to feel like maybe certain
characters that I play wouldn't get along or
are different people. So I think for me,
physicality, that was something that I had never really
played with before. And because I had never experimented with deadpan humor before,
anything like that. I think that's-
- God, you're so good at it. That's crazy. - I don't know. I feel it's very- - Do you feel like your humor
is like that in real life? - My humor in real life is very deadpan. Is very, very dry.
- Is it dry? - People never know whether
I'm being serious or not. - Mm-hmm, it's kind of English. - Yeah, well, a lot of our
crew members were English and they told me that I had the humor of like a 50-year-old
taxi driver in Leeds, (Elle laughs)
- That's a compliment. - Which I hold very near
and dear to my heart. But performing it and then
also have it take place in a teen drama romantic setting, it was very, very foreign and
different for "Wednesday," which is the great thing
about the characters. You could put her in the
most absurd situations and it's gonna be funny because
she just doesn't belong. - Yeah.
- But yeah, making that work, I was really, really nervous about that. But also, people are a lot
scarier when they're still, because I think that I look
like a pug or something. Like, I just got like a little- - What?
- I just got a little, I don't know what it is. I was like, oh, oh, what could
make me more intimidating or more weird? And I'm like, I just should never move and stare at people really
intensely, maybe that will work. So I used to-
- It worked. - Walk my dog down the
street or just at night when people weren't paying attention, I would just try different
postures and stances and are my hands cleansed
or are they free? And I would film myself. - Oh wow, that's really.
Oh wow, that's cool. (swords whipping) (dramatic music) When you were talking about
kind of the stillness, "The Neon Demon" was a
film I did, I was like 16, which also kinda felt like a film that kind of pulled me out
of child star a little bit. Like I felt like that was
a turning point for me and people seeing me more in a grownup way 'cause the film was so kind
of polarizing, which I loved. People either hated it or they loved it and it was very out there, but
it was an amazing experience. But there's an opening shot
in the movie and I have to, I'm like playing dead and I have contacts so I've never lost a staring contest ever. - Whoa.
- Because I think something about the contacts
holds the moisture in my eye. I don't know what it is,
but when I did that take, and Nick Refn is the
director that of "Neon Demon" and he takes really long takes, I think it was like 11
minutes or something. And my eyes were open the entire time and the lights were so bright and they melted my
contacts all over my eye. Like they burned into my eye. - No way.
- 'Cause I kept 'em open for so long. - Did that hurt? - It didn't, it was odd, I
think 'cause I got off set and then I was like, "Oh God, I can't see. I thought that I was blind."
- Blind. - Yeah, I thought I went blind. I was like-
- No way. - "I can't see. I can't see." And I was like really freaking out. And then I think we, 'cause I was like, "Where's my contacts?" I thought that they had gone away and I couldn't see anymore. But then like flushing water
and finally fished it out and it was all melted and crazy, but. - That-
- Yeah, just an anecdote. - Yeah, that's crazy.
- Yeah. - I would never, I don't even come close. I feel like-
- Do you wear contacts? No. - No, I don't.
- No. - And the whole staring thing, it was just, you blink on
other people's lines. I wasn't- - Okay, yeah. - Not really.
- She's not blinking. - Like that, no. - I know you're usually
a quad kind of girl but I've been working on that all week. - Birthday, yes. Happy, never. So your show takes place in Russia. You actually shoot in Russia? - We do not, we shoot actually in London, which is really nice. - That is so nice.
- Yes. - I've always wanted to shoot there. - Yeah. It's like my favorite city. I feel like if I don't
end up living in LA, I wanna live in London,
which I get too for like six, seven months out of the year so. - I'm lucky.
- Yeah, it's long shoot. - Yeah, it is.
- Yeah. - How long does your shoot for? - I think we went seven, eight months. - Wow. - Yeah.
- Yeah. And that was in Romania.
- Wow. Did you guys take over the town like- - No. - 'Cause I've been told
that it's a, you know, I don't know, it's such a big city and I have a lot of
friends there and things, but in Romania I'm like, did you have a lot of friends there? - No, I didn't know any
Romanians going into it. So I think, honestly I'm so, so fortunate because the cast that I was set with are some of my favorite people
I've ever met on this planet. So I think that we were very supportive and beneficial to each
other during that time. I couldn't imagine doing it without them. But yeah, did not know anyone in Romania. It was in the middle of the pandemic. It was a red zone country, so some people weren't allowed to leave because you couldn't travel in and out of the certain regions in Europe. Everything closed at 5, 6:00
PM because of the pandemic so it was pretty much
just set and then home. And then if we wanted to
hang out with each other on the weekends if we had the time, it was, we all would go to
Georgie Farmer's apartment. He plays Ajax on the show and he just had the coolest Airbnb. So we just would hang
out there and play cards and things like that.
- There you go. - Yeah, do what you can. - I don't know, the hours and the day. Like it does kind of take over
your life in those months. - In comparison to film,
it's absolutely insane. - I agree. Yeah.
- Yeah. You really build a family in
a different aspect and yeah, you do have no life for a little bit. - Do you know if a lot
of the same crew members are gonna come back for next season or, I know you're a producer next season. - I am a producer, which is, yeah. - What made you wanna kind
of step into that role? - This is my first time
producing a television series. So I was pretty excited about that. I think for us on our show, it was pretty much a natural progression just because we had already
been throwing out so many ideas and I'm somebody who's very hands-on and I wanna know what's going on. And I think with a
character like Wednesday who was so beloved and
so is such a legend, I just really didn't wanna get her wrong. So I think I try to have as
many conversations as possible and really on set with
the writers and Tim, we just all would get together and decide, we'd go through sides in
the morning and decide, okay, what works and what doesn't. And yeah, it was naturally
already very collaborative. So I think that in preparation
for a second season, we kind of wanted to
get ahead of the curve and make sure that we could
start the conversations. Earlier, I'm just so curious. I wanna see the outfits, new characters that are coming in, scripts. And yeah, they were gracious enough and cool enough to let me
put the producer hat on, which it relates to- - Well, as they should.
- Yeah. But you on your show, it is your first time producing
a television series as well. - Yes, it was. Yes. When I, gosh, 'cause the
first season we did the pilot, we filmed it when I was 20 and now I'm 25. So I'm like, this part has been, she's formed my whole 20s. I don't know, it's just
like this character is in such formative years of my life. I feel like I've grown up through her and learned so much through
playing her as well. But also I think the
producing side of that, just learning the behind the
scenes mechanics of it all. 'cause I think, I don't
know if you felt like this, but I think when you start acting young and maybe not for everyone,
but for me at least, I think you start to realize, oh, I wanna kind of
have more agency in this and I wanna have more say. And I think a lot of actors
that I've talked to as well, the advice is always to
produce your own work, go out there, find a book you love, find an article you love,
and you can make that. You are able to make that instead, 'cause this business, the
one thing that I just hate about it is that it's sometimes, it's other people telling you who you are and what you can do, and it's so unfair. It irks me that they wanna put people in these boxes, you know?
- Yeah. - So I think for myself, I'm like, I'm gonna produce my own
material and have more say. And I think even through each season, I've grown so much with my voice and opinions of really saying how I feel 'cause I guess for a long time too, I felt like, oh gosh, I'm young. I should listen to the adults, you know? But then when you think
about it, you're like, well, we've been acting
for a very long time and we've been on a lot of
sets from a very young age and we're allowed to have those opinions and we do know what we're
talking about, you know? - Yes.
- We really do. And so I've learned to
kind of assert myself. So I would say don't be
afraid to assert yourself. - I still have something
that I'm learning now, and I think that that's why
someone like "Wednesday" is someone who kinda
forced me out of my shell in that sense. And especially, I don't
know if it's, again, I'm pretty short and then pretty young, but then also just being a
young woman in the industry, I feel like sometimes people
don't take you as seriously or as open to the conversations before. I've had insane conversations with people in terms of I just stand my place and I don't know because I'm not this or that or, you know, I'm just an actor. So I definitely agree with you in terms of having experiences or having seen it happen to other people where you kind of become a
puppet in some sort of sense. But the most beautiful experiences that I've had on a job are the
jobs that I'm most proud of, have always been the one where
everyone's voice is heard, everyone pitches in, everyone and... And yeah, with your experience- - You could be wrong too.
Like that's the thing. It's like-
- Some ideas land and sometimes they don't.
- Yeah. - That's great. I we have the time where we're in the space now to explore as much as we possibly can.
- Yeah. - But yeah, I mean with
the whole producing thing, it's exciting but
nerve-wracking at the same time. Because first of all, it's so nice having, oh, well, Jenna, you have
the floor and you have this and it's just kind of, I
feel like almost like a kid in a candy store in a sense. But at the same time, I'm in the phase where I'm still sending the wrong email to three different people.
- Yeah. - Wait, who do I send these out? What am I supposed to do here? So it's definitely funnier putting, but it's a good place to be. - I love the whole editing process. - Oh, I haven't even considered that. - You'll have to get in there. - So they send you dailies
every day and things like that. I've never been sent dailies before. - It's so fun. It is so fun. I'm like, I would love to be an editor, I don't know, but I at least get to- - Can you watch yourself? - I can.
- Okay. - I can. - Has it always been that way? - It's always been that way. I think I was such a ham like
growing up when I was little. Like I just loved watching myself. And then it's gotten, sometimes, I think as I've gotten older, it's gotten, I judge myself a little
bit more than I used to 'cause when you're a kid you're just like, oh, I'm on a huge screen
and I'm like a little kid and it was like a home movie or something. But yeah, I start to judge
myself a little bit more, but I can separate weirdly.
- Yeah. - But it's not even just about me. I think it's watching the
first cut of the first episode and watching that and thinking,
hmm, do we need this scene? We can-
- Yeah. - Looking at all the dailies and picking the right lines and- - Yeah.
- I find that really fun. - Kinda helps you take
you out of your head just because it's a lot more
objective in that sense. - Yeah, I'm happy that
I do get to produce too, 'cause I think the show
is very challenging and all consuming in its kind
of brain power in a weird way, 'cause it's, not even in a weird way, it's like extreme memorization. 'cause we have to be word perfect. We cannot be wrong. - And the dialogue is not natural. - Is not natural, yes. Tony McNamara, our showrunner,
he's a genius writer, and he wrote "The Favorite" as well. Did you ever see the "The Favorite?" - Oh yes, of course.
- Yeah, it's kinda like- - That makes so much sense. - Yeah, totally. But he's like, his rhythm is so specific and yeah, the memorization
is like, it's a lot. So you do need something
to like clear your head. I think having the producing side and getting to watch some dailies and put a different hat
on at the end of the day helps clear it out a little bit. - Well, you thought it was me. - I did. - Well, that shakes a man. - How can we trust each other? - Faith. - Ugh, annoying answer. - Agreed. - Well, yeah, for season two,
I'm so excited, I can't wait. I'm like, what spoilers can you give me? - Oh my God-
- None. - I don't even know, I don't even know. We're just kind of throwing, I just got a couple of the outlines for the first couple of episodes, so it's still very much coming together and things like that. But we've had a lot of conversations and I think we've decided things that we definitely want to enhance or dive a little bit deeper in and- - Things that you specifically
want to kind of bring. - Yeah, I definitely,
I think we wanna lean into the horror aspect of
the show a little bit more because it is so lighthearted and I think show like this with vampires and werewolves and superpowers, you don't wanna take
yourself too seriously. So I think that we're kind of ditching any romantic love interest for- - Ah, okay.
- "Wednesday", which is really great. And then also we have such
incredible female leads in the show. - Is Weems coming back? You can't tell. - Oh my God, I would die to
work with Gwendolyn Christie for the rest of my life.
- I know. - [Jenna] She's a perfect. - What? I was so shocked
when that happened. I was like, no, I loved... Well, also, I wasn't
sure about her at first. - Yeah, she's a little- - I mean, not her, like
the character, I was like- - Yeah.
- I was like, I don't know, she could be a batty, but then she was like, she was so good. - Wednesday's relationship with
Weems is one of my favorite. - Yeah.
- Because they're very, very different women
and they're constantly against each other, but simultaneously, they both wanna watch
each other's successes and support them, which is
such a fascinating dynamic. And Gwendolyn being as talented as she is, is just really, really
a pleasure to work with. So I'm doing everything in my power to throw out the most insane plots that would possibly bring
this woman back from the dead. - Yes.
- I'm trying. - Bring her back.
- Yeah. It would be a shame to
go on without her but- - Yeah.
- Yeah. - Definitely more, I
think we're just gonna get a lot more bold or a lot more dark, which you never really know. But fortunately, I didn't know if it was gonna be for younger
audiences or older audiences, but it's kind of been
a seamless transition in terms of different audiences, which I'm pleasantly
surprised by and excited by. And I think we just wanna
see how far we can take it. - Yeah, for sure. And I think, well, also
like the "Addams Family," I mean it's iconic family. I love "Addams Family" values. That's one of the best movies. - Yeah, that's incredible. - One of the top like,
that's my favorite iteration. Did you watch them to study it or? - Yeah, I definitely, I had
never seen the series before. The one from the '60s. - [Elle] I don't think
I've seen that either. - Yeah, I went back and I watched
the "Addams Family" series and then I watched the
movies a hundred times over from the '90s and that was
just kind of all I really did. I also went back to the
original comic strips because I think- - Oh, I didn't even know they had that. - Yeah, the wonderful
thing about Christina Ricci is she kinda created Wednesday. Lisa Loring, first iteration,
absolutely wonderful, special, and completely
different from Christina and much, much younger. But I think a lot of people
associate the deadpan nature of Wednesday with just
the "Addams Family." And Lisa was very, very happy and excited and just very childlike. So it's been interesting
to see what has been done. So I think with mine,
I just kinda had to try to blend the two as well.
- Yeah. - As I possibly could,
but that's what that was. I just was thinking, okay,
what were the most memorable or heartwarming instances from
both of these performances? And then kinda see what I can do. - OMG, you look perfect. Only thing, where are your whiskers? - Ask again and you'll
be down to eight lives. - Yours is not a true story. - Right. - Very, very clearly.
- Yeah. - Is there anything in terms
of getting yourself ready for that era or that
time that you have to do to make sure things are accurate or? - Yeah, I remember starting
out and I was like, okay, I'm playing Catherine the Great, so I need to do all this research on her and kind of pull out the
books and read a bit. And then Tony was like,
"You don't need to do that." Of course, it's fun to read about her and there are things in our
show that we do bring in, she brought female education and science and she invented the roller
coaster and that is real. Catherine the Great
invented the rollercoaster. - That's an incredible invention. - Yeah, so I was like, that's all I need to
know about this woman. I'm like, she sounds
amazing. That's very fun. So I'm like, that's a good fact. But I kind of threw out the
history books a little bit. I think she was reduced
to this horse rumor that we all know that she, they say, she had sex with a horse and that's kind of what
she's been reduced to, which I think it's like the first form of slut-shaming in a way because
she was very sexually open and had a lot of lovers and loved sex. And so, that's what society
likes to do to women is put them down and they
reduced her to this rumor. So I think with our show, we wanted to show the things
that she did do for the country and her period was the
enlightenment period and she brought such amazing things. So those things are true in there. But I had to pave my own way and create our own version of Catherine. She was very progressive
and very modern woman and also is very kind of
messy and not always right, like not the strongest woman in the room. I don't know if you feel like this but, like when reading scripts, it's like they love describing
women as like badass, strong, and they're always like coming into a room and they know everything and it's like, oh, that's a strong woman. It's like, I don't wanna
watch that. I'm not like that. I love complicated women
and I wanna play evil women and that messiness is like, that's what I feel like I try
to bring that into Catherine 'cause she's not always
right all the time. - Also, when you're watching a project, you want to feel like the
characters are representatives that you're seeing of yourself on screen are relatable or attainable. And sometimes when, yeah,
when you're constantly walking and there's cars blowing
up in the background, things like that, it's
cool and it's awesome. It looks beautiful, but I
don't know anything about her. So it's hard to develop
some sort of admiration or connection with women when they're, yes, they're written very two-dimensional and don't really give enough. - Or it's like if to be a strong woman, you have to be this to be- - Exactly.
- It's like, again, putting us into a box again. So I think I'm very
grateful for Tony's writing of getting to kind of
show the different sides. - And for it to be accurate
and feel good to you and relatable.
- Yeah, totally. I think she has a huge ego. Like she's very egotistical,
which is one of like, I love playing that side
of her, it's so fun. - Calling yourself the great,. - Of course. - Seems arrogant. - It is if you're not great. - If you are, that's just
calling things what they are. - But. (Catherine shushes) - You have an Instagram? - I do have an Instagram. - Mm-hmm, did it blow up
after "Wednesday" came out? - Yeah, it did in a way that I did not, was not anticipating any of that at all. - Just like so many
followers and comments and- - Yeah, and it was weird. I've had projects come
out where people started to recognize me or acknowledge
me more on the street and that was manageable and easy. But there was like a very
obvious shift in my life maybe three days after the show came out. - Wow.
- Yeah, it was really, I had never had that.
- How can you manage that? Like what's your relationship
like with that stuff? 'Cause I know like for
me, it can get toxic. - Yeah, it's ugly.
- Yeah, it does. I feel like it's the comparison culture of like so many images coming at you and you're like just comparing
yourself to all these people. - Well, for you especially because I feel like you
were in it right before because you've been acting for so long. You were in it kind of, but you've seen the gradual
shift to social media. - Yeah, we didn't even have
Instagram when I was acting. I had like a private Instagram
when I was in high school, like just for my friends. I wasn't allowed a Facebook growing up and that was like the cool thing. And so like I never knew about the parties and they'd have to text
me, like get a Facebook, but I wasn't allowed one. So I had a little private
Instagram and like a Snapchat. - Yeah. - Which I don't anymore. But yeah, then when I was
18, I got a public Instagram and that was like a huge thing and it was also such a dilemma. I'm like, should I get one? Should I not? - Yeah, it's difficult.
- Yeah. - See, when I first started acting, it was told to me by my first agency really that I had to have-
- Wow. - A public platform and that's
what I had to be in also. When I did television
shows when I was younger, they would take us to media training or they would call it Disney 101 or something like that where you would go and they would give you a
notebook and pens and pencils and paper and they would say, "Okay, you're gonna
post three times a day. This is how you get the most engagement." - Oh my God.
- This is how you get people like, this
is how you build followers. Download these apps as well. Engage, promote our show on... So it became a business.
- Yeah. - Or you could go into some
sort of audition or meeting and it was, how many
followers do you have? - Yeah, I didn't wanna get a part once 'cause I didn't have enough followers. - Yeah, it's-
- Which I was like, it was so weird. They're like, "You were
great, but your numbers." I'm like, oh God. - I was that way a little
bit for a while too. - I was not media-trained. I'm like still just post whatever. - Yeah, even after sh shooting "Wednesday" when I was auditioning for certain roles, they would ask me or they
would come to my team. "We like her but we just don't know if she has enough of a platform or enough of a name or enough of," because it's so-
- I hate that. - Important, it's really, really ugly. And I think that's social
media, what it does to anyone our age is,
it's such a comparing game and such an, I think it almost influences bandwagon mentality where
it's so easy to follow what a trend may be or as
soon as you see a trend, especially the way the
algorithms are set up, it's all you're seeing
and all you're feeding on and it's just not brainwashing in a sense, but just very, very manipulative. And I get really, really nervous to, I feel like after the show especially, I'm really, really nervous to post or really say anything on
there or even be myself because I feel like- - It could be misinterpreted
or some, yeah. - But yeah, that's like
a whole another world that people don't even prepare you for. - Yeah.
- And I naturally, because I tend to be sarcastic or dry, I feel like it's very easy for
me to find myself in trouble. - I know I wish I could be
funnier on my Instagram. I wish I'm like, I was like, I'm like, I could say something
really funny I could do, and then I'm like, oh no, but I can't 'cause people are not gonna like- - Or just doesn't land-
- It's just gonna, it's not gonna land, it's not gonna work. - You're thrown to the dogs, and I was actually just talking about this because when I first started acting, my mom told me that I had
to use my platform for good. Yeah, I had to be vocal about things that mattered to me or were
important in the world, in society, whatever, and
I had to get good grades. I couldn't have not all straight As, but I remember growing up and when I started creating
this platform for myself, I just thought, I am gonna be funny and I am gonna, or you know, share whatever jokes I've had. - Yeah. - And I'm gonna be honest
and I'm gonna be myself and I'm gonna be vulnerable
because I want people to be able to watch movies and
also get to know the people behind the camera and feel
like they're attainable or realize that, people should
never be put on a pedestal. Like nobody is more special than another because of what they do. And then the more, I guess, I've been exposed to the world in a sense, people prey on that and
take advantage of that and they see your vulnerability
and twist it in a way that, twist it in a way that
you don't always expect. So it's just like a, it's so, so strange. Sorry, I don't mean to do this. I don't- - No, it's okay. - I don't even feel like
I was gonna do this. But it is like, it's like
such a hard thing to balance because it's how do you be honest without jeopardizing your
own health and safety and feeling like you're,
it's very easy to feel like almost out of control of things, which is why it's so important I think for people to get off the phone. And I've been so, so grateful
and lucky to be with family and friends and things like that who have been with me since I was a fetus. - Yeah.
- Or a child or four or five who are real people and know me for who I am. But it's definitely been
like a, it's scary out there. - Mm-hmm, you just have-
- Scary. - Protect yourself.
- Exactly. - And also just know when to put it away. I know it doesn't matter. That's not the real world, you know? - I will say like the
last couple of years, I've gotten much better
about not being on my phone or not reading comments or- - Yeah, it's so hard.
- 'Cause I know that that's such an ugly
cycle that people go through. But it's definitely like, yeah, I was so nervous
to even do this interview because I was like, oh man,
I never do long interviews. - They'll probably say we
said something, who knows? - Yeah, but not even that. It's just, oh, I talk about for so long or how do I, because again, I still have this really,
really intense urge to be human and honest and just authentic. Another thing about this industry is you get in front of the camera and people want you to be something else. Like you were saying,
it's the puppet thing, where it's have more energy
or could you smile a bit more or could you sell this more? And it just feels so gross
and I don't wanna feel gross. - No. - I would rather people see me cry and do whatever than be
something that I'm not, which I don't know if you've found that you've got a couple years on me so I don't know if there's like. - No, I mean I think, I hear you. And it's so beautiful that
you are so open and honest about your feelings because I
think not a lot of people are and I think it's such,
it's so courageous for you to put that out there and to say that. And I think it also can
help so many people as well. - Yeah.
- It doesn't matter if we're in the public eye or not. We're all human beings
and it is a feeling. - [Jenna] Yeah. - And I think like you
also, you said like getting, just surrounding yourself
with people that know you and your family and your friends that you know are gonna be
truthful and honest with you and love you for you- - Yeah.
- Is really important. I feel like that's
something that I've learned. It's like my friends aren't
really in the industry or anything, like they're just my friends. - They're just so nice.
- Yeah. - It's so nice. - Just my family and I think that that's what's really been important and it's a real saving grace for me 'cause they're my unit and I have them and they know the real me, you know? - Yeah, definitely. Which is important to have that. And I think a little like,
it's not even mystery, but it's like keeping your,
like something's private and for yourself.
- Yeah. - So to protect that side of you. - Yeah, that's definitely
what a lot of it is is just protecting, your
own peace and your own. - I think it's good to be
private in a sense that. - Yeah, you wanna share a bit, but I think there's a part of you that also it's like important
to to keep to yourself that you know, you know? - Yeah, I've felt more private than ever, I think recently, which is- - And you feel, do you like that? - I feel so, so, so grateful
to have the job that we have because to to be
consistently passionate about and excited about something
every day that I go to work regardless of the hours,
regardless of the time, regardless of the stress
that it could bring, it's really such a
pleasure and it's something that I see myself always
doing and that's why it's, yeah, the social media and
having to carry yourself in another light or- - Yeah.
- Or how do you even represent yourself in
photos and things like that. It's insane. Oh yeah, this is- - I know, this is me all done up. - Yeah, I'm just gonna
consistently post photos of myself so that you guys know what I look like. - Yeah.
- But it's- - All that changed. I got a new haircut. - Yeah. Guess what? - Yeah.
- Because you care. - Yeah. - No, but it is funny to
coming to the realization that something like that
is completely worth it for the opportunity to do what we do and to even be consistently working. - Yeah, and I think, like you said, to use it as a space that
you can highlight things that you care about and also show a little bit of your personality too, because I think like before social media, I don't know, before that, it's like you didn't really
have a platform for yourself. I guess that's the good side of it, that you can kind of speak- - Yeah, definitely-
- To what you believe in. - And are people across
the world can communicate. And what I will say about my generation, because I think it's very
easy for us to be talked about as the screens, lazy, unmotivated, whatever the typical things
that people are gonna say- - TikTokers. - We are also having conversations that haven't always been
accessible to anybody. And I feel like there's a
lot of, well, it's hard. I mean, generalizations and assumptions are dangerous and we should
stay away from those. So I can't speak about
it in a grand sense. But I do feel that we have
opened a lot of space online for communities and people being able to resonate with people,
and maybe sometimes, make people feel less alone in
knowing that there's someone on the other side of the world that we're feeling-
- Who are feeling the same exact.
- The same exact way, or we're able to amplify and
support other people's voices that maybe wouldn't be
getting as much recognition or support in a global sense, which I think has been really,
really fascinating to watch. And I just hope that
we continue to use that and use our platforms to
just uplift one another and make sure that
everyone is heard and equal 'cause it is very easy to
get lost in there as well. (Elle and Jenna giggling) - [Elle] Aw. (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues)
