Michael Keaton on working with Jenna Ortega on Beetlejuice 2: she’s just got it

8 months ago 48

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Though he didn’t get talked about as much as naked John Cena or Ryan Gosling’s “Pink Rhinestones Are A Ken’s Best Friend” number, I thought Michael Keaton was a real winner on Oscar night. He and Catherine O’Hara were funny and tight when presenting, and then Michael took it up a notch when he volleyed back to Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger from the audience. He just made it look so easy. Of course the pairing of Michael and Catherine was part of early promo for the Beetlejuice sequel that comes out in September, brilliantly titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. While at the premiere of his latest movie Knox Goes Away (that he stars in and directed), Michael talked about how seamlessly Jenna Ortega fit into the returning gang with her role as Winona Ryder’s daughter:

Michael Keaton has nothing but good things to say about his co-stars for the upcoming sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 cult classic, Beetlejuice. The long-awaited flick, titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, is set for theatrical release on Sept. 6 and returns to the afterlife to continue the story of Keaton’s titular “bio-exorcist.”

Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara return for the sequel, with Jenna Ortega — who worked with Burton on Wednesday — joining the cast as the daughter of Ryder’s character, Lydia Deetz.

The actor shared a little bit about working alongside his new castmate while chatting with ET’s Cassie DiLaura at the Knox Goes Away premiere on Thursday.

“Oh man, she’s good, she’s just got it, you know? She’s got the tone,” Keaton said of Ortega. “She showed up and just immediately knew what the tone was and just slipped in like she does every day. She’s really special.”

Ortega previously gushed to ET about working on 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.”

“I think we’re not using very much CGI or something like that at all,” Ortega noted.

Speaking on the cast, Ortega said, “Everyone did an incredible job. I felt so lucky to be there, it was insane … I can’t wait for people to see.”

“It took a while to get there,” Keaton previously told ET. “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.”

“[Tim] was really, really great — back in his comfort zone,” he added. “I could tell he was having fun. Which is really contagious, when you’re around that.”

While waiting for Beetlejuice to creep into theaters on Sept. 6, fans can check out Keaton as he returns to the director’s chair for Knox Goes Away, his first time behind the camera since 2009’s The Merry Gentleman. The star plays the titular hitman, who struggles to help his estranged son (James Marsden) after being diagnosed with a rare form of dementia.

[From ET Online]

Michael Keaton isn’t the only one to comment recently on how much fun Tim Burton was having on this Beetlejuice set. As part of her profile in the Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue, Jenna Ortega said “It was probably the happiest I had ever seen Tim on a set, where he’s clapping at the monitor and shouting and laughing, which was really, really endearing.” Tim Burton? Having a non-tortured, non-soul crushing time realizing an artistic vision? Growth is possible, people! I’m actually not surprised to hear this. Tim, Michael, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder — they all get to work together again on a film that was a touchstone for many people. And they’ve all been around long enough to appreciate how lucky an opportunity that is. And yeah, no surprise that Jenna just got it. Yeah baby, she’s got it. So, countdown until September. Which gives the Vermont State Police yet more time to find the culprits who stole huge prop pieces from the set last July. They’re still at large, and I’m still hoping for a companion documentary on the heist to be released with the movie!