Jenna Ortega initially rejected the offer of playing Wednesday Addams

Jenna Ortega has revealed that she initially rejected the offer of playing Wednesday Addams.

The 20-year-old actor stars in the hit show Wednesday, which has become one of Netflix’s most popular shows.

It ranks behind Stranger Things 4 as the streaming giant’s most-watched English-language series of all time.

Despite this, Ortega has revealed that she actually turned down multiple offers to star in her breakthrough role.

“I got the email, passed on it,” she told The Times, . “I had done so much TV in my life. All I’ve ever wanted to do is film…You have to prove yourself. It’s only in the last three or four years that I’ve been able to start going up for film.

“I was scared that by signing on to another television show it could prevent me from doing other jobs I really wanted and cared about.”

Ortega said the “only reason I went back is because director Tim [Burton] is such a legend, and we just happened to get along very well.

“But even then I said, ‘Ah, no – I think I’m OK,’ a couple [more] times.”

Ortega also admitted she didn’t expect Wednesday to be as much of a hit as it was.

“I thought it wasn’t going to be watched,” she said. “That it will be a nice little gem that someone finds, but [most people don’t].”

Earlier this month, Ortega said that she had to put her “foot down” after reading Wednesday’s script.

“When I read the entire series, I realised, ‘Oh, this is for younger audiences,’” Ortega told Dax Shepard on an episode of his Armchair Expert podcast.

“When I first signed onto the show, I didn’t have all the scripts. I thought it was going to be a lot darker. It wasn’t… I didn’t know what the tone was, or what the score would sound like.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on Wednesday,” she added.