Wednesday Addams - Portrayals

Portrayals

Over the years, Wednesday has been portrayed by a variety of actresses, on television, the movies, and stage:

• Lisa Loring (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977)
• Cindy Henderson (Animated TV 1972–1974)
• Christina Ricci (Live-action movies 1991, 1993)
• Debi Derryberry (Animated TV 1992–1994)
• Nicole Fugere (Live-action movie 1998, Live-action TV 1998–1999)
• Krysta Rodriguez (Broadway musical 2010)
• Rachel Potter (Broadway musical 2011)
• Cortney Wolfson (2011 First National Broadway Tour)
• Laura Lobo (2012 First Brazilian Cast)
• Frankie Lowe (2012 UK National Tour)

• Lisa Loring as Wednesday in The Addams Family original series.

• Christina Ricci as Wednesday in The Addams Family.

• Wednesday is played by Lisa Loring in the original TV series. In the first animated series from Hanna-Barbera, her voice was done by Cindy Henderson. In the second animated series from Hanna-Barbera, she is voiced by Debi Derryberry.

• The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel Addams Family Values (1993), portray Wednesday more malevolent than her television self. Wednesday's personality is severe, with a deadpan wit and a morbid interest in trying to inflict harm upon her brothers, first Pugsley and later Pubert. In both films, she is played by Christina Ricci. In the movie Addams Family Values (1993), Wednesday is sent to a summer camp for "privileged young adults" called Camp Chippewa, where Joel Glicker (played by David Krumholtz), takes a liking to Wednesday. She refuses to participate in Gary Granger's play, a musical production of the first Thanksgiving. She, Pugsley, and Joel are locked in the "Harmony Hut" and forced to watch upbeat family films to curb their antisocial behavior. On emerging from the hut, Wednesday feigns perkiness and agrees to play the role of Pocahontas. However, during the play, she leads the other social outcasts—who have all been cast as Native Americans—in a revolt, capturing Gary, Becky, and Amanda and leaving the camp in chaos. Before she leaves, Wednesday and Joel kiss. Joel is a neurotic, allergy-ridden Jewish boy with an overbearing mother. In one scene in the film, she smiles, which ends up scaring the campers, as well as her blonde arch-nemesis. At the end of the film, it is suggested that Wednesday, though she obviously likes Joel, purposely tries to scare him to death after he brings up the subject of marriage.

• In the 1977 TV movie, Lisa Loring plays a grown-up Wednesday, who mostly entertains their party guests with her flute, and can hear and understand coded help messages by bound-up members of the family, and dispatch help to free them. In the time interval between the original TV series and this movie, her parents had two more children who look just like the original Pugsley and Wednesday.

• Wednesday is portrayed by Nicole Fugere in the straight-to-video movie Addams Family Reunion and Fox Family Channel's television series The New Addams Family, which were both produced in 1998.

• In April 2010, The Addams Family: A New Musical, debuted on Broadway. Krysta Rodriguez played Wednesday. The character is now 18 years old, has "become a woman", and to that effect no longer sports her signature pigtails. The musical is based on the characters as created by Charles Addams. In March, 2011, Krysta Rodriguez was replaced with Rachel Potter as Wednesday in the Broadway cast. Starting in September, 2011, the production begins its First National Tour. Cortney Wolfson has been cast in the Wednesday Addams role. In the Broadway production, she was the understudy for Wednesday and performed as the Dead Bride/Ancestor.