Thing in “Wednesday” Is Played by a Real Actor and the Behind-the-Scenes Photos Are Everything

Tim Burton’s Wednesday teems with iconic characters, from Jenna Ortega’s rendition of the death-obsessed titular character to Emma Myers’ portrayal of bubbly Enid Sinclair. But no matter whose powers you wish to possess, I think we all can agree that Thing, the beloved “family pet” of the Addamses, is an absolute scene stealer in the Netflix series.

Thing is sent to Nevermore Academy by Morticia and Gomez Addams to accompany Wednesday at her new school in Jericho, Vermont. The appendage swiftly becomes Wednesday’s loyal companion as she unravels a supernatural murder mystery that involved her parents 25 years ago.

But how did Thing come to life on-screen? While you might guess that the disembodied hand is a product of special effects and Hollywood magic, it turns out that Thing is played by a real actor named Victor Dorobantu. (So, yes, that’s a real hand scurrying about!) Victor is a Romanian magician and illusionist, and Wednesday is his first acting role.

On Twitter, Netflix shared behind-the-scenes photos of Victor and Jenna in character and, needless to say, we’re captivated by the commitment.

In an interview with Screen Rant, Jenna explained the process of perfecting Thing, its movements, and its language. “It was so funny, because the Thing language was just made up on the day. Every day we’d show up and go, ‘Ahhh…’ [hand motions] ‘That looks right. I feel like I kind of know what he's saying,’” she said.

“[Victor] would wear a full blue suit, and he would hide behind walls and underneath beds. Then they built this prosthetic on top of his hand so that it looked like a wrist knob, and he would walk around,” Jenna continued. “Tim really liked his mannerisms, and he would spend hours in hair and makeup every day just getting that hand on. Then we’d shoot some stuff with him, and other times we would shoot with absolutely nothing there.”

Thing is an icon, and although Netflix hasn’t yet confirmed season 2 of Wednesday, we look forward to seeing the dependable appendage back on our screens once again.

In the meantime, please enjoy this creepily delightful video of Thing traversing the streets of New York City.

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