Entertainment

Joanna Lumley, Billie Piper and Thandiwe Newton join Wednesday for second series

Jenna Ortega will return in the title role.

Dame Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lumley (Kirsty O'Connor/PA)

Billie Piper, Thandiwe Newton and Dame Joanna Lumley are among the stars joining the cast of Gothic Netflix drama Wednesday for season 2.

The show, which stars 21-year-old Jenna Ortega as the titular Wednesday Addams, has started filming in Ireland.

Piper joins the cast following her turn as Sam McAlister in Netflix’s drama Scoop, based on the BBC Newsnight interview with the Duke of York, as a new series regular.

Billie Piper
Billie Piper (Ian West/PA)

Absolutely Fabulous actress Dame Joanna will be a guest star, alongside Westworld star Newton.

Reservoir Dogs actor Steve Buscemi, Evie Templeton, Owen Painter and Noah Taylor will also join as regular cast members.

Catherine Zeta-Jones will return as Morticia Addams, alongside Puerto Rican actor Luis Guzman as her husband Gomez.

The series has been a juggernaut success for Netflix and spent 20 weeks on the global top 10, reaching the top 10 in 93 countries.

Thandiwe Newton
Thandiwe Newton

The supernatural horror follows Wednesday Addams, based on the cartoon character by Charles Addams. The show is a supernatural coming-of-age drama that follows Wednesday as she navigates mystery and murder at the private school for outcasts, Nevermore Academy.

Teasing the storyline of the new season, showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar said: “We are thrilled that the entire Addams family will be enrolling in Nevermore Academy this season along with a dream cast of icons and new faces.”

Wednesday is directed and produced by Tim Burton who is known for his work on American Gothic horror, most notably Beetlejuice starring Michael Keaton and Edward Scissorhands, which starred Johnny Depp in the lead role.