Fans of the 1988 classic Beetlejuice have been taking to social media to declare their excitement for the upcoming sequel that sees the return of “the ghost with the most.” Details have been trickling in, with the cast being revealed over the past few months. Today, we have an update. Details have now surfaced surrounding Oscar nominee Willem Defoe’s character.
During a recent interview with Variety, Defoe confirmed that he will be playing an afterlife police officer who was a B-list movie star in his human life.
“I haven’t seen any footage yet, but it was fun to do,” Dafoe said. “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.”
The Tim Burton-directed sequel sees Burton reunite with his “Wednesday” star Jenna Ortega, who will play the role of Winona Ryder’s daughter. Ryder returns along with her fellow original cast members Michael Keaton, who stars as Beetlejuice, and Catherine O’Hara. The sequel will also introduce new characters from stars Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, and Dafoe.
Defoe is a brilliant actor who has starred in films such as Boondock Saints, Robert Eggers’ films The Lighthouse and The Northman, Spider-Man, Platoon, and this year’s thriller Inside.
Luckily, before the SAG-AFTRA strike kicked off, Beetlejuice 2 had already completed 99% of its production. The moment the strike ended, the film resumed production, putting it on track for its original September 6, 2024 theatrical premiere.
Burton’s Netflix series “Wednesday” is set to return for its second season, which is no surprise after the first season of “The Addams Family” spin-off was nominated for 12 prime-time Emmy Awards, including “Outstanding Comedy Series.” It follows “a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago while navigating her new and very tangled relationships.”
