Jenna Ortega has jumped from one dark and delightful role as the lead of the Addams Family series Wednesday, to another, playing the daughter of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz in the sequel to the 1988 cult classic, Beetlejuice. Joining Ortega and Ryder in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice are Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, Catherine O’Hara, returning as Delia Deetz, and newcomers Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, Arthur Conti, and Burn Gorman.
When asked about taking on the role of Astrid Deetz, Ortega told Vanity Fair:
“I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say, but I am Lydia Deetz’s daughter, so I’ll give that away. She’s weird, but in a different way and not in the way you’d assume, I would say. The relationship between Lydia (Ryder) and Astrid, my character, is very important. And it’s also really strange because it’s a lot of catching up and putting the pieces together of what’s gone on in Lydia’s life since, which is nice, I think, for anybody who loves the character and is excited to see her again.”
Ortega added that bringing the gothic aesthetics of the Beetlejuice franchise to younger audiences in 2024 is part of the reason she “was excited that they were bringing it back.”
“I feel like studios nowadays, of course they want people in seats and you’ve got to do reboots or sequels or things like that to get people entwined, but to bring ‘Beetlejuice’ back — of all of the stories –is so good because people need to revisit weird, strange, off-putting stories again. We need to introduce the younger generation that’s always on the phone to new artistic and creative ideas. The weirder you get with it, the more people you can get to see it, I think will probably do a lot for film in general.”
The original Beetlejuice has remained a fan-favorite, and with the popularity of Burton’s other projects like Wednesday and The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ortega is right. Weird really does have a staying power and appeal that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on September 6th.
