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Jenna Ortega fans in full moan mode after Steven DeKnight calls 'Wednesday' star 'entitled and beyond toxic'

The 20-year-old lead actress of the 'The Addams Family' spinoff expressed dissatisfaction with the work of writers

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: After speaking out on Dax Shepard’s podcast against the writers of the Netflix blockbuster show 'Wednesday', the star of the show Jenna Ortega has been called "entitled" and "beyond toxic" by veteran Hollywood producer and filmmaker Steven S DeKnight. According to DeKnight, who has written for shows like 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Daredevil', and the Starz series 'Spartacus', Ortega's remarks were unprofessional. The 20-year-old lead actress of the 'The Addams Family' spinoff expressed dissatisfaction with the work of writers.

Ortega claimed that nothing about Wednesday's character "made sense to her," and she had to intervene to change the story's "arc." In an episode of Dax Shepard's 'Armchair Expert' podcast from March 6, she said, "I don't think I've ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on 'Wednesday' New York Post reported that DeKnight argued that Ortega should have refrained from discussing screenplay meetings since she had "publicly s***" on the creators and producers.

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'Life is 'too short' to 'deal with people' like her'

DeKnight shared on Twitter that while he enjoys "talking with actors about their lines/stories," occasionally the celebrities "don’t have the full pictures (in TV) of where the story is going and why some lines are needed for the whole to make sense." Although he partially attributed her behavior to Ortega's age, he also stated that she "should" be conscious of how things work.

He said in a Twitter thread, "She’s young, so maybe she doesn’t know any better (but she should). She should also ask herself how she would feel if the showrunners gave an interview and talked about how difficult she was and refused to perform the material." Even while he admired her profession, he added, life was "too short" to "deal with people" like her in the business.

'I don’t think I've ever had to put my foot down'

Last week, the 'Wednesday' actor said on 48-year-old Shepard's podcast that she "put her foot down," encroaching on being "unprofessional," for the sake of her Addams family character, of whom she was "very protective. "I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on ‘Wednesday,'" she claimed. "Everything that Wednesday does, everything I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all."

She claimed that her character's involvement in a "love triangle" "made no sense," and she constantly told writers "No" to plot points, even "changing words" in the screenplay. The 'Scream VI' actress continued, "There were times on that set where I even became almost unprofessional in a sense, where I just started changing lines."

"The script supervisor thought I was going with something and then I had to sit down with the writers, and they’d be like, ‘Wait, what happened to the scene?’ And I’d have to go and explain why I couldn’t go do certain things," Ortega added. She even admitted that most of the time she wasn't happy with how she performed. She stated that while filming, there "was not a scene" where she "went home and was like, ‘OK, that should be fine'".

The young performer, who will feature Elle's April 2023 cover, told the publication that she was "scared" that she wouldn't "live up to people's expectations," adding that earning praise is "unbelievable." The show's producers decided to work with her again despite the script revisions and helpful criticism during filming.

In the three weeks following its November 16 premiere, Netflix claimed that over 150 million homes watched a record-breaking 1.02 billion hours of content. In addition to appearing as Wednesday in a second season, Ortega will also act as an executive producer.

'A toxic male putting down a young woman'

DeKnight's slamming of Ortega did not go well with Wednesday's online fans and followers. Fans reciprocated DeKnight for calling Jenna "toxic." One fan said, "A male actor pushes back on a script, he is labeled as passionate and the conflict is labeled as creative differences. An actress does the same thing and is told she should know her place." Another user claimed, "All I see here is a toxic male putting down a young woman for standing up for her character and herself."

One fan wrote, "Without Ortega there would be no second season. We know it, and the writers and producers know it. Sounds like your problem is she can improve upon a process that's eluded you for 20+ years. Maybe you can learn from her instead of whining about it." "Really.. seeing as how I have no idea who you are.. And she’s a great actress who’s popularity will only grow. I don’t think you’ll ever have to ‘deal’ with her," defended another.

"You mad she did a better job of playing a character and changing lines to make it work better than you ever could? Lol. Only seen one movie you did, and Pacific Rim uprising sucked compared to the first one. Maybe do a better job before you critique other people in the business," wrote another internet user. One more user chimed in, "If you didn’t say anything, no one would remember her interview. You are older than her. You should handle this sort of thing better, instead of venting on twitter and being offended because she said she tried to change some lines. The series was a huge sucess because of her."

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