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The highly anticipated, Tim Burton-produced comedy-horror series Wednesday was recently released on Netflix and the reviews are in: audiences are loving it. One of the main praises for the show is Jenna Ortega, who shines as much as she haunts portraying the titular character. Ortega’s casting also finally cements the Addams Family as Latinx, something that has been codified since the 60s. And with co-stars like Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, and Fred Armisen, the show was bound to be a spooky smash hit. One Wednesday character in particular, though, is gaining attention online—the disembodied hand named Thing.
In a world where CGI is the norm in TV and film, many believed Thing to be a complete product of post-production magic. Fans online were amazed to find out that behind the scenes, Thing is real and attached to a 6’2″ man dressed in bright blue. Ortega shares, “Tim wanted [Thing] to be an actual actor like they did in the 90s films, so it was this magician named Victor.”
Magician, illusionist, and first-time actor Victor Dorobantu was an obvious choice for Thing, says visual effects supervisor Tom Turnbull. “He had a good look for his hands, which helped,” he explains. “But really, he has amazing dexterity, and amazing speed. There are actually some shots of him, live-action, where he looks like…he’s almost stop-motion, because his actions are so fast. He can move his hand much faster than anybody else.”
With the talented Dorobantu casted for the arduous role, the team set to work rehearsing. Dorobantu worked closely with Turnbull and Burton to perfect the movements and positioning, and on the first day of shooting, Turnbull says, “It was clear that everything we’d done up to that point had paid off. Victor knew what to do.” Ortega reveals, “[Dorobantu] would hide behind walls and underneath beds. Then they built this prosthetic on top of his hand so that it looked like a wrist knob, and he would walk around.”
In the series, Thing is tasked with looking after Wednesday as she goes off to attend a new school, meaning Ortega and Dorobantu worked closely together, creating a language only the two of them understood. “It was so funny, because the Thing language was just made up on the day. Every day we’d show up and go, ‘Ahhh…’ [hand motions] ‘That looks right. I feel like I kind of know what he’s saying.’” Turnbull commends Ortega’s commitment to the role, saying, “Jenna was talking to a hand and managing to ignore this large person in a blue suit standing behind it. It was quite magical on set, and was extremely rewarding to see.”
Wednesday is available to watch on Netflix. Scroll below to see some behind-the-scenes looks at how these amazing practical effects were done.
The highly anticipated, Tim Burton-produced comedy-horror series Wednesday was recently released on Netflix and audiences are loving it.
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Fans are loving one character in particular—the disembodied hand named Thing.
Thing is the sweetest character ever pic.twitter.com/CaM9Wdxo3V
— Alex | WEDNESDAY SPOILERS (@shalifoefilms) November 27, 2022
Something that might surprise fans, though, is that Thing was actually portrayed by first-time actor Victor Dorobantu.
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Through intense rehearsals, the magic of practical effects, and a bit of post-production, Dorobantu was able to pull off the arduous role.
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Wednesday viewers are sharing online that all of the team’s hard work paid off.
absolutely obsessed that this is how they filmed thing in wednesday on netflix pic.twitter.com/MFjdF5FK9J
— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) November 26, 2022
THING was the star in the whole series OMG..#wednesdayaddams #wednesdaynetflix pic.twitter.com/3n6BTKRykV
— sanmeyo (@sandeep_sanmeyo) November 24, 2022
Y’ALL CAN FIGHT ME, BUT THING WAS DEFINITELY THE HERO OF THIS SHOW. THIS FCKING HAND NOT ONLY SAVED WEDNESDAY, BUT LITERALLY EVERYONE FROM THAT WILLY WONKA CREEPY HAT GUY. #wednesdaynetflix pic.twitter.com/YrUYcxDG6q
— squishy namjoon⁷ ✨ (@SquishyNamjoon7) November 25, 2022
h/t: [BuzzFeed]
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