As Winona Ryder prepares for the release of the highly anticipated sequel to Beetlejuice — the 1988 cult classic film by Tim Burton — she’s looking back on the early years of her decades-long career. In an interview for Harper’s Bazaar‘s August Performance issue, the 52-year-old actress reflects on how much her iconic Beetlejuice 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 would ever think to Google someone,” she tells the outlet. “When I look back, I’m like, ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ I was dating the type of person who only lets you know a few weeks in that they’re in a relationship with someone else. And you’re just like, ‘What the f**k?'”
While Ryder has happily been with her boyfriend, Scott Mackinlay Hahn — founder of the sustainable organic cotton company Loomstate — for the past 14 years, her previous dating experience resonates with the predicament of Lydia when fans catch up with her in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
According to the outlet, now a middle-aged mother of one, Lydia uses her ability to see and speak to the dead as a host of a television show called Ghost House. She’s dating — but not in love with — her slimy manager, Rory (played by The Leftovers‘ Justin Theroux). Her teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), hates her because she believes Lydia’s gift is a cheap gimmick, mostly because she can’t contact Astrid’s father, who tragically died 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 light of the spotlight.”
Looking back on those early days of her career, the Stranger Things star says she feels “incredibly lucky” to not feel traumatized by her past the way her character does.
“I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to live this life — however intense and overwhelming it got, it’s NOTHING compared to what it is now with the internet and social media,” she shares. “I just find myself feeling tremendous empathy toward people who have sacrificed so much.”
In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Ryder, Ortega and Theroux are joined by Michael Keaton, who will return to reprise his role as the titular pesky poltergeist, Catherine O’Hara returning as Lydia’s mother, Delia Deetz, Willem Dafoe as Wolf Jackson, a B-list 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,” reads the movie’s press release. “Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town 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 until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.”
In early March, Keaton spoke with ET and said that while it may have taken more than 30 years to bring it together (and that he sometimes doubted it would ever happen), the cast and crew could not be more thrilled to bring their beloved characters back to the screen for another go around.
“It took a while to get there,” he shared. “I didn’t really think we were gonna do it and didn’t want to do it, various times [in the] last few years, but it was more fun than the other one.”
Keaton also previously praised Ortega — a newcomer to the already established Beetlejuice family — saying that she “slipped in” effortlessly to the role and the film.
“Oh man, she’s good, she’s just got it, you know? She’s got the tone. She showed up and just immediately knew what the tone was and just slipped in like she does every day. She’s really special,” the 72-year-old actor said.
Ortega also recently spoke with ET about her time on 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,” Ortega said of the Burton-directed sequel.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens in theaters nationwide on Sept. 6.
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