'Beetlejuice': Keaton, Ryder, Ortega, O'Hara & Theroux on bringing back the iconic Tim Burton story

Michael Keaton - [Astrid] Who's Beetlejuice? (evil cackle) - Don't ever say that name. - Beetlejuice. (thunder rumbles) - No Astrid, I'm serious. If you say his name three times, he will appear. - I mean, Tim is so specific about his imagery and his thoughts and his ideas that in a lot of ways this was easier, because he saw the first one for sure. He saw the visuals and he saw, he knew was general tone and what he wanted to make work here. And then I come in, I go, "Oh cool, okay, what do you think of this?" And I do that and he go, "I love that." He goes, "Okay, now I got another idea." And then it was like that. This one was a little more step in, we only had X amount of days. He said, "Here's what we're gonna do." And I went, "Got it, love it. Let's just go do that." And then of course something comes up, I'd say, I'd just go off and he'd say, "Yeah, oh, wait a minute, do more of that." Or, "Yeah, don't do that." Or whatever. You know, it's hard to explain to people. It's actually pretty simple. - Of course it's intimidating. But that being said, you know, Justin Theroux you're supported by probably one of the best filmmakers working and alive today. We had an incredible script and we had just this ocean of creative set makers, prop makers, Colleen Atwood with wardrobe. I mean, 95% of the work is already done for you. So there was a little bit of pressure, but then everyone's so great. It's a cliche to say like, "My cast is the best cast I've ever worked with." But they really are such a fabulous cast. - Well, I think my job is made easy, because I was working with people Jenna Ortega and Catherine O'Hara who are the absolute best at what we do. So I think that I felt like just being on set, I was learning so much. And I think what was really big for me is because Wednesday and Lydia have a little bit more similarity, I think in terms of, you know, they know they're odd, you know, something's off about them. Where Astrid's really not that odd. She just is confused and insecure and she has a mom that she can't stand. And she's been through a lot of trauma in her life with the loss of her father and her parents' divorce and being sent away to boarding school. You know, so she holds a lot of confusion and resentment and anger. So I think because so much of what this film is, is that emotional relationship between the three women, I just kinda try to focus on that as much as I could. - Tim knows how to create an incredible situation on set Monica Bellucci is so precise, he knows what he wants. And so you feel protected as an actor, of course. And his creativity really inspires everybody. And also he likes practical effects instead of CGI. So even for you as an actor, it is easier, because you have to react to real monsters instead of a green screen, so you can go farther with your fantasy, your imagination. - We talked about it over the years, Winona Ryder this was an ongoing conversation, but it was always, it had to be right. There was no way to do this without everyone involved. Obviously, you can't make it without Michael or Tim or Catherine. And I think, you know, Jenna was like a, that was such a great addition and Justin. - Ghosts aren't real. (snake hisses) Only gullible people believe that kind of crap. (suspenseful music) - I can't believe I'm doing this. The whole movie was like, I have to be very present, because this doesn't happen. This is really, really special. This is, you know, so I really didn't let a moment of that escape me. You know, it was such a really, truly one of the most special things I've ever been involved with.