Spoiler Alert: This post contains spoilers for Wednesday Season 2 Part 2.
Mother Monster Lady Gaga spent three days in Ireland to film her appearance in Wednesday Season 2 Part 2.
The “Disease” singer was previously teased as Rosaline Rotwood, a legendary Nevermore teacher who crosses paths with Wednesday.” The official Wednesday X account described her as “cloaked in mystery with a reputation that preceds her.” Further teased as a vision in venom, Rotwood appeared in Episode 6 of Wednesday Season 2 Part 2. It turns out the cozy cottage in which Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez Addams (Luiz Guismán) are staying near Nevermore was her home long ago.
“She fits into the world so seamlessly,” creator Al Gough said of the musician. “It’s actually a very crucial character for that episode, and for the mythology of the show. So to have her do it was fantastic.”
Lady Gaga as Rosaline Rotwood and Thing on the set of ‘Wednesday’
Sophy Holland/Netflix
After Wednesday asks her grandmother for another way to access her psychic gift, Hester (Joanna Lumley) recommends she go to the grave of Rosaline Rotwood, recite the inscription there and connect with the late Nevermore professor, who was also a Raven. Rotwood’s psychic talent was the stuff of legend, and she was a professor when Hester was a student at Nevermore, teaching Runes and Ancient Cryptology as well as Advanced Possessions. As an amateur tomb raider, Hester gravitated toward Rotwood like a moth to flame.
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“In terms of planting her character, we wanted to make it something that was embedded in the mythology of Nevermore, and the character of Rosaline Rotwood felt like a natural [one],” creator Miles Millar told Deadline. “You see the cottage, it’s set up, it’s there, and then you learn the backstory through the interaction with Wednesday. It came together very quickly.”
Wednesday follows her Grandmama’s advice which Hester serves with a small warning to be careful. In the graveyard, Rotwood’s headstone, which is imbued with her dark energy, looks like the one from Wednesday’s vision, with a Raven perched atop it, wings spread. The inscription reads “In the Raven’s shadow, grant me use of your ephemeral sight. Be warned. Should my gaze be broken, a deadly trick I will play.” As Hester told her granddaughter, uttering this would help her gain temporary second sight.
After reciting the inscription, Wednesday is transported into a chamber in Rotwood’s cottage, where Gaga appears as the mythical Nevermore professor, wearing all white and ethereal. She tells Wednesday not to break the Raven’s Gaze by keeping her palm above a flame burning via black candle.
L to R: Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Lady Gaga as Rosaline Rotwood ‘Wednesday’ Season 2
Helen Sloan/Netflix
Unfortunately, Enid (Emma Myers) goes to get Wednesday from the graveyard because curfew checks are happening, so Wednesday breaks the gaze. Rotwood had told Wednesday that there would be “a price to pay” should this happen. The ghost of the teacher also said that Hester was desperate for her approval while Wednesday reeked of arrogance rather than any sentimentality like Hester displayed when she fell head over heels for a huckster because she wanted a family.
The price, it turns out, is a body swap situation between Wednesday and Enid. Wednesday in Enid’s body sneaks into Rotwood’s old secret séance chamber — where she had visited her at the grave — at the cottage to try and look for clues about switching back. Rotwood appears in another ghostly apparition and tells Wednesday in Enid’s body that they must unravel the secrets of the lives they’ve entered and be willing to die in their respective skins.
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In addition to appearing in Season 2, Gaga also wrote a new song for the show, “The Dead Dance,” which released along with the arrival of Part 2 on Netflix. It plays over Enid’s and Agnes’ (Evie Templeton) gala dance routine. There is also a music video led by Gaga and directed by Tim Burton. When Season 1 of Wednesday came out, Gaga filmed herself doing the viral goth dance that Jenna Ortega did to The Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck” from the first season.
“We knew that she that she loved [the show]her team had reached out, then she did the dance. We were looking for a way to have her in the show, and then when she came up with the song for us,” Gough added. “She feels so outcast given the “Bloody Mary” song and the dance, which was a viral sensation in Season 1. Then the song came up, and when we heard it the first time, it was on a secret link, we could only hear it once, but it was incredible.”
Both Gough and Millar told Deadline that the door is wide open for the songstress to return in Season 3.
Rosy Cordero contributed to this piece. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
