The women of ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’: inside three generations of spooky fun

In partnership with Warner Bros. UK

Families are a dream and – let’s face it – can also be a bit of a nightmare. Just ask the Deetzes – who are at the centre of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton’s long-awaited sequel to his comedy-horror masterpiece Beetlejuice.

In the beloved original 1988 movie, artist Delia Deetz (Schitt’s Creek’s Catherine O’Hara) moved to the sticks in Winter River, Connecticut with her husband Charles and their goth teenager Lydia (Stranger Things’ Winona Ryder). Unfortunately for them, they weren’t alone, as a couple of ineffectual ghosts who were haunting the house hired “bio-exorcist” Beetlejuice (a livewire Michael Keaton) to help scare away the Deetzes. The result was one of the most imaginative, distinctive and all-round excellent movies ever made.

Sadly, Charles is no more. The new film begins with Delia, Lydia and the latter’s daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) visiting Winter River for his funeral. When Astrid finds the infamous model home in the attic, she sets in motion a series of events that’ll make you stand up in the cinema aisle to proclaim: “The Juice is loose!”

Beetlejuice featured a true ensemble cast that became nothing short of legendary and Ortega, fresh from the mega-success of Burton’s TV series Wednesday, perfectly rounds off three generations of fearsome women. Here’s why you don’t mess with the Deetzes…

Delia Deetz: an artist with a – ahem – distinctive style

Lydia’s stepmother is an artist who spent the first movie pulling apart the new house for a ghastly modernist makeover. Reader, this did not sit well with the aforementioned ghouls. 36 years later, she’s finally on the cusp of her big break, with a performance art-based exhibition due to open in Manhattan’s boujie SoHo. This is impeccably bad timing, given Beetlejuice’s imminent return…

Still, Delia is a woman who gets what she wants, and you wouldn’t bet against her. O’Hara excels in these kinds of roles (as fans of her glamorous matriarch Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek will attest) and relished the chance to inhabit the character again. Shooting Beetlejuice Beetlejuice “was loose and fun and lovely,” she recalled on the podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa earlier this year. “Michael Keaton was so happy to be there. Winona [Ryder] looks exactly the same! And Jenna [Ortega] is so cool – such a cool young woman.”

Indeed, O’Hara reflected that Delia was something of a prototype for Moira, explaining: “They’re definitely related… in their believing that they’re really talented and others just don’t see it.” After all, you can’t fault these characters for self-confidence. Which brings us to…

Lydia Deetz: a spooky celeb with a distinctive gift

During her iconic first appearance in Beetlejuice, only Lydia could see the aforementioned ghosts. Now, she’s channelled her supernatural gift into her own TV show, Ghost House With Lydia Deetz. She’s obviously reluctant to revisit her encounter with Beetlejuice, but returning to Winter River makes another face-off inevitable (perhaps literally, given the demon’s penchant for replacing his features with gross-out gore).

As well as her unconventional and era-defining goth chic, Lydia famously dons a blood-red wedding dress in the original movie, and eagle-eyed internet sleuths have noted that she’s seen wearing the same outfit in a trailer for the sequel. Where this fits with Delores (Monica Bellucci), a vampy character from Beetlejuice’s past, will be delicious to behold.

Lydia’s key relationship in the film, though, is arguably with her daughter, who doesn’t believe her mum can really see ghosts. Yet the bond between Astrid and Lydia is palpable; this chemistry is perhaps natural considering both actors found fame at young ages (Ryder reportedly offered Ortega advice when Wednesday took off).

All of which makes it a treat to see Winona reprise the role that kickstarted her stellar career. As she told The Daily Beast in 2013: “I love Lydia Deetz so much. She was such a huge part of me.”

Astrid Deetz: a teenage cynic with a rebellious streak

Is Jenna Ortega the Gen-Z Winona Ryder? The parallels are certainly there, given that her fame reached new heights with the supernatural drama Wednesday, which was executive-produced by Tim Burton (who directed half of the first series). Still, this might be a reductive way to view a hugely talented actor who couldn’t be more perfect for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Burton, who’s longed to make a Beetlejuice sequel since he unleashed the original, said Astrid’s character was the key to the whole movie. And he knew immediately upon meeting Ortega that she was made for the role. “I didn’t need more than five minutes,” he told Vanity Fair. Ortega, meanwhile, was excited the moment she laid eyes on the script, which portrays Astrid as a fiery figure who won’t back down to school bullies or her mum. “Instantly,” she told VF, “I was like, ‘Oh man, they’ve done a thing here.’”

That thing is bringing three generations of badass female characters together in a movie that updates the Beetlejuice universe for 2024, conjuring laughs, scares and a whole lot of surprises along the way. The Ghost With The Most is back and, as ever, it’s a family affair.

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ is in cinemas September 6

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