Recent photos from the set of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice 2 have given us a glimpse of returning stars Michael Keaton as the titular Ghost with the Most and Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, as well as Jenna Ortega as.Lydia's estranged daughter, Astrid. But fellow new cast member Willem Dafore was nowhere to be seen.
Previous reports have indicated that the Spider-Man: No Way Home star would play an "afterlife cop," and Dafoe confirmed as much during an interview with Variety, while also sharing some intriguing new details on his character.
"I haven’t seen any footage yet, but it was fun to do," Dafoe said of shooting the horror comedy sequel. "I play a police officer in the afterlife, so I’m a dead person. And in life I was a B-movie action star, but I had an accident and that’s what sent me to the other side. But because of my skills, I became a detective character in the afterlife. So that’s my job. But it’s colored by the fact of who I was [when I was alive]: a B movie action star."
Dafoe was also asked about his role as Dr. Godwin Baxter in Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things, which has been getting rave reviews across the board.
"I was surrounded by all this beautiful [Victorian] detail in this complete world; and also great cast, great script. Also looking at these videos of Alasdair Gray who wrote the novel. I don’t know this for a fact, but I think there’s a lot of Alasdair Gray in that character. And he’s quite an amusing guy. He’s eccentric, he’s intellectual, he’s playful. He’s a thinker; a free thinker. So I think that I was working from watching videos of him, partly. Dr. Baxter is a scientist and he’s turned his pain into a positive thing."
Dafoe has said that he'd be open to reprising the role of Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in another Spider-Man movie, but we haven't had any indication that plans are in place for his return as of yet.
Beetlejuice 2 recently wrapped production, and you can check out some set videos below.
Keaton spoke about returning as the manic Bio-Exorcist in a recent interview with Empire.
"Beetlejuice is the most f--kin’ fun you can have working. It’s so fun, it’s so great. And you know what it is? We’re doing it exactly like we did the first movie," he says. "There’s a woman in the great waiting room for the afterlife literally with a fishing line – I want people to know this because I love it – tugging on the tail of a cat to make it move."
"[Burton] and I were talking about it years and years ago, never telling anybody," he continued. "I said, ‘if it happens, first of all, we’ve both said we’re doing it many times. We both agreed, if it happens, it has to be done as close to the way we made it the first time. Making stuff up, making stuff happen, improvising and riffing, but literally handmade stuff like people creating things with their hands and building something. F--kin’ great. It’s the most fun I’ve had working on a movie in I can’t tell you how long."
Catherine O'Hara is also set to reprise her role as Lydia's mother, Delia Deetz. Other new cast members include Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz, Monica Bellucci as Betelgeuse's wife, and Justin Theroux in an undisclosed role.
Wednesday creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar penned the script.
Beetlejuice 2 is set to release in theaters on Sept. 6, 2024.