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Christina Ricci Shares How the Wednesday Cast Felt the Impact of the Ukraine War First Hand

At Netflix's Wednesday premiere, Christina Ricci, who stars in the new series after her own stint as Wednesday Addams, shared how conflict near Romania “bonded” the cast.

By Charlotte Walsh Nov 17, 2022 10:49 PMTags
Watch: Christina Ricci Reveals "Tense" Wednesday Story From Set

Christina Ricci is sharing a scary experience. 

The actress, who stars as the mysterious new character Marilyn Thornhill in Netflix's Wednesday series, explained how a global tragedy affected the filming of the series. 

After E! News asked if Ricci had "any stories from set," the actress shared that the cast was filming in Romania when Russian president Vladimir Putin announced an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. The war has since killed at least 38,000 people and displaced at least 14 million, according to Reuters

"We were seven miles from that power plant that almost was—the nuclear power plant that almost exploded," Ricci exclusively told E! News. "So it was a little tense. But we all bonded over how soon our government would get us out of there if anything crazy happened."

Filming on Wednesday began in Sept. 2021 in Bucharest, Romania, and wrapped up the next March.

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Wednesday Premiere: Star Sightings

Ricci famously played the role of Wednesday Addams in 1991's The Addams Family and its 1993 sequel, Addams Family Values. Now, she's handing the role over to Jenna Ortega, who will be portraying Wednesday as she transfers to Nevermore Academy, which is a "safe haven" for even the freakiest of supernatural children, according to the series' trailer

But, according to Ricci, Ortega didn't need any coaching to get into the role. 

Michael Tullberg/FilmMagic

"She is such a competent adult actress," the Yellowjackets star revealed. "She does not need me telling her how to do anything. She's so wonderful."

Watch Ortega's performance for yourself when Wednesday premieres on Netflix Nov. 23. 

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