Steve Buscemi Reveals What Working with Jenna Ortega on 'Wednesday' Season 2 Was Like (Exclusive)
Buscemi described Ortega as "great," adding, 'She's just, she's so sharp and funny and down to earth," while speaking exclusively to PEOPLE
season 2 is set to premiere in 2025
Steve Buscemi has nothing but praise for Wednesday costar Jenna Ortega!
Buscemi recently spoke to PEOPLE exclusively while attending the Family Dinner fundraising event hosted by Exploring the Arts, a non-profit founded by Tony Bennett, at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York City. During the conversation, the actor shared what it was like working with Ortega on season 2 of the hit Netflix series.
'Oh, she's great,' Buscemi, 67, tells PEOPLE. 'She's just, she's so sharp and funny and down to earth. And just a wonderful actress, a wonderful scene partner. The best.'
is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!
The Boardwalk Empire star also says that while there's not much he can reveal about the upcoming second season, he can assure fans they won't be disappointed. 'All very hush-hush, as they say, but I think it's going to be a great season, and I loved working on it,' he teases.
Deadline first reported that Buscemi was joining the cast in April 2024. A teaser trailer dropped the following month officially confirmed the news — and revealed that he's playing a character named Barry Dort.
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
Ortega, 22, has also shared her excitement for the upcoming season. During an interview with E! News, Ortega said her character, Wednesday Addams, takes on what she thinks is one of the best scenes yet. 'Some of the footage that we shot in Wednesday season 2, especially in the last episode, is some of my favorite footage from the show,' she said at the time. 'Which is very exciting for me.'
"Tim really had a ball,' she added of executive producer and director Tim Burton. 'Everything is very graphic and it's very exciting and inspiring to work with someone, like, that who gets you excited about the shots that you're doing every day.'
In addition to Ortega, Joy Sunday, Emma Myers, Hunter Doohan, Moosa Mostafa, Victor Dorobantu, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, Isaac Ordonez and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo will be returning for the upcoming season. New cast members will include Billie Piper, Evie Templeton, Owen Painter and Noah Taylor as series regulars.
'We are thrilled that the entire Addams family will be enrolling in Nevermore Academy this season along with a dream cast of icons and new faces,' showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar said in a statement when season 2 was officially announced.
Related: Jenna Ortega Reveals Why It's 'Not Always Easy' Filming Wednesday as She Teases 'Very Graphic' Season 2
Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
'It's been incredible to create a show that has connected with people across the world," they added. 'We can't wait to dive headfirst into another season and explore the kooky spooky world of Nevermore. Just need to make sure Wednesday hasn't emptied the pool first."
The second season — which was filmed in Ireland — promises to be 'delightfully dark, kooky, and mysterious,' Gough and Millar said in a statement, per Tudum. 'If we told you why, Wednesday would kill us. So our lips are sealed.'
Wednesday season 2 is set to premiere on Netflix in 2025.
Read the original article on People
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
'The Hunting Wives' showrunner talks possible Season 2, Texas, series reception
Spoiler alert: This story includes details from episodes of Season 1 of "The Hunting Wives." When "The Hunting Wives" dropped on Netflix on a quiet Monday, July 21, showrunner Rebecca Cutter was hopeful but held her breath. She knew the series was special with all the right ingredients for a summer binge, including its juicy and intriguing storyline, but at the end of the day, it's always the audiences that call the shots. "I let myself fantasize that maybe it would be (a hit) because I knew it was special when we were making it," Cutter told USA TODAY over Zoom on Thursday, July 31. "I knew it was pretty juicy, the chemistry and performances good, but I never wanted to put the cart before the horse. I never really let myself think about going to number one." But when the show hit number four on Netflix's Top 10 in less than a week, Cutter said she had a feeling it could happen. "It's been just really so exciting," she said. The series, adapted from May Cobb's best-selling 2021 novel of the same name, follows Sophie O'Neil (Brittany Snow), who moves from Boston with her family following a traumatic incident to a small East Texas town. Once there, she finds herself pulled into seductive socialite Margo Banks' (Malin Åkerman) exclusive circle of affluent girlfriends, known as the Hunting Wives. While it's all fun, games and guns initially, things quickly spiral out of control when the body of a young girl, Abby (Madison Wolfe), is found, sending shockwaves throughout the small community, with Sophie, Margo and the Hunting Wives finding themselves entangled in the mystery. "Underneath the Southern charm lies a world of temptation and dangerous liaisons," the series synopsis says. "Margo's magnetic charm and the group's intoxicating allure awaken Sophie's dormant passions, leading her down a treacherous path lined with jealousy, deadly suspicion, and murder." When Cutter was approached by the show's executive producer, Erwin Stoff, who had reached out to her with Cobb's novel, she devoured the book, reading it in "pretty much one sitting on a plane." Cutter, who was in contract with Lionsgate, had previously developed "Hightown," which was also a success. "I loved how juicy it was. I loved how horny it was," Cutter said about Cobb's novel. Book vs. series While the book laid out the groundwork for the series, Cutter decided to carve her own path for the show. She started by taking a trip down to Texas, where she met Cobb and her best friend from high school, and the trio visited a bunch of small towns in the state, soaking in the culture and surroundings. One of the things that struck Cutter was the easy gun culture in the Lone Star State. "I was surprised by how comfortable and how many guns there were," Cutter said. "Even though I knew that was in the book, but being there, I was like, 'Oh, it's just like, everybody has it all the time. And that's considered totally normal.'" Cutter said she "leaned into how fun it was," and practiced a few shots herself with an AR-15 and handgun to "see what the fun is". One of the major differences between the book and the series is the identity of Abby's killer. In the book, Jill (played by Katie Lowe in the series) kills Abby, while in the show, Abby is killed by Margo after the former finds out her boyfriend Brad Thompson (George Ferrier) impregnated Margo, with whom he was having a secret affair. "My favorite, favorite thing in the book was when you think that Margo is sort of framing Sophie for the murder, and when it turned out not to be that in the book, I was like, 'Can I get away with it?'" Cutter said. "It's hard, but can you get away with it being the most obvious person? And so that was the challenge I set out for myself." "Also, she dies in the book, and no fricking way is that character dying," Cutter added about Margo. Despite being set in a small, conservative town, "The Hunting Wives" does not shy away, and the series comes with a whole lot of steamy sex scenes, which Cutter says were intentional and "done in the name of character and plot development." "Nothing is just to show boobs," Cutter said. "Even that first scene in the bathroom (where Margo drops her dress, baring her upper torso) in the first five minutes of the show was a hundred percent character thing." "That is a power move by Margo to say, 'I am so comfortable, I don't even care that you're here,'" Cutter explained. "So, every single scene has a purpose." Will 'The Hunting Wives' return for Season 2? While Cutter did not have a definitive answer for whether the series is expected to return for Season 2, the showrunner said she is "very encouraged by the numbers and by the response." "There has not been an official Season 2 order yet, but I'm feeling very hopeful, and even confident that there will be, just because the fans are demanding it," Cutter said. "I want to give the people what they want." The final episode of "The Hunting Wives" lays a lot of the groundwork for a potential Season 2, and Cutter says she is brimming with ideas for the next season. "Season 1 ends in a place where it could go a lot of different directions, and I have an idea of what I think is the right direction," Cutter said. The showrunner explained, the murder mystery storyline and the personal relationships between the wives, "particularly Sophie and Margo," drive the show, so a potential Season 2 would have to "weave those things together." In the season finale, after Sophie learns it was actually Margo who killed Abby, thanks to a tiny tampon, the two have a major falling out despite Margo's efforts. Sophie then attempts to drown her sorrows in alcohol. As she's heading back home from the liquor store, she is stopped by Margo's brother, Kyle, who says he wants to talk to her. However, Sophie, in a moment of panic, runs over him and appears to instantly kill him. Cutter explains that putting Sophie in that position was intentional. "I wanted to go one step beyond the tampon moment and see what happens next and to get them on more equal footing because Sophie, after the tampon moment, has the total moral high ground over Margo," Cutter said. Does Cutter see that as Sophie going back to her old ways, or does she see her as Sophie walking down Margo's path? "A little bit of both," says Cutter. "She certainly is going back to her old ways, but throughout the season, she (Sophie) is becoming Margo-ized." Initially, it's all positive when it's just the girls hanging out and posing with their guns for Instagram, but when Sophie gets accused of murder, "she has to put on her big girl panties like Margo and get tough, really fast," says Cutter. "She learns all that (survival) from Margo," she adds. "By the end, she has sort of fully realized herself as a killer. They both have." What to know: Will Netflix's 'The Hunting Wives' have a Season 2? How to watch 'The Hunting Wives' All eight episodes of "The Hunting Wives" are available to stream on Netflix. Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@ and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
Los Angeles Times
41 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
South Koreans are obsessed with Netflix's ‘K-pop Demon Hunters.' Here's why
SEOUL — When South Koreans start to obsess over a movie or TV series, they abbreviate its name, a distinction given to Netflix's latest hit 'K-pop Demon Hunters.' In media headlines and in every corner of the internet, the American-made film is now universally referred to as 'Keh-deh-hun' — the first three syllables of the title when read aloud in Korean. And audiences are already clamoring for a sequel. The animated film follows a fictional South Korean girl group named 'HUNTR/X' as its three members — Rumi, Mira and Zoey — try to deliver the world from evil through the power of song and K-pop fandom. Since its release in June, it has become the most watched original animated film in Netflix history, with millions of views worldwide, including the U.S. and South Korea, where its soundtrack has topped the charts on local music streaming platform Melon. Fans have also cleaned out the gift shop at the National Museum of Korea, which has run out of a traditional tiger pin that resembles one of the movie's characters. Much of the film's popularity in South Korea is rooted in its keenly observed details and references to Korean folklore, pop culture and even national habits — the result of having a production team filled with K-pop fans, as well as a group research trip to South Korea that co-director Maggie Kang led in order to document details as minute as the appearance of local pavement. There are nods to traditional Korean folk painting, a Korean guide to the afterlife, the progenitors of K-pop and everyday mannerisms. In one scene, at a table in a restaurant where the three girls are eating, viewers might notice how the utensils are laid atop a napkin, an essential ritual for dining out in South Korea — alongside pouring cups of water for everyone at the table. 'The more that I watch 'Keh-deh-hun,' the more that I notice the details,' South Korean music critic Kim Yoon-ha told local media last month. 'It managed to achieve a verisimilitude that would leave any Korean in awe.' :: Despite its subject matter and association with the 'K-wave,' that catch-all term for any and all Korean cultural export, 'K-pop Demon Hunters,' at least in the narrowest sense, doesn't quite fit the bill. Produced by Sony Pictures and directed by Korean Canadian Kang and Chris Appelhans — who has held creative roles on other animated films such as 'Coraline' and 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' — the movie is primarily in English and geared toward non-Korean audiences. But its popularity in South Korea is another sign that the boundaries of the K-wave are increasingly fluid — and that, with more and more diaspora Korean artists entering the mix, it flows in the opposite direction, too. Those barriers have already long since broken down in music: many K-pop artists and songwriters are non-Korean or part of the Korean diaspora, reflecting the genre's history of foreign influences such as Japanese pop or American hip-hop. 'Once a cultural creation acquires a universality, you can't just confine it to the borders of the country of origin, which is where K-pop is today,' said Kim Il-joong, director of the content business division at the Korea Creative Content Agency, a government body whose mission is to promote South Korean content worldwide. 'Despite what the name 'K-pop' suggests, it is really a global product.' In 'K-pop Demon Hunters,' Zoey is a rapper from Burbank. In addition, the soundtrack was written and performed by a team that includes producers, artists and choreographers associated with some of the biggest real-life K-pop groups of the past decade. Streaming productions are increasingly flying multiple flags, too: Apple TV's 'Pachinko' or Netflix's 'XO, Kitty' are both American productions that were filmed in South Korea. But few productions have been able to inspire quite the same level of enthusiasm as 'K-pop Demon Hunters,' whose charm for many South Koreans is how accurately it captures local idiosyncrasies and contemporary life. While flying in their private jet, the three girls are shown sitting on the floor even though there is a sofa right beside them. This tendency to use sofas as little more than backrests is an endless source of humor and self-fascination among South Koreans, most of whom would agree that the centuries-old custom of sitting on the floor dies hard. South Korean fans and media have noted that the characters correctly pronounce 'ramyeon,' or Korean instant noodles. The fact that ramyeon is often conflated with Japanese ramen — which inspired the invention of the former decades ago — has long been a point of exasperation for many South Koreans and local ramyeon companies, which point to the fact that the Korean adaption has since evolved into something distinct. It's a small difference — the Korean version is pronounced 'rah myun' — but one that it pays to get right in South Korea. The girls' cravings for ramyeon during their flight also caught the eye of Ireh, a member of the real-life South Korean girl group Purple Kiss who praised the film's portrayals of life as a K-pop artist. 'I don't normally eat ramyeon but whenever I go on tour, I end up eating it,' she said in a recent interview with local media. 'The scene reminded me of myself.' South Korean fans have also been delighted by a pair of animals, Derpy and Sussy, which borrow from jakhodo, a genre of traditional Korean folk painting in which tigers and magpies are depicted side by side, popularized during the Joseon Dynasty in the 19th century. In the film, Derpy is the fluorescent tiger with goggle eyes that always appears with its sidekick, a three-eyed bird named Sussy. Though they have long since been extinct, tigers were once a feared presence on the Korean peninsula, at times coming down from the mountains to terrorize the populace. They were also revered as talismans that warded off evil spirits. But much like Derpy itself, jakhodo reimagined tigers as friendlier, oftentimes comical beings. Historians have interpreted this as the era's political satire: the magpie, audacious in the presence of a great predator, represented the common man standing up to the nobility. The movie is peppered with homages to Korean artists throughout history who are seen today as the progenitors of contemporary K-pop. There are apparent nods to the 'Jeogori Sisters,' a three-piece outfit that was active from 1939 to 1945 and is often described as Korea's first girl group, followed by the Kim Sisters, another three-piece that found success in the U.S., performing in Las Vegas and appearing on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' Longtime K-pop fans might recognize the demon hunters from the 1990s as S.E.S., a pioneering girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment, the label behind present-day superstars Aespa and Red Velvet. (Bada, S.E.S.'s main vocalist, recently covered 'Golden,' the film's headline track, on YouTube.) For a long time, South Korean audiences have often complained about outside depictions of the country as inauthentic and out of touch. Not anymore. 'Korea wasn't just shown as an extra add-on as it has been for so long,' Kim said. ''K-pop Demon Hunters' did such a great job depicting Korea in a way that made it instantly recognizable to audiences here.'
Cosmopolitan
42 minutes ago
- Cosmopolitan
When was Perfect Match season three filmed? Intro-ing the couple who are already expecting!
Perfect Match may well be the final boss of reality tv dating shows. The Netflix show brings together alumni from other dating shows (primarily those that have shown on Netflix such as Love Is Blind, Too Hot To Handle, and Temptation Island, but, this season, familiar faces from the likes of Love Island and The Batchelor) Now, season three has been dropped on our screens and, well, we have questions! Specifically, a duo who met on this very season of Perfect Match are not only a confirmed couple but engaged a baby. Yep, sorry for the spoilers, but Ollie (of Love Is Blind UK) and AD (of Love Is Blind) are very certainly together. They were spotted hanging out and being loved up last summer (as 2024) and announced their engagement in a Love Is Blind reunion episode in March 2025. Back in May, they also announced that they are expecting a baby (too cute!). So, with all that in mind, it's clear that a major chunk of time has passed between Perfect Match season three being filmed, and its eventual release this week. The news that Perfect Match was renewed for a third season was announced on June 27, 2024, a week after the second season wrapped. It seems that the show began filming shortly after, which suggests that Ollie and AD have been loved up for around a year. We don't know if these two will be the winning couple for Perfect Match season three, but they definitely prove that love is real! Currently, the first six episodes of the season are available to watch on Netflix and three more will be made available on 8th August and the show will conclude on 15th August. So excited to see how this pans out...
