Meet Isadora Capri: Billie Piper’s Captivating Role in Wednesday

Netflix has released the first look at Billie Piper in her role for season 2 of Wednesday, the gothic comedy starring Jenna Ortega. In the role of Isadora Capri, the 42-year-old will join the cast as a “brilliant and mysterious” character who works at Nevermore Academy as the head of music.

Piper has a history of playing characters in dark or supernatural roles, and is perhaps most well-known for her appearance in Penny Dreadful as Brona Croft/The Bride of Frankenstein. Described by Netflix as a “former child prodigy”, her character will develop an interest in Wednesday’s musical abilities and also mentor one of the academy’s werewolf students, Enid Sinclair, played by Emma Myers.

Images from the upcoming series were released by Netflix today, as the news of the show’s upcoming second season was announced. The original series debuted on Netflix in November 2022 and has since become a huge success, with 252 million viewers watching the series across the world. It became Netflix’s most successful English-language show of all time, and in January 2023, the platform confirmed that a second season would be arriving in August of this year.

Wednesday stars Jenna Ortega, 22, as Wednesday Addams, and follows her as she begins her first year at the Nevermore Academy, a boarding school for the children of the supernatural. The concept is a darker take on the world of The Addams Family, and the show’s mixture of horror, comedy, and elements of teen drama resonated well with viewers and critics. It won an Emmy award and has amassed a large fan base.

Wednesday Season Three and Spin-Off in the Works

Netflix also confirmed that Wednesday season two would be the first of many seasons for the series and has renewed the show for a third year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a spin-off series is also currently in the works. Co-creator Alfred Gough teased that they have plenty of characters to draw inspiration from in the announcement: “It’s something we’re noodling; there are other characters we can look at.”

Fans across social media platforms have also been reacting positively to the news of the new seasons, and Wednesday creator and star Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays Morticia Addams, has also made a post on Instagram celebrating the return of the series. In an image that reads, “When Wednesday comes, a better day,” Zeta-Jones shared: “Wednesday season three. It’s official… we shall return.”

Fans were quick to react to the comment, with one person writing, “And for many more seasons,” and another saying, “I can’t wait to see the second season, I’m waiting for it with great curiosity, and the third is already official, fantastic news!”

Others said they were happy that filming for the new season can begin soon, as fans are still hoping that the waiting period for the third season will be shorter than it was for season two. Season two was announced in January 2023 but will be released more than two years after the first, prompting many to ask for less of a wait period in the future. One fan wrote, “I’ll be gripping the sheets in agony waiting, but please… don’t let us wait three years again.”

In addition to Billie Piper, director Tim Burton, 66, is returning as executive producer and occasional director. Burton has a long-running creative relationship with Wednesday showrunner Sergio Aguirre, having previously worked on the 2019 series Poe: Dead for Life and executive producing 2019’s Jennifer’s Body reboot. He will continue to helm the film, as well as write the occasional episodes. Burton and Ortega also recently collaborated on Beetlejuice, the upcoming sequel to the 1988 cult-film classic.

Additional stars have also joined the cast for the new season, with the likes of Lady Gaga, Steve Buscemi, Joanna Lumley, and Thandie Newton joining. Returning characters include Gwendoline Christie as headteacher Larissa Weems and Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams, Wednesday’s father.

Meanwhile, Jenna Ortega has increased her involvement with the series in behind-the-scenes roles, as it has recently come to light that the actress had some qualms with how her character was represented in some episodes. A podcast interview in which she said she often “changed lines” and had to “put her foot down” in some meetings with creators, directors, and writers led to some fans of the show calling her names such as “spoiled” and “manipulative.” Ortega was quickly backed by both Burton and co-creator Alfred Gough, the latter of whom told Entertainment Weekly, “Jenna is so involved with the material that it’s already in her job description; it’s basically what she does.”

New cast member Joanna Lumley also said she was thrilled to be joining the Wednesday universe, saying, “There’s always something thrilling about working for Tim Burton. His whole mind takes him to a different world, and the world that they’ve created here for Wednesday and Nevermore and the family is just intoxicating.”