Winona Ryder calls ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ a “religious experience”
It’s been 36 years since Winona Ryder played Lydia Deetz in Tim Burton’s fantastical horror comedy Beetlejuice, with the actor finding the reprising of her role in the upcoming sequel to be a spiritual moment.
While several of the legacy stars from the original are returning for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – most notably Michael Keaton in the title role and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz – they both had much more experience than Ryder when Burton first called action on the enduring cult favourite.
For Ryder, it was only the third big screen role of her career, one that instantly marked her out as a star with an incredibly bright future, which was proven ever truer when she followed it up with the likes of teen black comedy Heathers, Burton’s Edward Scissorhands, Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, and Gillian Armstrong’s Little Women to become one of Hollywood’s brightest shining young stars in the early 1990s.
There have been several ups and downs since then, but the resurgent Ryder has been riding the crest of a wave since being cast in Netflix juggernaut Stranger Things, with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a full circle moment that doubles as the first sequel of her career.
It’s been more than three decades since she worked with Burton in a physical capacity, too, with her voice role as Elsa Van Helsing in Frankenweenie the last time they partnered on any project. Returning to the scene of one of her earliest successes was something to be savoured, with the star comparing it to a religious experience.
“Once we started talking, and I remember it was on our third day together, the day we shot the scene in the attic, we never stopped,” she said to Vanity Fair of the immediate bond she formed with onscreen daughter Jenna Ortega. “It almost felt holy, like some sort of blessing from above, which, I think, is because we share the belief that film can be kind of a religious experience.”
As fate would have it, one of their first scenes together was shot inside a church, which would have only furthered those connotations in Ryder’s mind. It’s been a long time coming, with a Beetlejuice sequel having been trapped firmly in development hell for 30 years, but Burton’s perseverance has finally paid off.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 28th before releasing in cinemas on September 6th, with fans of the original and newcomers alike hoping they experience a religious moment of their own.
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