Winona Ryder Says Filming ‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’ Was a ‘Religious Experience’

Harrison Richlin
·2 min read
4

36 years have passed between the original “Beetlejuice” and its upcoming sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” and the love for cinema emitting from the team behind both projects only seems to have grown.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, past collaborators Winona Ryder and Tim Burton, as well as newcomer and “Wednesday” star Jenna Ortega, all shared similar views on the alchemy that was formed in the making of the new film.

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“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,” Ryder told Vanity Fair. “It almost felt holy, like some sort of blessing from above, which, I think, is because we share the belief that film can be a kind of a religious experience.”

Ryder also said formed a deep, “sacred” bond with Ortega while filming “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” in London. For Ortega, it was a one-of-a-kind experience.

“Every time I walked onto that set, I wanted to remember it for the rest of my life,” Ortega said. Describing a scene shot in a church, she added, “You have Willem Dafoe in a trench coat, sliding down in a back pew, just watching everyone.”

Ortega even said the first time she saw Michael Keaton take the set in makeup as Beetlejuice, she said she felt “my soul leave my body for a second.”

Though he describes Ortega as “different from anybody,” Burton believes she shares a certain quality he saw in Ryder when she was younger.

“They both, as young people, had a very strong soul,” he said to Vanity Fair. “They’re like silent movie actors.”

Audienes will get to see just what Ryder and Ortega’s chemistry looks like on screen when “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” opens on September 6.

“I feel like if you locked Winona and I in a blacked-out room…we could talk for hours, no touching of the phones,” Ortega added. “Just eye contact, in a dream.”

Check out the full profile on Ortega via Vanity Fair.

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