The show’s make-up design brings a fresh yet vampy element to the character’s typically monochrome gothic look
Wednesday Addams is a visually iconic film character with two long plaits, a black dress and unflinching poker-face. While she made her first on-screen appearance back in 1964, most of us will likely remember best Christina Ricci’s turn from The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), both directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.
Netflix’s latest stab at the franchise is Wednesday, a spinoff series of the classic horror comedy that is causing a stir not just for its morbidly charming plot but also for the titular character’s subtle departure from previous looks. Twenty-year-old Jenna Ortega stars as Wednesday, but rather than emulate Ricci’s bare-faced and serious yet sarcastic take on character, Ortega has brought a new and darker style to the table that echos director Tim Burton’s iconic style.
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Ortega’s version is slightly older than Ricci’s—the storyline follows her around Nevermore Academy, a boarding school for “outcasts and monsters”—so she has a more mature appearance that introduces a long wispy fringe and soft vampy make-up. Her look throughout much of the series features subtly lined eyes and tinted lips that look stained by berries… or blood? The Rave’N school dance scene in particular has everyone raving about it; no, not Cousin Itt, but Wednesday’s make-up look.