It’s still hard to believe that Beetlejuice 2 is a thing that’s actually happening. Tim Burton’s long-awaited sequel has Michael Keaton returning as the “ghost with the most”, with Winona Ryder back as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz. Among the new faces to the franchise is Willem Dafoe, whose character had been kept under wraps until now.
Speaking with Variety about his upcoming role in Poor Things, Dafoe gave some details on his Beetlejuice 2 character, describing him as an afterlife cop who used to be a B-movie action actor…
“I haven’t seen any footage yet, but it was fun to do. I play a police officer in the afterlife, so I’m a dead person. And in life I was a B-movie action star, but I had an accident and that’s what sent me to the other side. But because of my skills, I became a detective character in the afterlife. So that’s my job. But it’s colored by the fact of who I was [when I was alive]: a B movie action star.”
Sounds like the kind of role that Dafoe, and Burton, can have a lot of fun with visually.
The film also has Burton reuniting with Wednesday star Jenna Ortega, who plays Lydia’s daughter. Also in the cast are Justin Theroux in an undisclosed role, and Monica Bellucci as Beeltlejuice’s wife.
Beetlejuice 2 opens on September 6th 2024.
