(Credits: Netflix)

Jenna Ortega did a lot to become Wednesday Addams. She learnt to play the cello. She choreographed that now-iconic dance. She perfected the deadpan stare. But the thing that really stuck with people was how she barely blinked. Seriously, how do you act through an entire show with your eyes wide open?

Turns out, it was not part of the plan. Ortega once explained how it happened during the first few weeks of filming. In one take, she didn’t blink at all. It just happened naturally. She wasn’t trying to be spooky. She just reset her face, dropped all the muscles, and slipped into character.

Tim Burton noticed. And he made a call. He told her, “I don’t want you to blink anymore.” That was it. From that moment on, blinking was off the table. Ortega leaned into it fully, and somehow, it worked.

What makes it even stranger is that she did not realise how powerful it looked. For her, it was more of a mental switch. Each take began with her clearing out her expression. That stillness became the base of her performance. No tics, no flickers. Just calm, flat energy with a stare that did all the talking.

And then came the Kubrick stare. Burton, of course, brought it up on set. He liked the look of her staring through her eyebrows. It is a subtle but iconic trick. Head tilted down, eyes up. It worked for The Shining. It worked for A Clockwork Orange. And now it worked for Wednesday.

There is something deeply unsettling about someone who does not blink. It takes away the natural rhythm of human interaction. It gives them power. Ortega’s version of Wednesday wasn’t just a quirky teen. She was unreadable, unshakeable. It wasn’t forced weirdness. It was total control.

The stillness also added a layer of tension to every scene. Whether she was confronting a villain or walking through school hallways, the lack of blinking made her look calculating. It forced the viewer to watch her more closely. It is a subtle form of command. You do not look away because she never does.

Even in moments of emotional intensity, Ortega held her ground. The restraint made her performance all the more impressive. Most actors rely on small physical cues to express emotion. She did it with her voice, her stillness, and her eyes. It gave Wednesday a new kind of emotional language.

The result was so effective that some fans thought it was CGI. But it wasn’t. Ortega held that stare through full takes. That takes focus, physical discipline, and commitment. No visual trick can match that kind of presence.

What is fascinating is how that one small choice helped reshape an iconic character. Older versions of Wednesday were playful, exaggerated, and sometimes cartoonish. Ortega stripped all of that away. She did not have to announce her weirdness. She just stood still and stared. And suddenly, everyone else became the joke.

So the next time you catch yourself blinking at the screen while she does not, remember how it started. A single take. A quick note from the director. And an actress willing to give her entire body to the role. Sometimes, the most haunting performances do not come from effects or costumes. Sometimes, they come from not blinking at all.