The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff talks with
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
‘s Justin Theroux.
Theroux teases the character he and Tim Burton collaborated on, calling Rory “Lydia-adjacent.”
Theroux also discusses joining this iconic IP, working with Winona Ryder, practical effects, and an idea for a spin-off.

Four decades later, Tim Burton returns to the wickedly wonderful world of Beetlejuice, bringing Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara back into the fold. Now, however, Lydia Deetz (Ryder) is bringing her own family to her childhood home, introducing her daughter Astrid and boyfriend Rory, played by Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux, to Winter River and, inevitably, to the bio-exorcist of her past in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Ortega’s role as Astrid steps into the strange and unusual shoes of her mother, turning the rebellious tables on Lydia. But who is Rory, a character we’ve only caught glimpses of in trailers? In an interview with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, Theroux discusses joining this timeless character’s orbit and shares details he and Burton collaborated on for this new addition.

Check out the full conversation in the video above or in the transcript below to find out why Rory is “in his own soap opera” and how he models himself after Lydia. Theroux also discusses working opposite Ryder and why his first on-set reaction to her was, “Holy shit,” what it was like working with practical effects, and which Beetlejuice Beetlejuice character needs a spin-off.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.Release Date September 6, 2024 Studio

“Don’t Try to Match Tim Burton’s Imagination,” Justin Theroux Warns
We’re all here for the sandworm ride.

PERRI NEMIROFF: When you first signed on for this movie, what single part of making it were you most looking forward to? But then, I also want to know something about the experience of making Beetlejuice Beetlejuice that wound up being more creatively fulfilling than you ever could have imagined at the start?

JUSTIN THEROUX: I had no expectations. I had read the script, and the script was fantastic. Don’t try and match Tim Burton’s imagination because the first time you read a set, you’re like, “Oh, this is gonna be the soul train set, and that sounds really cool,” and blah, blah. Then you walk on to the soul train set, and you see how much creativity. It’s like a creativity bomb had gone off on the sound stages. Every single set was like that, even just the ones that are, of course, the most nostalgic, like the model of the town and the house, and shooting in Vermont was really special.

And something that wound up being more creatively fulfilling than you imagined?

THEROUX: The whole process. It is one of those movies that, as you start it, you’re so excited and so thrilled to be a part of it, obviously. Then, as you start to get towards the end of it, you start to sort of mourn that it’s gonna be ending, and you’re like, “Oh, I could do this job for two years.” It was just really fun. It was a giggle the whole way through.

I get it. As a viewer, I could just live in this world indefinitely.

THEROUX: There were so many times where we would be on set — I mean, this is like a cliche, obviously — where we just could not stop laughing. I mean, Catherine O’Hara? My god, every scene she did just made me laugh so hard. Everybody was fantastic.

Who Is Rory in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’?
“He’s in his own soap opera.”

I was reading a little bit about how Rory was an especially difficult character to get just right. In prep, or maybe even on set, did you have a moment where you stopped and said to yourself, “I get him. I know how to calibrate him now?”

THEROUX: The key was me and Tim had multiple conversations about how he fit into the world, and we came upon the idea that he’s sort of in his own soap opera. He’s always in close-up in his own brain, you know? And that lends this sort of emotionality towards him. He’s just tender and quick to tears, and that just made us laugh. Then the other idea was his look. In his backstory, they met at a grief retreat or something, and we just thought it would be really funny if he’s one of those guys who immediately starts dressing like his girlfriend, and he should do it sort of badly. So, he should look like Lydia but be kind of Lydia-adjacent. That was another way in.

Bringing up Lydia, I’ll go to Winona [Ryder] next because I was reading our production notes and there’s one thing you said about her that really stuck out to me; “She’s one of these people who has an unusual approach to get into scenes.” Can you tell me something you saw her do on set that is uniquely her, something you’ve never seen another actor do?

THEROUX: Winona sweats the details. She needs to sort of visualize it in her own head before we start. I’m trying to remember what the first thing we shot was — I think it might have been near the model or something. I just remember I saw her, and I was like, “Holy shit, she looks incredible. She looks identical. Her wardrobe, makeup, and everything looks exactly like the grown-up version of Lydia.” Then she just snaps in. When Tim called action, she was completely present in there and in character, and you just get why she’s such a huge movie star.

Image via Warner Bros.

4:38 Related Winona Ryder Says ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Couldn’t Have Happened Without Jenna Ortega “This movie, because we talked about it for so long, had to be perfect.”

The returning trio doesn’t skip a beat here. It’s like they never left these roles, and I think it’s brilliant.

THEROUX: It’s fantastic.

Where Do All the Bobs Go?
“Bob could totally have a spin-off.”
Image via Warner Bros.

I could talk about practical effects all day long. I love the heavy emphasis on live effects and puppets here. You’ve made a lot of movies, you’ve had a lot of experience, but is there anything in particular you saw happening in that department on this set that made even you go, “My god, I can’t believe this is what it takes?”

THEROUX: I think the incredible thing about the effects on this is that it’s only a person like Tim that can have that at his fingertips at this point in his career because you have to assemble… It’s almost like you have to have a brain that has to have chords connected to everyone else’s brain so that everybody is thinking in exactly the same terms. The thing I was most impressed with was the baby, Bob — all the Bobs — all the headshrinkers, and the puppetry involved in that and the mechanics involved in that. Every single Bob head could make expressions, their eyes obviously could move, and all this is just fitted on top of a stunt performer. Getting that right, if it was a lesser director, I think you’d be there all day trying to get it right.

I need to know where all the Bobs go.

THEROUX: I don’t know, but I want one.

I think that’s the next sequel.

THEROUX: I want one, definitely, in my apartment. [Laughs] Bob could totally have a spin-off.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is making his way into theaters on September 6 in the US. Check the link below for showtimes:

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