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‘Wednesday’: Who Plays Judi Spannegel in Season 2?

Originally posted on TV Insider | Last updated Aug 7, 2025 2:55 PM ET

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Wednesday Season 2, Part 1.]

Wednesday‘s second season has arrived, and while Jenna Ortega may be back as the titular Addams family character, there are several new faces joining the mix in Part 1.

One of the newest characters joining the mix is Judi Spannegel, who works at Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital, and she’s played by a performer you may recognize. Heather Matarazzo steps into the key role, which [Spoiler] is seemingly the main antagonist for Part 1, as she revealed herself to be an Avian, a.k.a. a person who can control birds to do her bidding.

Ultimately, she uses a murder of crows to murder people around Jericho, and Wednesday uncovers this by the end of Season 2’s first half, but things were left in a precarious position as she fled the asylum’s escaped patients on whom she’d been experimenting.

While we’re left to assume that Judi sent her crows after individuals who could pick up on her actions at Willow Hill, her targeting of the former sheriff and his colleague hasn’t been fully explored by the end of Part 1.

Heather Matarazzo with Anne Hathaway in ‘The Princess Diaries’ and in ‘Wednesday’ (Credit: Everett Collection; Netflix)

But where might you recognize Matarazzo from? You may recall her role as Mia Thermopolis’s (Anne Hathaway) best friend, Lilly Moscovitz, in the Princess Diaries movies. Yes, Matarazzo used to be the one playing a uniform-clad student, but now she’s embracing her dark side as Judi in Netflix‘s Tim Burton-produced hit.

While Matarazzo may be best known for her role as Lilly in The Princess Diaries, she’s no stranger to the horror genre. She played Martha Meeks in the Scream franchise and appeared in Hostel: Part II. Her other credits include films like The Devil’s Advocate, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Saved!, and Sisters.

On the television side, you may recognize Matarazzo from Grey’s Anatomy, The L Word, Law & Order, ER, and Now and Again , among others.

Wednesday, Season 2, Part 1, Streaming Now, Netflix

This article first appeared on TV Insider and was syndicated with permission.

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