Wednesday season 2 star Joanna Lumley reveals Hester role is a "bigger part" than originally planned
The new season of Wednesday lands on our screens in a matter of days.
Grandmama Hester Frump is set to make quite the introduction in Wednesday season 2 and it turns out that Joanna Lumley's new character wasn't actually originally intended to be featured as much throughout the new season as she is.
In a new interview with Gareth McLean for Radio Times magazine, co-creator and co-showrunner Miles Millar described Lumley as "perfect and hilarious. She nailed every single line, and it’s just so delicious".
Lumley herself also said that her role of Hester became "a bigger part than I agreed to, which was lovely, as the writers wrote her lots of new scenes".
While Lumley is known for her roles in Absolutely Fabulous and, more recently, in TV shows like Amandaland and Fool Me Once, she is set to take on the formidable role of Morticia’s mother in the second season of Wednesday.
Well put together but emotionally tepid, we're set to get some serious looks by way of Hester in the new episodes, namely in the hair department.
Describing her Hester hair and make-up, Lumley said: “It is spectacular. I’ve never seen such attention to detail and beauty and extravagance. I get to wear many, many huge wigs one on top of the other.”
For quite a while, the details about Lumley's role were kept under wraps, but she joins an already stacked cast that is of course led by Jenna Ortega as the titular character.
Other new Wednesday cast members include Billie Piper, Steve Buscemi, Lady Gaga and Thandiwe Newton, who are all set to bring some supernatural magic of their own to the new season.
Co-creators Millar and Alfred Gough had previously teased that Lumley's Hester would be bringing a “different mother-daughter relationship” to Wednesday.
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Gough told Netflix's Tudum: “Wednesday and Hester get along great. Other than Fester, her Grandmama is probably Wednesday's favourite person and the one she feels the most kinship with.
“Hester is also somebody Wednesday can use against her mother. It’s a delicious family triangle to set up.”
The new season of Wednesday will centre on Ortega's elusive character as she returns to Nevermore Academy, intent on trying to solve mysteries surrounding her boarding school and the town it's in.
“This season, Wednesday’s psychic visions change," Wednesday co-creator and showrunner Alfred Gough told Tudum.
"She’s spent her summer vacation mastering her psychic ability, but then something goes wrong, so she returns to Nevermore with her psychic ability glitching. Over the course of the season, it’s a struggle to recover her power.”
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Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
