Every star to portray Wednesday Addams so far - a journey through supernatural times

Well before Wednesday ever meandered her way into your Netflix watchlist, in 1938, Charles Addams, an American cartoonist who was known so fondly and appreciated for his darkly humorous and whimsical one-panel cartoons in The New Yorker, introduced the Addams Family to the world. And that leads us to our Hollywood, supernatural sightseeing tour of all the actresses who have ever played the role of Wednesday Addams. From a sweet, pigtailed child on 1960s television to a streaming-era, supernatural teenager, every actor added a certain spark to their portrayal. Below is a list of actresses who are known to have stepped into the role of Wednesday Addams in TV, film, and animation.

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Jenna Ortega in Wednesday (2022 – present)

Jenna Ortega revamps Wednesday into the streaming era with gothic flair, death stares, the famous dance sequence on Goo Goo Muck, and an uncharacteristic vulnerability. Ortega’s Wednesday has the capacity to be both brutally dismissive and off-beat sympathetic. Netflix played up mystery and magic, rendering Wednesday with so much more agency (and some actual powers), and Ortega made the character a viral phenomenon.

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Karina Varadi in Wednesday (2022 - present)

In the Netflix sensation Wednesday (2022), the younger Wednesday was portrayed through flashbacks by Karina Varadi. She had a minor role, but Varadi knocks it out of the park with that dry, little-but-fierce energy: even as a little child, Wednesday was scheming, noting, and perhaps slightly over-loving her pet scorpion. In spite of it being a brief cameo, it has stuck in the mind of gothic lovers who savour every detail.

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Chloë Grace Moretz in The Addams Family (2019) and The Addams Family 2 (2021)

In the 2019 animated motion picture of The Addams Family, and the 2021 sequel, Wednesday was voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz, who gave her a jaunty, modern voice that suited the more family-friendly comedy nature of the films. Moretz brings more energy to her Wednesday, tween angst mixed with deadpan humor, which works well in the context of the expressive playground of animation. Her delivery gravitates to the lighter instead of the darker side and makes the macabre lines wonky and approachable for both children and adults.

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Nicole Fugere in Addams Family Reunion (1998) and The New Addams Family (1998–1999)

Nicole Fugere took over Wednesday's role in the direct-to-video film Addams Family Reunion, and then as the titular character in the television series The New Addams Family. Fugere combined irksome teen eye rolling with withering sarcasm on Wednesday, fit for the more light, faster-paced format of a TV series. Playing Wednesday in both the motion picture and the television series allowed her to keep the character in the limelight and provide fans with a different, more family-friendly version of the character in the late 1990s.

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Debi Derryberry in The Addams Family (1992-1993)

Debi Derryberry, who lent her voice in the 1990s animated series The Addams Family, injected an upbeat, cynical zeal that was ideal for a cartoon show. A master of quick voice work, Derryberry provided Wednesday with fast delivery and timing, which complemented the zappy plot lines and visual humor. This animated version of Wednesday made the character popular among kids who had not watched the older shows or movies by presenting the character in a more light-hearted, humorous way, which still possessed the child-friendly appeal.

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Christina Ricci in The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993)

Yes, Christina Ricci, who portrays Laurel Gates in Netflix’s Wednesday (2022–present), also played Wednesday Addams in the 90s films The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993). Christina Ricci caused an entire generation to feel deadly cool after her Wednesday hit the theatres. Her performance saw a delicate proportional combination of the qualities of child and devilish delight; she was able to be fun and frightening at the same time. The audience adored that play of contrast, and make-ups of the ‘90s, Wednesday became an example of goth fashion, Halloween outfits, and a trove of memes. 90s Wednesday became an icon of goth clothing, Halloween styles, and a trove of memes.

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Noelle Von Sonn in The Addams Family Fun House (1973)

In 1973, prior to any full-scale Addams revival launching, Noelle Von Sonn appeared as Wednesday in a zany pilot of ABC's musical variety program, The Addams Family Fun House. This never made it as a series, but Von Sonn offered an amused preview, an early taste of what Wednesday might have been outside the sitcom of the late '60s. The mini-risk-mini-giggle performance of Noelle Von Sonn opened up roads to subsequent adventures.

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Cindy Henderson in The Addams Family (1973)

Wednesday of the 1973 animated series The Addams Family, which was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, was voiced by Cindy Henderson, who gave the character a Saturday-morning cartoon ton of energy. It is her voice contribution that made Wednesday acceptable to the younger audience without having to do away with that touch of the macabre in it, like its pitch, timing, and comic deliveries that would match the animation’s bouncier beats. The adaptation caused an intersection between the initial live-action sitcom and any subsequent remakes and revivals, and showed that Wednesday could be as exciting in voiceover form as much as she was in her visual form.

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Lisa Loring in The Addams Family (1964–1966)

And the first Wednesday on television happens to be Lisa Loring, who played the wide-eyed, braided kid in the original sitcom The Addams Family, which ran between 1964-1966. At the age of six, she brought a mildly deadpan charm, a bit creepy but mostly cuteness. The family's weirdness turned into an essential, prime-time sitcom fun. She did not feel like the wicked, black-hearted plotter that later versions occasionally developed into; her Wednesday was the kid next door who just liked skeletons.