Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s Catherine O’Hara and Jenna Ortega on Why They Love Tim Burton

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is arriving successful conscionable a fewer weeks. As excitement ramps up for Tim Burton’s sequel to his cult classic—which has lone gained successful popularity since its merchandise astir 40 years ago—io9 got a accidental to speech to immoderate of its stars, including the returning Catherine O’Hara (who plays Delia Deetz) and newcomer Jenna Ortega (who plays Astrid, the girl of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz). From this chat, it’s evident there’s 1 large crushed down the film’s spooky magic: and his sanction is Tim Burton.

“He is the best, [most] fun-loving, kind, collaborative, creative, wildly inventive, archetypal manager anywhere,” O’Hara told io9. She besides said that portion she was initially apprehensive, wondering however a follow-up to Beetlejuice could ever work, Burton acceptable her caput astatine ease. “The much I heard from Tim astir what helium wanted to do, I was like, ‘Okay, it’s going to beryllium good.’”

Ortega, who worked with Burton connected Netflix deed Wednesday earlier being formed arsenic Astrid, agreed. “I don’t cognize why, but successful my vocation truthful far, I’ve had the wont of joining things similar franchises, reboots, oregon things similar that,” she said; successful summation to playing the rubric quality successful the Addams Family spin-off, she besides starred successful 2 Scream films. “So it’s ever that unit of not wanting to beryllium the disrupter due to the fact that you’re caller to the world. Fans person an anticipation and past you’ve got to travel successful and enactment similar you were ever going to beryllium a portion of it, oregon thing similar that. So it’s conscionable similar a weird spot to be. But it was bully due to the fact that I was surrounded by truthful galore radical who are truthful superb astatine what they do, that I deliberation it took immoderate of the unit disconnected of maine because, well, look astatine them, you know. But I wanted to marque definite that I did it close and was respectful of what came earlier maine and what was happening now.”

© Warner Bros.

Asked astir the magnitude of improv that went into Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Ortega said determination was a definite magnitude of spontaneity successful its making. “[Burton] benignant of does it too; erstwhile you enactment with him, there’s not adjacent a changeable list. He conscionable benignant of figures retired what helium wants to bash connected the time depending connected the scene. Maybe the light’s coming done a definite way. He has definite things that, like, he’ll gully a sketch and helium knows helium wants to spot that image. He knows helium wants that angle,” she clarified. “But erstwhile it comes to sum and things similar that, helium conscionable benignant of feels it out. And helium trusts and knows what he’s got, and what helium hasn’t got yet. He has a spontaneous prime astir him arsenic well. Every time connected Wednesday, it’s like, ‘Okay. Well, I don’t know. We benignant of did that the different day. Should we bash thing [different today]?'”

O’Hara had a akin take. “I consciousness similar successful [Beetlejuice Beetlejuice] helium knew what helium wanted it to look like. He knew what helium wanted to person hap successful each scene. But helium was ever unfastened to what felt close for you, successful your character. He’d say, ‘We could bash this, but you don’t person to, but I’m thinking…’ And you go, ‘Yeah, that makes sense! But what if I…?’ ‘Oh that makes sense!’ And we’d spell with that. It was conscionable truthful unfastened and confident. Such assured collaboration. It’s the champion mode to work.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice—which besides stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, and Justin Theroux—opens September 6.

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