While it hasn't been a huge secret that Jenna Ortega will be playing the daughter of Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) in Beetlejuice 2 (or Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), she's finally confirmed the role in an interview with 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,” Ortega said. “She’s weird, but in a different way and not in the way you’d assume, I would say. The relationship between Lydia 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 also credited the film with reigniting her passion for acting, which had dimmed somewhat after the breakout success of Netflix's Wednesday catapulted her to superstardom. "I just became very confused emotionally,” Ortega said. “I didn’t know what to say or do.”
The SAG-AFTRA strike, which came while Ortega was in the middle of shooting Tim Burton's sequel, gave her time to re-center herself and catch her breath. “To still enjoy the job just as much 12 years later — having seen all of the ugly and wonderful and extreme — is pretty cool,” Ortega said. She will join returning stars Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice), Winona Ryder (Lydia Deetz) and Catherine O’Hara (Deelia Deetz). The all-star cast also includes Monica Belluci and Willem Dafoe, who plays a police officer in the afterlife.
Part of the reason Ortega is excited about the role — and the film — is that it will introduce younger audiences to a wacky, weird goth aesthetic.
"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,” Ortega said. “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.”
Given Wednesday's runaway success on Netflix, Ortega might be on to something. Ortega should be back to filming Wednesday in the coming months and according to her, Season 2 is "bigger" and each episode feels "more like a movie."
In the meantime, there's no shortage of strange things going on at the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice set. The iconic Beetlejuice statue (and a lampost) were stolen from the set last July, and the film is not using much CGI, according to Michael Keaton, so fans of practical effects can rejoice.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice concluded filming in November 2023, and premieres on September 6, 2024.
Will Borger is an IGN freelancer. You can find him on Twitter @bywillborger.
