36 years passed between the original 1988 Beetlejuice and its anticipated sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. But for Michael Keaton, it might as well have been yesterday that he debuted the volatile character because, according to director Tim Burton, he fell back into the role with astonishing ease.
The original Beetlejuice boasts an all-star cast including Keaton, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara, Alec Baldwin, Winona Ryder, and Jeffrey Jones. Following its release, Beetlejuice proved a commercial and critical success. It secured an Academy Award, and three Saturn Awards. But its cultural endurance would prove the greatest reward and just the thing to bring Keaton back into the role in an experience he would call “surreal.”
Michael Keaton easily fell back into his Beetlejuice role, according to director Tim Burton
Almost four decades since playing the titular menace in Beetlejuice, Keaton had no problem getting back into character. “It was like he was possessed by a demon,” Burton marveled in an interview for Empire magazine, “because he just went right back into it.”
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It’s an opinion shared by those joining the horror movie family for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, including 21-year-old Wednesday star Jenna Ortega, who plays the daughter of the character portrayed by O’Hara in the original film.
“It was like an animal with a gun had just walked into the room,” she recalled of seeing Keaton get into character. “To watch him physically change and appear and Michael Keaton to be gone, and for me to be dealing with this Beetlejuice guy … it blew my mind.”
Keaton reflects on the role and its legacy
Things seemed calm and simple on the outside. But on the inside, Keaton was just as shocked to play the character as Burton was to see him transform so seemingly easily. He called the experience of returning “surreal,” but also knew he had to participate in the sequel. This time around, he approached things a little differently.
“There’s been so much merchandising of [Beetlejuice], I had to drop back to where it started,” he explained. “What was my unusual imagination even thinking about when I was developing it in the first place?’ As opposed to seeing a coffee mug or a golf-club cover [adorned with the character].”
Plans for a Beetlejuice sequel have popped up every now and again since the ‘90s. It wasn’t until the February 2022 announcement that something actually stuck. When Burton returned to the fold, he started everything over so he would only be working with “good people, actors and puppets.” He and Keaton agreed to use as little technology as possible, the better to create something that really felt handmade. Upping the nostalgia will be the return of additional cast members O’Hara and Ryder.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is expected to hit theaters on September 6.
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