The day Jenna Ortega filmed the now-iconic dance scene on Netflix’s Wednesday, she woke up with cold symptoms that resembled COVID. She took a test, and while waiting for the results, shot the dance she had choreographed herself.
“It’s crazy because it was my first day with COVID so it was awful to film,” Ortega told NME during an interview that was released ahead of the show dropping on the streamer. “I woke up and – it’s weird, I never get sick, and when I do, it’s not very bad.”
The actress explained that she woke up with body aches, which isn’t something she typically feels, even when she does get sick.
“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,” she continued. “They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result.”
Once Ortega’s test came back positive, MGM, the production company behind Wednesday, told the publication that “strict protocols were followed,” adding, “once the positive test was confirmed production removed Jenna from set.”
When Ortega recovered, she asked if she could redo the scene, but there wasn’t enough time in the production schedule. “I think I probably could have done it a bit better,” she added.
The actress said that she got the song for the dance scene, The Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck,” a week before filming it and came up with the choreography herself.
“I’m not a dancer,” she said, “and I’m sure that’s obvious.”
