Netflix’s Wednesday, which premiered on November 23rd 2022, has been nothing short of a phenomenon. From becoming one of the most successful English-language titles on the streaming site, to shaping the musical tastes of teenagers, the Jenna Ortega-starring show continues to attract more watchers with each passing week.
Telling the story of the titular Wednesday Addams, it follows her adventures at Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts haunted by a string of grisly murders. Somehow connected to the deaths, the teenager must use all of her wit to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Whilst the show delivered many memorable characters, one of the most celebrated by fans is Gwendoline Christie’s principal of Nevermore, Larissa Weems. In a new interview with Vogue, she revealed that Tim Burton, who directed the first four episodes of Wednesday, gave her freedom to style her character as she saw fit.
She then stated that for her aesthetic, she took inspiration from Tippi Hedren’s character, Melanie Daniels, in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds. However, Christie sought to subvert the convention of Hitchcock heroines and not have Weems as a victim.
Christie explained: “Larissa Weems is very special to me, because Tim Burton said to me, ‘Do whatever you want with the character. And that was a gift. I wanted to subvert this idea of the Hitchcock heroine. It was a part I would never have been cast as, I would never be cast to look that way. And I wanted this woman to be not a victim, but someone ruthless, someone that’s grown up being in the shadow of Morticia, someone that’s used to being second best, someone that’s used to nothing ever quite being good enough. And I figured she would look to that magic portal, the cinema, in the same way that I had when I was growing up and would want to embody one of those heroines.”
Watch Wednesday on Netflix now.
