Joanna Lumley says she would be "terrified" by Wednesday co-star Jenna Ortega's levels of fame at her age
"Jen is hugely powerful, a big, big figure. I was never that and I’m not now."
With Joanna Lumley starring opposite Jenna Ortega in the second season of Wednesday, which is set to arrive on Netflix next week, the Absolutely Fabulous star sat down to speak with Gareth McLean for Radio Times magazine.
In the interview, Lumley was asked how she would have coped with Ortega's level of fame at her age of 22 - the same age that Lumley started acting.
"I’d have been terrified," she said. "Although I was working and doing all kinds of things – a Dracula film and Coronation Street and James Bond – it was really only The New Avengers that locked me in place, as it were – and that was when I was 30 and I could cope with it.
"Any applause, appreciation or adulation went over my head: it didn’t matter to me and it didn’t affect me. But I think if I’d been young…"
Lumley continued: "It’s a completely different age now. She’s American and there’s an American way of doing things. Jen is hugely powerful, a big, big figure. I was never that and I’m not now.
"She’s as smart as a whip, watching everything as I think she wants to direct at some stage in her life. She has input. It’s her show. She can do it. She’s terrific."
Lunley will be playing Hester in Wednesday season 2, the title character's grandmother and the mother of Catherine Zeta-Jones's Morticia. It's a role which she revealed became "a bigger part than I agreed to, which was lovely, as the writers wrote her lots of new scenes".
There's a chance she could also be back for more beyond season 2 - the show was recently renewed for a third season, before the latest run of episodes has even debuted.
When that news was announced, co-creator and co-showrunner Alfred Gough said in a statement: "Our goal for season 3 is the same as it is for every season: to make it the best season of Wednesday we possibly can. We want to continue digging deeper into our characters while expanding the world of Nevermore and Wednesday."
The latest issue of Radio Times is out on Tuesday 29th July – subscribe here.
Wednesday season 2 part 1 will stream from Wednesday 6th August on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
