Catherine O’Hara on How Re-Watching the Original Shaped the Sequel

It still pays to have cable TV, especially if you’re reprising a beloved role in the highly anticipated Beetlejuice sequel and you haven’t watched the original in ages. That was exactly the case for Catherine O’Hara before she began filming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

While discussing Tim Burton’s new sequel with ComicBook, O’Hara revealed she hadn’t revisited the original film, in which she first played Delia Deetz. Fortuitously, Beetlejuice aired on TV just a few days before she flew to London to shoot. This unexpected rewatch significantly influenced her performance in the sequel.

“It happened to be on TV, like four or five days before I went to London to shoot. And I hadn’t watched it. I’ve been thinking about watching it, but I just hadn’t gotten it together and it came on TV, and I just stood there and watched it and I was reminded how quickly I spoke, which helped me because for several years I have been playing a very slow speaking, methodical speaker. It really helped me make a shift and not sound like any other character. So that really helped. And just watching it, you know, being reminded of what a great experience it was,” O’Hara said.

O’Hara is not the only star making a return for the sequel. Michael Keaton is once again playing the mischievous spirit, Beetlejuice, while Winona Ryder is back as Lydia Deetz. The sequel also brings in fresh faces like Jenna Ortega, who plays Astrid Deetz, Lydia’s daughter and Delia’s granddaughter. The ensemble cast includes Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, and Danny DeVito.

“Every moment of being there I was like very present. I made sure because I was, it’s like an absolute dream come true and you just want to really be present for every single, literally every single moment,” Ryder said about returning to the Beetlejuice franchise after more than three decades. “And I mean, of all of the things that I’ve done, it’s really one of the most like special things to just be back with these people that meant the world to me.” She added that the experience had “spoiled” her as an actress due to the inclusive environment she enjoyed as a young star.

Ryder continued, “Tim was, you know, we had such a great bond and that he was able to recreate that for even with all of the buzz or anticipation and you know, that it still felt like we were somehow like under, we were, again just like no studio presence like and that might be a testament to the great producers, but we just felt this like liberating, like inspiring in the moment like, oh let’s try this, just this freedom because I trust him so much. I know he’s not going to use anything that doesn’t work.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on September 6th.

Source: ComicBook