Oscar-nominated actorMichael KeatonwelcomedJenna Ortegato theBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceset in the best way possible: by scaring her in costume the first time they met. During an appearance onThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Ortega discussed her role in the highly-anticipated sequel to the 1988 classic, which reunites Keaton with director Tim Burton and co-star Winona Ryder. The film opens in theaters on September 6, and according to Ortega, Keaton really seemed to enjoy playing the spooky character again.
During the interview, Ortega told Fallon about her experience on the set, and in particular, her first meeting with Keaton, who is reprising his role as the “Ghost with the Most” 36 years after the original film was released.
“He came up behind me. I was getting a hair and makeup test, andI got a tap on the shoulder and I turned around and it was a jump scare for sure. He was like, ‘Oh hey I’m Michael,’ and he had molds peeling off his face.I played it cool, and then it was cool until I met him for a second time out of hair and makeup because I introduced myself again because I forgot that I had already met him.”
Ortega joins a sequel cast that features returning actors Keaton, Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara. She plays Astrid, the daughter of Ryder’s Lydia Deetz, who returns with her mother and O’Hara’s Delia Deetz to their home in Winter River after a family tragedy. While the mother and daughter have a strained relationship, all that becomes irrelevent when Astrid finds herself in the afterlife and Lydia is forced to call on a certain bio-exorcist to lend a hand - and other dismembered body parts - to get her back.
The film’s premiere comes just as Ortega is in the midst of filming the second season ofWednesday, the hit series for Netflix based on the classicAddam’s Familyseries. In fact,Burton has said thatWednesdayinspired himto finally follow through on aBeetlejuicesequel, and it wouldn’t exist without it.
Wednesday reconnected me to why I like making things.
What We Know AboutBeetlejuice BeetlejuiceSo Far
ABeetlejuicesequel had been talked about for years, with all involved voicing their hopes for another film. It wasn’t until 2023, however, that everything came together and Warner Bros. greenlit the film.According to Burton, being older, and being a father, prepared him better for the film. He was 29 when he made the firstBeetlejuice, and 64 when production began on the sequel. That added age and experience (and two Oscar nominations) gave him the proper perspective to make the movie.
For me, this became a very personal movie, like kind of a weird family movie.
Ortega echoes Burton’s thoughts about the film’s “weird” themes. In aVanity Fairinterview, she said Astrid was"weird, but in a different way and not in the way you’d assume.“She also said now is the perfect time to bring backBeetlejuice, saying"people need to revisit weird, strange, off-putting stories again.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.
Production on the film began in May 2023, but was suspended that summer because of the writer’s strikes. It resumed in November of that year, and was completed within a few days.
The cast also includes Justin Theroux as Rory, Willem Dafoe as Wolf Jackson, Monica Bellucci as Delores, and Burn Gorman as Father Damien. Danny DeVito, who starred as the Penguin alongside Keaton in Burton’sBatman Returns, has been confirmed to have a cameo as a zombie janitor.Original stars Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis will not be reprising their roles, and actor Jeffrey Jones was not asked to return after his conviction in connection with possession of sexual material involving children.
