Jenna Ortega reprises her ‘Wednesday’ dance for ‘SNL’ promo
Jenna Ortega just can't escape the "Wednesday" dance.
In a video posted to the "Saturday Night Live" YouTube, the comedy sketch group Please Don't Destroy presents a pitch to Ortega: They all do the viral routine together to promote the show.
The clip begins with Ortega flipping through a script on the set of "Saturday Night Live," which she will host March 11 with musical guest The 1975.
"Honestly this is really well written," she says. "I just, I don't feel like I want to do the 'Wednesday' dance for promo because we've seen so much of that already, and I think it's time to do something new."
The video pans to show Martin Herlihy, John Higgins and Ben Marshall dressed head to toe in the character's signature goth attire, complete with black boots, a frilly dress and dramatic red lip.
"We didn't want to do the dance either, so," Herlihy says, in an halfhearted attempt to downplay his excitement.
"Oh OK I just didn't know because you're all dressed exactly like Wednesday," Ortega points out.
The trio responds by pretending that they aren't familiar with the hit Netflix show "Wednesday." Doing the dance with Ortega "wouldn't be a dream come true," Marshall says.
"I barely know it," Higgins adds, while acting out the moves with his hands.
But the dance's creator eventually agrees and takes the stage with Marshall and Higgins on either side of her. The trio begins the famous dance as Lady Gaga's "Bloody Mary" plays. Ortega channels her character as she reluctantly performs the routine, all without cracking a smile.
"Perfect, I think we've got it guys," Herlihy says, still dressed as Wednesday while recording off-stage.
"Wait, you put all that stuff on just to film it?" a perplexed Ortega asks as the clip ends.
Ortega revealed last year on "The Tonight Show" that she did not work with a choreographer for the iconic dance. Instead, director Tim Burton relied on her to improvise her moves.
Just days before the shoot, Burton approached Ortega in her trailer about the dance with an encouraging message.
According to Ortega, he said, “Hey Jenna, I know you said you wanted to choreograph this yourself because I refused to see a choreographer... I know you’ve got it, you’ve been working on it, I’m not even worried about it, I trust you."
Only, Ortega hadn’t finished the dance at all. So, she spent the next two days watching clips of goth kids dancing in clubs in the 1980s.
“I have no experience in that field (dancing),” she said. “I didn’t sleep for two days.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
