Catherine Zeta-Jones Unpacks Wednesday-Morticia Drama for Season 3

[This story contains spoilers from Wednesday season two, Part 2.]

Catherine Zeta-Jones was thrilled for her character, Morticia Addams, to have a prominent story arc in season two of Netflix‘s Wednesday, even if it included quite a bit of family drama.

With Wednesday’s (Jenna Ortega) parents, Morticia and Gomez (Luis Guzmán), also staying at Nevermore Academy, Tim Burton’s hit series created hurdles for the mischievous title character, as well as a new source of contention between mother and daughter. As Wednesday continues with her reckless use of her psychic abilities, the matriarch of the Addams Family is also trying to stop history from repeating itself, which could see Wednesday face a similar fate to Morticia’s sister, Ophelia Frump.

“As much as you want to put them in a glass box and protect them forever, you need them to understand by themselves,” Zeta-Jones says of playing the onscreen mother. “But hopefully in season three, we can delve deeper into my mother-daughter relationship.”

Below, Zeta-Jones unpacks her character arc this season, navigating Wednesday and Morticia’s strained relationship, having a more prominent family dynamic in the already renewed third season and her hopes for her character in the next installment.

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I have to say, it was so exciting seeing Morticia and Gomez Addams on my screen more this season.

We never got the whole eight episodes [scripts] all in one, which is always a little terrifying to me as an actor if I don’t know what I’m doing at the end of it. I find it really terrifying; I just have to give that to God and move on. So as the scripts were coming in, it was really exciting for me to see what a beautiful arc they put in for me and Luis. And it didn’t stand out as though we just want more of Morticia and Gomez — they wove it so effortlessly and organically. 

I was thrilled that I had such a wonderful dynamic with the great Dame Joanna Lumley (Grandmama Hester Frump), who I was brought up with. I was a 14-year-old child when I met her; I was just so in awe of her. So there’s this wonderful three generations of women that we play, and my relationship with Wednesday is contentious, but so is my relationship with my mother. It was fun to play all that, and of course, playing Morticia is just fun. It’s one of those roles where there’s the humor and sensitivities and emotions, and it’s a lot of fun to step into her shoes. 

What was it like bringing a much more prominent family dynamic into the show this season?

The writers, Miles [Millar] and Al [Gough], are really susceptible to the fanbase that Wednesday had from the first season. It’s like a community. It touched generations from 9 to 99 year olds; it was amazing. So I think they fed off of what the community was saying, and incorporated the family more and that dynamic. But it doesn’t sidestep away from the true beautiful performance of Jenna Ortega as Wednesday, and all those amazing kids who played all those characters. 

It’s a lot of fun to be around such creativity for that amount of time. For the first season, I was in for a few weeks. And I must say, seven months is a long time to be on one project [for season two], but to be around Tim [Burton] and all the creative forces that bring Wednesday to life was really wonderful. When they announced that we were going to do season three, Al and Miles sent out a group email to all of us saying, “Throw us any ideas you have.” That says so much about what this world is. It’s so much fun!

Morticia and Wednesday are dealing with a strained relationship this season. While the Addams Family aren’t affectionate people to begin with, how did you specifically approach the mother-daughter contention this season? 

When you think of 80 years ago when these characters jumped from the pages of a cartoon strip, there was something incredibly modern about their values and the family. And they stand true today — they’re reclusive, they embrace idiosyncrasies as opposed to squashing them and partaking to what is considered normal. When you think this was written and drawn so many years ago, it’s profoundly modern. I think a lot of people relate to the Addams Family in that way. I think people relate to contentious relationships with your offspring, so it was making sure that it wasn’t constantly contentious. Morticia has this wonderful lighter look into the world as opposed to Wednesday. They’re polar opposites in so many ways, but very similar in others. It’s just fun to play anything with Jenna Ortega, I have to say, without sounding like a sycophant, which I really do. 

It’s very modern issues in a very quirky, outcast-ish family. You never really see the Adams family around people who are not like them. I’m hoping that in season three, we’re able to see the Addams Family outside of their world. That’s always interesting to see how people react, and how you react in the world that’s not an outcast world. 

What are your overall hopes for Morticia in season three?

I hope that I can have such a great character arc as I did in season two. But then again, I don’t know which way they’re gonna go. I literally have no idea. I’d like to have more time with my mother and do more of a backstory there. Through our communication and actions, we kind of solidify that something went down that was completely, quite devastating for Moriticia. We saw [one of the things in Part 2]. Selfishly, I want to work more with Joanna Lumley. I’d love to do a bit more with Uncle Fester. He’s such a prominent part of the Adams Family’s extended family. And I would imagine there would be some kind of Wednesday-Morticia confrontation, but maybe it would be finding some solace or common ground as she grows older. 

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It sounds like we need a Wednesday spinoff series, titled Morticia.

Well, can you put that out there for me? I’d be very happy to play Morticia to the end of my days. 

In Part 2, viewers see Morticia scold her children for lying to her, yet Morticia is keeping secrets from Wednesday about her past and family. Why do you think that is?

There’s certain things that grown-ups know that they don’t need to share with their offspring. Some secrets should be left secret, Morticia believes, but little white lie secrets should be exposed. I mean, during this time, Morticia knows that Wednesday is not nurturing her psychic abilities, but that she’s abusing them in so many ways. Morticia knows that her sister did the same thing, and it’s not wanting history to repeat itself. But she’s not able to be able to share the deep secrets of her sister with her teen daughter. My mother used to reprimand me for telling white lies, and then God knows I found out a whole bunch of stuff as I got older (laughs), and she was able to share a little bit more. As long as you’re not hurting anybody, I think some things are better left unsaid, generally, in life. 

Do you think Morticia worries that her relationship with Wednesday will end up like her relationship with her own mother?

Yes. It’s that parenting thing, not just a Morticia thing. It’s not putting an old head on young shoulders. I do it with my own kids, and my kids have no Wednesday-isms at all, but you sometimes need them to make those mistakes to be able to learn. As much as you want to put them in a glass box and protect them forever, you need them to understand by themselves. But hopefully in season three, we can delve deeper into my mother-daughter relationship. I think we should be doing a therapy show!

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Wednesday season two, Parts 1 and 2, are now streaming on Netflix. Read THR’s coverage here.