Gwendoline Christie Talks Wednesday and Why Fashion Is a Form of Storytelling
Next week, Netflix’s Wednesday—a new reboot of The Addams Family franchise, with Jenna Ortega as the titular character—will make its grand premiere with a star-studded cast. Christina Ricci—who you may remember as Wednesday in the ’90s films—plays Marilyn Thornhill, Catherine Zeta Jones plays Morticia, and Gwendoline Christie co-stars as Principal Larissa Weems. Working with director Tim Burton has always been a bucket-list career goal for Christie. “I’ve wanted to work with Tim Burton my entire life, and genuinely could not believe that this opportunity arose,” says Christie. “Tim infamously celebrates the outsider and tells stories in the most intriguingly original and uniquely definitive manner.”
In the new project, Christie portrays the headmistress of a school for outcasts that Wednesday attends. “She herself is a misfit—a role some people have said I’m typecast in,” says Christie. “But she’s a woman who has worked to achieve a position of power, and is challenged by her student Wednesday in a new way that forces her to re-examine her morals, what she thinks she knows about love and power, and reassess almost everything she ever thought she knew about herself.” Her complex character aside, however, the actor also has a special connection to the Addams Family more generally. “I used to watch the Addams Family on television and loved seeing this story about a family of weirdos being their authentic selves,” says Christie. “This felt more true to me than depictions of a classic cookie-cutter version of life. Every iteration of the Addams Family has felt like a world I’ve wanted to live in.”
One of her favorite aspects of portraying Weems on-screen was the character’s impeccable wardrobe. She enjoyed working with the legendary costume designer Colleen Atwood on the elaborately spooky—yet still professional—outfits. “Principal Larissa Weems is the most glamorous character I’ve ever played, and the first time I’ve felt genuinely beautiful in a screen project,” says Christie of the fashion. “Colleen was so extraordinarily collaborative, and made me and my body feel so celebrated.”
To channel that high-fashion spirit at the show’s Los Angeles world premiere on Wednesday night, Christie brought her own statement look to the red carpet. The star chose a red, long-sleeved Balenciaga Couture gown, complete with an oversized bow at the back. “I was elated beyond belief when the house said they wanted to work with me,” says Christie. “I love Balenciaga’s sense of bold scale and dark fantasy, coupled with their cut, precision, and specific flamboyance. I wanted to feel like something from one of Tim Burton’s drawings, which is a very happy world for me to inhabit!” Stylist Jerry Stafford, makeup artist Kali Kennedy, hairstylist Lauren Berrones, and manicurist Zola Ganzorigt rounded out the glam team.
Her favorite part was the process of creating the gown with the French fashion house. “The team at Balenciaga are a true dream to work with, they have the very highest standards of design imagination and execution—and are also very personally warm and embracing,” says Christie. “I loved this gown’s drama and feeling of ‘film noir’ subversion, a genre that I especially adore. The architectural wings and theatrical train have a great romance and made me feel enveloped in a satin love-knot. Like a moment from a Raymond Chandler novel, on acid.”
Christie is no stranger to a stellar red carpet look, of course. In the past, she has worn sequined Rick Owens and dramatic Iris van Herpen gowns. She says she always looks for fashion that tells a bigger story. “It can be about the narrative of the project I’m involved in, an expression of my essence at that exact time, or wanting to embrace a different world and character,” says Christie, who adds that she also enjoys designs that evoke her teenage love and curiosity for fashion. “I have loved design and fashion since I was a child—as a teenager I realized it offered an escape, a possibility for transformation, and a chance to see the world through a different set of eyes,” says Christie. “I love designers with real skill, coupled with unique imagination.”
