Tamara Novak: Last News

Wednesday season two has been hit with production difficulties after losing one of its main cast members mid-way through filming.The Netflix series, which stars Jenna Ortega as the titular Wednesday Addams, was swiftly renewed for a second season after the show became one of the streaming platform’s most successful titles.Production on the second season is currently on hold due to ongoing Hollywood strikes, but the show has since been hit with an additional blow following the news that Thora Birch, who had joined as a new series regular, had to quit before completing her scenes.A representative for MGM, who produces the series, told Deadline: “Thora has returned to the States to attend to a personal matter and will not be returning to the production.”According to sources who spoke to the outlet, Birch has had to go home to attend to an illness in the family. It’s also understood that, while she didn’t complete her scenes, she had “finished filming the bulk” of the role.

During ET’s visit to the set of “The Gabby Petito Story”, Lifetime’s true-crime film about the van life murder, director Thora Birch opened up about her involvement in two other anticipated projects, “Hocus Pocus 2” on Disney+ and Netflix’s “Wednesday” series.

, Lifetime’s true-crime film about the van life murder, director Thora Birch opened up about her involvement in two other anticipated projects, on Disney+ and Netflix’s series.“I was just a little dismayed I wasn’t able to make it,” Birch said of the sequel to, in which she originated the role of 8-year-old Dani Dennison, one of the Salem, Massachusetts, kids who gets caught up in the mayhem after the resurrection of the Sanderson sisters (Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker). Nearly 30 years later, Midler, Najimy and Parker have reunited for a new tale about the three witches, with Doug Jones reprising his zombie role. However, the original film’s young stars, Omri Katz and Vinessa Shaw, are not among the cast returning for the sequel.“I was working on something else when they were filming,” Birch said, revealing that “otherwise I was definitely going to be there on set with the girls.” That said, “I can’t wait to see what they do with it.

EXCLUSIVE: Thora Birch has exited Wednesday, Tim Burton’s live-action Addams Family series for Netflix. The series, which is filming in Romania, stars Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams during her years at Nevermore Academy.