Jenna Ortega's COVID-19 Battle While Filming Viral 'Wednesday' Dance Scene Has Fans Outraged!

"Wednesday" star Jenna Ortega recently said she was down with COVID-19 while filming the popular dancing scene in the series. Since its November debut, the Netflix show has been a hit, with views surpassing "Stranger Things" as the most popular show on the platform.

"Wednesday" is a reimagination of the famous "The Addams Family" and features Ortega as the titular character, a gloomy, moored teen. Rather than its previous adaptations that featured the entire family, this series followed Wednesday as she navigates and attempts to solve the mysteries of Nevermore Academy.

The "Addams Family" spin-off reached a record-breaking 341.2 million viewing hours just last week. It has also helped push several of its cast, such as Ortega, farther into the limelight.

Read on to learn more.

Ortega joined NME in a recent interview and revealed that she had taken ill while filming the famous dance scene from "Wednesday." The scene featured the actress performing several unusual but electrifying moves with a monotonous facial expression. It has since gone viral on social media, with several fans choreographing it.

While talking to the news outlet, Ortega revealed that on the day she was to film, she woke up feeling ill and had aches all over her body. The actress said, "I'd gotten the song about a week before, and I just pulled from whatever I could."

The "Scream" actress continued, "It's crazy because it was my first day with COVID, so it was awful to film. Yeah, I woke up and — it's weird, I never get sick, and when I do, it's not very bad — I had the body aches."

According to Ortega, she felt like she had been "hit by a bus," and the crew, who knew she was unwell, reportedly gave her medication as filming progressed. When asked why she was allowed on set despite being obviously sick, the actress said she had not gotten a positive COVID-19 test result at the time.

"I felt like I'd been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat and was scratching the walls of my esophagus. They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result," Ortega recalled.

The actress said she felt like the dance scene could have turned out better, but there was no time for her to redo it. "I asked to redo it, but we didn't have time. I think I probably could have done it a bit better," she admitted.

After her interview hit social media, Ortega and Netflix were called out for allowing a sick person on stage and putting other members of the "Wednesday" cast and crew in danger. While some slammed the actress, others accused Tim Burton and MGM, the production company, of negligence.

A fan on Reddit wrote (per BuzzFeed), "It's not even a one-on-one shot; it was literally a whole dance club scene with a lot of people involved. I don't blame Jenna because she informed them in time, but I think it was highly irresponsible of the makers to continue the shoot, especially since it involved a crowd."

One viral fan comment on twitter read, "It was dangerous, unethical, and extremely selfish thing to do, both on her part and on the part of the directors and producers. There's absolutely no positive way to spin an actress knowingly exposing hundreds of cast members and crew to COVID."

Since the ensuing backlash from fans, MGM released a statement reassuring them that while filming, appropriate COVID-19 protocols were observed, and when Ortega was found to be infected, she was taken off the set. "Strict COVID protocols were followed, and once the positive test was confirmed, the production removed Jenna from set," NME reported.

Before the current backlash, Ortega's "Wednesday" dance scene had the entire internet obsessed and trying to recreate her moves. The scene was in episode four of the Netflix series, and the actress as Wednesday danced to "Goo Goo Muck" by The Cramps.

Besides her awkward but confident moves, Ortega's entirely blank unblinking face was what intrigued fans, making it a TikTok trend and a meme. Instead of the original song, the scene was paired with Gaga's "Bloody Mary" in most viral videos.