Jenna Ortega is a doppelganger of Winona Ryder In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – but that was not intentional.
“We had to show great respect for the original film,” Christine Blundellthe film’s hair and makeup designer, told exclusively We weekly on Friday, September 6. “We wanted something different with Jenna’s character than with the Lydia child (in the original).”
While Ortega, 21, plays Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Lydia Deetz, in Beetlejuice Sequel, the characters are not at all alike. It was Blundell’s job to make that clear to the audience.
“The child Lydia was absorbed in the whole thing – she could see the dead people and never minded,” Blundell explained Us. “While Jenna’s character almost said something like ‘Mom, you’re stupid, I don’t believe you.’ They grew up very differently as children because Jenna’s character, Astrid, was very much against what her mother stood for and didn’t believe in life after death at all.”
To reflect this attitude, the team made sure Ortega looked “as normal as possible” and wore minimal makeup.
“She would put on a tiny bit of concealer if she needed it,” Blundell recalled. “But other than that, it was just a bit of lip balm, coming in for a cup of tea in the morning and a bit of a chat (while we) did her hair as unkempt as possible. For her character, it just looked like she didn’t really mind.”
For Ryder, 52, the challenge was to maintain Lydia’s look, only older. Blundell explained that the film’s director, Tim Burtonwas “very specific” that Ryder should look similar to how he did in Beetlejuice in 1988.
“He wanted to discuss it when (the actors) were in the chair with us. It was a collaboration between us,” the makeup artist recalled. “When Winona first started, we played with a few different looks and came to the conclusion that… we needed to give that bangs a nod. I think the fans would have literally ripped me apart if she didn’t still have the essence of a grown-up goth girl about her. We definitely decided to stay in that area.”
In particular, Blundell made Ryder’s makeup look like it was “done a few hours ago” because Lydia’s life is “too crazy to keep going and give her a precise look.”
At one point in the film, Blundell decided to exaggerate the bangs for Ryder’s look.
“We wanted to make it as close to the original as possible,” she said. “We gave priority to the original.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now in theaters.