Jenna Ortega revealed it: the sacrifices to be Merlina were many. Find out here what were her main challenges in giving life to the eldest daughter of the Addams family.
Maybe you’ve heard it over and over again: “Jenna Ortega is very good in the role of Merlina, but even I could do it without problems.” This is what some people dare to say when they see Jenna’s amazing work. Obviously, they do not know everything that the actress had to go through The Fallout so that Merlina was such a believable character that she even looked easy to interpret. The sacrifices to be Merlina were many. Let’s take a look at what Jenna Ortega had to do to slip into the role that she’s making history with.
The challenges of being Merlina
There is no actress in the world who could play Merlina without the necessary training beforehand. That included archery, martial arts classes, fencing, German, and playing musical instruments, like the cello. As Jenna herself told us in an interview, she only had three months to learn to play this complicated instrument. Though she admits she didn’t master it like Merlina herself, if you look at it, she looks like a pro at it, even with the bang.
The sacrifices to be Merlina
Actors’ schedules are heavier than you think, but in the case of merlinJenna could have set a new record.
As said by the same star of scream to Teen Vogue in an interview, on normal days she had to get up at 4:30 in the morning to go to the wardrobe and then to makeup. From there she went to 12-hour work days in which she ate when she could, because when she had free time she had to practice on the cello or her action scenes.
Tim Burton’s challenges
Producer and director Tim Burton also had some special demands on Jenna. One of them was not blinking in a shot that took her time. The reason? That by not blinking Merlina looked more threatening. This was a decision that was made during filming, so Jenna couldn’t prepare for it. Interestingly, it was something Jenna was doing unintentionally while filming that Burton liked.
The finger challenge
Normally, when filming with a non-existent character, like a flying monster or… Fingers, the hand that is part of the Addams family, it is done through special effects, but in merlin it didn’t happen like that. Jenna says that Burton wanted him to be a real actor, like it was done in the 90s. That’s where Victor Dorobantu came in, wearing all blue, so the camera wouldn’t catch him, and hiding behind walls or under beds. . In addition, they built a prosthetic on top of his hand to bring Fingers to life, Jenna explains.
As you will see, the sacrifices to be Merlina were many, but they have been worth it, because the Netflix series is the most watched in the history of the platform. It seems that in the end, it was all worth it.
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