When Emma Myers first learned that “Wednesday” had been renewed for season 2, she was in a van returning to base camp after packing for the day on the set of an upcoming netflix film. “They emailed me, and I was like, ‘Oh, cool,'” she says. “I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone yet, so I couldn’t have told anyone who was in the van with me. But I mean, I felt it coming. I feel like we all felt it coming.
Myers, 20, stars in the hit Netflix show as Enid Sinclair, the sunny, wide-eyed werewolf counterpart of Jenna Ortegais a stark and darkly humorous Wednesday. Their character dynamics wowed audiences when all eight episodes premiered on Nov. 23, and “Wednesday” quickly became one of Netflix’s premieres. most-watched shows of all time, racking up nearly 6 billion minutes viewed in the first five days after its release. It spent six weeks at No. 1 and spawned – in addition to an abundance of fancams, fan art and fan fiction – a viral dance tiktok to Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary”.
Although Enid is a bubbly, social extrovert whose eagerness plays off Wednesday’s deadpan and anti-social inclinations, Myers herself identifies as an introvert who is “quite goofy.” Originally from Orlando, Florida, she started acting in theater and commercials, then took a break at the age of 11 to play sports. Her family moved to Atlanta five years later, where she began to play seriously again. Speaking of Los Angeles, where she’s filming “Family Leave,” a movie starring Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms, Myers chatted with The variety on his reaction to the success of “Wednesday,” his theories for Season 2, and the potential evolution of Wednesday’s friendship with Enid.
When did you feel there would be a second season?
I thought before we even finished filming, just by what we were filming. I knew it was gonna be big, but I didn’t know it was gonna be that large. I was sure there had to be more, because we all loved every moment of it, and we really felt that people were going to love it too.
Can you remember the moment when you realized “Wednesday” had become a hit?
What’s funny is that I didn’t follow. I knew it was going well. But I didn’t really realize how well it worked until a little later, because not even a week after “Wednesday” came out, I was on a plane going to Los Angeles to film that, and I was just overwhelmed with stuff. So I wasn’t really following how well it was doing. During Christmas vacation, when I got home and saw my family and everything, it hit me, “Oh, wow. In just one month, it became the top of Netflix. It was crazy.
You’ve already said that even though you and Enid are both optimistic, you don’t share many common traits otherwise. Was there someone in your life or another character that you channeled when playing her?
No, I do not think so. I don’t really think I’ve compared her to anyone. I was just trying to make it peppy and happy and boring until Wednesday, but not too boring where the audience didn’t like it.
Have you ever found it boring yourself?
No, I like Enid. The TikTok and Snapchat lines made me cringe, but I feel like that’s okay because I’m not on all those social media, but I really like Enid. Even though I’m not like her, I can appreciate her, her character and her spirit.
How does Enid and Wednesday’s friendship parallel your own friendship with Jenna Ortega?
Jenna looks a lot like Wednesday. But because I don’t look much like Enid, we don’t have the same dynamic in real life – me constantly teasing her, her pushing me away. We get along so well, I love Jenna. She’s one of my closest friends. I think we have a different off-screen dynamic, but I still don’t think it’s any less important or deep or beautiful than Enid and Wednesday.
What can you tell us about season 2?
I know the absolute squat. I’m so out of the loop. Nobody likes to update me on anything. We don’t know anything. So I wish I could say something. But all I know is that there is a season 2 and that’s it.
Do you personally have any theories about what will happen?
Oh, I would really love to see Wednesday go somewhere international and interact with international outcasts from different countries. I feel like that would be really fun. As for the theory, I’ve never had any theories about the show, and I wish I had. But I read so many theories. And I would like to see who the stalker is.
What kind of theories have you read?
I read some [about how] Weems is not dead. Either she’s still alive, or Lurch is actually evil. Stuff like that, but I never really thought about it too hard. But I would like to see who the stalker is.
Have you seen messages on Wenclair [Wednesday and Enid’s ship name] on Twitter and the Internet at all?
I’m not on Twitter, and I’m not really on social media, but my sisters find it fun to send me stuff. Fan art, tweets talk about it. My Instagram comments are inundated with them, as are my DMs. So yes, I saw it.
Do you think a Wednesday and Enid romance is a possible direction the writers could take?
Everything is possible in the show. We haven’t really talked about direction at all, so I don’t really know what the game plan is for anything. As for love interests for Wednesday, I feel like at least for a second season, she needs to take her single season. She has just had a complete fiasco with her men, she must abstain a little. I would be deterred from dating if I had gone through this.
Have you seen the ICT Tac in which the user points out that Enid’s fingernails are polished all the way, even when she extends her claws?
No, I didn’t, but I thought so myself. I didn’t understand if she painted her whole claw or if it’s just like that? I don’t know, I feel like getting nail polish this far down your fingers wouldn’t be healthy for you. But he’s a werewolf, so who knows?
What was your first reaction when you saw Enid’s tousled hair?
At the start of early development, they read me a bunch of ideas. One of them was a purple undercut or different funky colors. I didn’t know I was going to be blonde until the day I was blonde. They dyed my hair blonde, and then they didn’t like the color, so they opted for a wig instead. So I was like, “Wow, great. I have blonde hair now. But I really liked the blonde and the colors, the contrast between them. I think it’s fun. I love that it looks like she made it herself.
I saw that you went to Disneyland recently. How was this experience? Have you been mobbed?
I had teenagers, children who came to me. No one really seems to recognize me every time I go out, and I think that’s a blessing. Whenever I’m with Jenna it’s swarms of people but when I’m all alone I wear a hat I don’t have Enid makeup on people don’t seem to time it unless people don’t really be in “Wednesday” and really care about all the actors. I had a lot of people who recognized me, but didn’t want to come and say anything.
Do you notice when people recognize you but don’t come to you?
It’s pretty obvious. Because I’m pretty goofy myself and introverted, I don’t know if I should come up and say something, or just let them say something themselves, or we both ignore it. So I also have a hard time not saying anything. I feel bad. I still don’t quite know how to handle this situation.
Tell me about the project you are currently working on.
I’m working on a movie called “Family Leave” with Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms. It’s a body-switching movie, so it’s kind of crazy. It’s funny. There are serious moments in it. But it really is a good time.
What kind of projects do you want to advance?
One thing that would be really fun to do would be anything mo-cap – voice a video game or play a CGI character in a movie, so you’re on the motion capture scene with all the little ping balls -pong on you and the wetsuit. It would be such a different experience. It’s almost like a black box theatre. But yeah, I think that would be something really fun to do.