As Winona Ryder prepares for the launch of the long-awaited sequel to Beetle juice — the 1988 cult classic film Tim Burton — she’s reminiscing about the early years of her decades-long career. In an interview with harpist’s bazaar‘s In the August issue of Performance, the 52-year-old actress reflects on how much her iconic Beetle juice the character Lydia Deetz reminds her of a younger version of herself.
“In my 30s, I had two disastrous relationships that were — they weren’t wrong, but this was before you thought about Googling someone,” she tells the outlet. “When I look back, I’m like, ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ I was dating the kind of person who only lets you know after a few weeks that they’re in a relationship with someone else. And you’re like, ‘What the f**k?'”
While Ryder has been happily married to her boyfriend, Scott Mackinlay Hahn — founder of sustainable organic cotton company Loomstate — for the past 14 years, her previous dating experience resonates with Lydia’s situation when fans meet her in Beetlejuice Beetle Juice.
According to the outlet, now a middle-aged mother, Lydia uses her ability to see and speak to the dead as the host of a television show called Ghost House. She is dating — but not in love with — her slimy manager, Rory (played by The leftovers‘ Justin Theroux). His teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), hates her because he believes Lydia’s gift is a cheap trick, especially since she can’t get in touch with Astrid’s father, who died tragically in a fishing accident.
“I felt bad for her,” Ryder explains as someone who has experienced burnout and understands what it’s like to live in “the white-hot spotlight.”
Looking back at those early days of his career, the Weird stuff The star says she feels “incredibly lucky” not to be traumatized by her past like her character.
“I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to live this life — as intense and overwhelming as it was, it’s NOTHING compared to what it is now with the internet and social media,” she shares. “I just find myself feeling such empathy for people who have sacrificed so much.”
In Beetlejuice Beetle juice, Ryder, Ortega and Theroux are joined by Michael Keatonwho will return to reprise his role as the titular annoying poltergeist, Catherine O’Hara returning as Lydia’s mother Delia Deetz, Willem Dafoe as Wolf Jackson, a second-rate movie actor who died and became a cop in the afterlife, and Monica Bellucci as Delores, Beetlejuice’s zombified but fabulous wife.
“After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River,” the film’s press release reads. “Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the city in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time before someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his own brand of chaos.”
In early March, Keaton spoke to ET and said that while it may have taken over 30 years for it all to happen (and that at times he doubted it would ever happen), the cast and crew couldn’t be more excited to bring their beloved characters back to the screen for another season.
“It took a while to get there,” he shared. “I really didn’t think we would do it and I didn’t want to do it, several times[over]the last few years, but it was more fun than the other.”
Keaton has also previously praised Ortega, a newcomer to the already established Beetle juice family — saying she “fit” easily into the role and the film.
“Man, she’s good, she just has it, you know? She has the tone. She came in and immediately knew what the tone was and just went into it like she does every day. She’s really special,” the 72-year-old actor said.
Ortega too I recently spoke to ET about her time on the set of the sequel, which she called “some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a set.” She added, “Visually, so exciting. Everything was practical.”
“Everyone did an incredible job. I felt so lucky to be there, it was insane… I can’t wait for people to see it,” Ortega said of the Burton-directed sequel.
Beetlejuice Beetle Juice opens in theaters nationwide on September 6.
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