An actress was in hot water for causally mentioning in an interview that she tested positive for COVID-19 while filming a talked-about scene on the set of a new popular Netflix series.
Prior to the leaked controversy, viewers who have been watching Netflix's Addams Family spin-off series, Wednesday, couldn't stop talking about one particular scene from the eight-episode series centered on the family's creepy goth daughter.
Actress Jenna Ortega captivated audiences with her character's wildly hypnotic dance moves at her school dance.
In episode four, Wednesday cut a rug to the song, “Goo Goo Muck” by the Cramps.
Here is a clip of the dazzling scene fans of the show can't seem to get enough of.
Her killer performance with a deadpan expression inspired TikTokers like the one below to recreate the moment on video adding their own twist.
@emilymeding Double trouble #wednesday#wednesdayaddams#jennaortega#addamsfamily#wednsdaydance#fakebody#fyp#dance#trend#viral#fypシ
In a behind-the-scenes video interview, Ortega said she didn't anticipate the scene becoming so popular.
She also admitted to feeling "insecure" during filming since the 20-year-old actress came up with Wednesday's moves in the dance scene herself.
Said, Ortega:
“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."
Speaking to NME, Ortega let it slip that she was battling COVID through the dance scene.
She recalled:
"I’d gotten the song [The Cramps’ 1981 single ‘Goo Goo Muck’] about a week before and I just pulled from whatever I could… it’s crazy because it was my first day with COVID so it was awful to film.”
Cue record scratch.
Say what?
The actress explained:
“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."
"I felt like I’d been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat and was scratching the walls of my esophagus."
"They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result.”
The company behind the production for Wednesday, MGM, had previously stated:
“strict COVID protocols were followed and once the positive test was confirmed production removed Jenna from set.”
Ortega added:
“I asked to redo it but we didn’t have time. I think I probably could have done it a bit better…”
Meanwhile, there was an online uproar at hearing about how the actress was still allowed on set without an official negative COVID-19 test result.
Social media users slammed the show's producers and the director, Tim Burton, for allowing an unmasked Ortega to put others involved in production at risk for the highly contagious virus.
Entertainment unions like the Directors Guild of America (DGA), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), have reached an extension agreement in October 2022 to ensure a safe return to work environment on many productions through January 2023, with:
"The strictest protocols be implemented on productions occurring in any metropolitan area or county with 14 or more COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population."
The SAG union's website added:
"Importantly, employers retain the right to adopt more stringent requirements regarding masking and testing on a production-by-production basis and to mandate that employees in Zone A be 'up-to-date' on their vaccinations."
