Winona Ryder said reprising Lydia Deetz for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was a “special experience” and her first time playing a character twice.
Just as Lydia Deetz is strange and unusual, Winona Ryder found her experience reprising the character for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to be just that. After all, not only has it been more than 35 years since the original Beetlejuice came out but Ryder has actually never starred in a sequel before.
Speaking with Empire, Winona Ryder had a hard time describing just what it was like reprising Lydia Deetz for the Beetlejuice sequel. “I struggle to find the words. It’s just one of the most special experiences that I’ve ever had. The fact that we’re coming back to it, it’s…It’s beyond…I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this way.” Ryder also noted that “this is a first for me. I’ve never revisited a character, ever.”
As such, Winona Ryder had to find a way to approach the character, especially now that she is a mother, with Jenna Ortega playing daughter Astrid. “I went through so many stages of, ‘Who is she now?’, but I always wanted to have it be Lydia. She can’t lose who she was. She can’t be the same person, she can’t be just completely deadpan, she has to have evolved, but she also has to have kept that thing she had when we first met her. So that was the big challenge for me.”
But that’s not necessarily a problem unique to Winona Ryder, as there are major hurdles that the cast and crew of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice have to get over. The original is one of the most cherished comedies of the ‘80s, so it does seem very unlikely that the sequel will completely live up to it. As such, there is a clear responsibility in adding to both the characters and the world that is already established as well as authentically bringing in new elements, which does at least seem to be in line based on footage.
Outside of Winona Ryder, Lydia Deetz was voiced by Alyson Court on the animated Beetlejuice series and played by numerous actresses in musical productions.
Do you think Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will do a good job in expanding on the established world? Will you be checking it out in theaters? Let us know below!