Afterlife allies: a character guide to the wonderfully weird ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ world

In partnership with Warners Bros. UK

It’s showtime! 36 whole years since Tim Burton’s comedy-horror masterpiece became a spooky smash, we’re heading back into the wonderfully weird world of Beetlejuice. Three-and-a-half decades is admittedly chickenfeed for Michael Keaton’s titular demon, who’s been undead for hundreds of years and has a complexion to match, but we’re still thrilled to see the sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice spring to life.

In 1988, we met Charles and Delia Deetz and their teenage daughter Lydia as the trio moved to the picturesque Winter River, Connecticut, little realising that their dream home was uninhabited by two disgruntled but not very frightening ghosts. Unfortunately, the inept ghouls enlisted the services of Beetlejuice, an anarchic “bio-exorcist” determined to frighten the Deetz family out of house and home.

All manner of chaos ensued, which has left fans clamouring for a follow-up ever-since. It’s finally happening, with Burton again at the helm and new and returning characters gathering as Beetlejuice is released from the Afterlife. Get ready to meet…

Beetlejuice

Played by: Michael Keaton
‘Iconic’ is an overused word, but how else to describe that black-and-white-striped suit and decaying mantle of gross green hair? When your character has been a Halloween costume staple for more than three decades, it must be daunting to step back into those (no doubt rather squelchy) shoes. Michael Keaton, though, called his return to the role “the most fun I’ve had on set in a long time”. And we’re ready for him to make our millennium all over again.

Astrid Deetz

Played by: Jenna Ortega
Next up is the franchise’s newest face. Burton has said a Beetlejuice sequel only made sense if there was an “emotional hook” to the project, which turned out to be Ortega’s character. Astrid is Lydia’s cynical daughter, who’s a misfit at school but not quite out-there enough to believe her mum can really see ghosts. Perhaps, though, the pair have more in common than Astrid would like to believe…

Lydia Deetz

Played by: Winona Ryder
Lydia’s now moved to New York, where she’s become a celebrity medium hosting her own TV series Ghost House With Lydia Deetz (a show we’d definitely be addicted to IRL). Despite this, she really wants to put her adolescent encounter with the revolting Beetlejuice behind her. “When I was a teenager,” she breathlessly informs her daughter, “a trickster demon terrorised our entire family and tried to force me to marry him.” Imagine Astrid’s response to that.

Bob the Shrinker

Every movie needs a cult fave, and in the original Beetlejuice that was Harry The Hunter, the shrunken-headed character – a ‘shrinker’ – who endures the afterlife’s grotesque waiting room. Now, prepare to meet Bob, a fellow shrinker in the ‘Neitherworld’ who helps out Beetlejuice. In an interview earlier this year, Keaton let slip that the sequel involves a “shrunken head room”, with all the required effects achieved without the use of CGI. You can get a sneak-peek in the film’s excellent trailer.

Delia Deetz

Played by: Catherine O’Hara
A cosseted artist, Delia is finally on the cusp of her big break in a fancy Manhattan gallery. When events conspire against her, she gathers the family back in the ’burbs – and all Hell breaks loose. The original film’s standout scene, in which she lip-syncs to Harry Belafonte’s ‘Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)’, became one of the most memorable moments in movie history.

Delores

Played by: Monica Bellucci
Look, Beetlejuice is a charismatic guy who’s been around for centuries. Inevitably he has a few – ahem – skeletons in his closet. Enter Delores, a new undead character who sports a gnarly, zip-like scar that zigzags right across her face. The third finger on Delores’ left hand is missing, which may or may not be related to the Beetlejuice scene where Beetlejuice produces a severed, wedding ring-clad female finger and exclaims: “She meant nothing to me! Nothing at all!”

Rory

Played by: Justin Theroux
Lydia’s manager and fiancée is a sensitive soul who just wants what’s best for the woman in his life. He hopes to help Lydia develop professionally and personally, and even tries to act tough in front of Beetlejuice. “You’re a figment of my imagination!” Rory shrieks defiantly in one scene. “Is this a figment of your imagination?” the demon responds, before his features morph into some unspeakable horror, at which point Rory collapses in an overwhelmed heap. Hey, management’s tough.

Wolf Jackson

Played by: Willem Dafoe
“It’s not a normal role,” Willem Dafoe has said of his new character in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which is something of an understatement. Dafoe plays the undead Wolf Jackson, an actor who played Frank Hardballer in a cop drama called Hardballer. Having not quite let go of the role, he’s now the head of the Afterlife Crimes Unit, brilliantly blurring the line between fiction, reality, life and death. We’d expect nothing less from the wildly imaginative world of Beetlejuice.

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ is in cinemas September 6

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