Fans upset to find out Jenna Ortega didn't always play cello in Wednesday despite taking lessons
A musician has taken to TikTok 'annoyed' over one scene in Wednesday where Jenna Ortega doesn't actually appear to be playing the cello.
The bar is rising higher and higher for actors to have other transferrable skills - particularly in music, like Joseph Quinn who absolutely bossed 'most of' Eddie's epic guitar solo in the land of the Upside Down as the character heroically faced a hoard of demo-bats. No, I'm still not over it.
In the recent Tim Burton-directed Netflix release, Wednesday, Jenna Ortega plays the titular role of Wednesday Addams, a kookie and creative student who is coming to terms with her psychic ability all while cutting some impressive 80s shapes on the dance floor and also bashing out a bit of the cello.
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But... Is it really Ortega herself who plays the instrument or did the film hire a musician?
A musician has since taken to TikTok to weigh in on the matter, calling out one of the movie's scenes to point out a flawed moment where Ortega's hand movements on the cello don't match with a certain type of sound emulating from it.
They captioned the clip: "Props to Jenna for learning cello for this role but anyone else annoyed they didn't get her to pluck that section."
The video shows Ortega seemingly playing the instrument, but the cello's music then turns pizzicato (a type of sound which means the strings are being plucked) and Ortega's hand movements don't match up - the actor still 'clearly bowing' the cello.
Other Wednesday viewers were quick to leap to the comments to agree with the dissonance between Ortega's gesture and the sound.
One said: "Omg same. i noticed that and was so annoyed that they didnt atleast get her to pretend to pluck while it was playing."
"I was sitting there like 'Isnt this pizzicato'," another wrote.
However, a third argued: "She had two months to practice for this role. I think she did fantastic given the time frame."
Indeed, just because Ortega wasn't fully playing the cello in the scene shared to TikTok, doesn't mean she didn't play in other moments in the film.
The actor told WIRED she did, in fact, start to learn how to play the cello 'about two months before [the film] started shooting'.
She continued: "I probably couldn’t play too well now just because I’ve been away from home so much working and it is something that I want to continue to pursue.
"I love music. I think there’s so much to be found in music and you learn a lot, not only about your own personal taste and how far you’re willing to extend yourself but then also about different cultures and what is celebrated in other places in the world. And I think that that’s a really beautiful thing."
Topics: Film and TV, Netflix, Celebrity, Music, TikTok, Viral, Social Media
Poppy Bilderbeck