Jenna Ortega; Winona Ryder inBeetlejuice(1988).Photo: Amy Sussman/WireImage, GEFFEN FILM/WARNER BROTHERS/Alamy
Jenna Ortegais putting her own spin on the strange and unusual.
In an interview forVanity Fair’s 30th annual Hollywood issue, the 21-year-old actress confirmed she plays the daughter of Lydia Deetz —Winona Ryder’s character, which she reprises from the original 1988 film — inTim Burton’s long-awaited sequel,Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
“She’s weird, but in a different way and not in the way you’d assume, I would say,” Ortega told the magazine of her character, Astrid, adding that her relationship with Lydia “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,” theMiller’s Girlactress added.
But just because Astrid is different from Lydia, “I wouldn’t say she’s bright and sunny at all,” Ortega said of her character, laughing.
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“She doesn’t go to the opposite end of the spectrum, but any kid who becomes a teenager wants to be removed from their parents,” she explained. “I think they instantly just fight whatever it is that their parent loves.”
“So I think it’s a little bit of that. I’m not wearing pink and a cheerleader, but I am a little bit against my mom’s history or past. We butt heads quite a bit,” Ortega added.
“To play her daughter and also have to be like, ‘Mom … ,’ and roll your eyes was definitely more challenging for me as an actor, but super fun to play,” Ortega toldVanity Fair.
The film’s new title,Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, is a reference to its title character.Michael Keatonportrayed Beetlejuice in the original 1988 film as a green-haired, boisterous ghost from the world of the dead who appears if someone says his name three times in a row.
Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega filmingBeetlejuice Beetlejuicein Hertfordshire, England.Click News / Dean / SplashNews.com
Click News / Dean / SplashNews.com
Keaton, 72, is on board again for the sequel, as well as Ryder, who will reprise her role as Lydia Deetz, andCatherine O’Hara, who played Delia Deetz. Burton, 65, returns as director, while his real-life girlfriendMonica Belluccialso joins the cast.
While promoting his new dramatic thrillerKnox Goes Away, Keaton recently told PEOPLE that makingBeetlejuice Beetlejuicewas “the most fun I’ve had on set in a long time.”
“The one thing that he and I decided on early, early, early on from the beginning, if we ever did it again, I was totally not interested in doing something where there was too much technology,” the actor said, in part. “It had to feel handmade.”
“What made it fun was watching somebody in the corner actually holding something up for you, to watch everybodyin the shrunken-head roomand say, ‘Those are people under there, operating these things, trying to get it right,’ ” Keaton continued.
Of the practical effects, he added, “It’s the most exciting thing. When you get to do that again after years of standing in front of a giant screen, pretending somebody’s across the way from you, this is just enormous fun.”
source: people.com
