Jenna Ortega says "my soul left my body" when she first saw Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice: "I wanted to remember it for the rest of my life"

Jenna Ortega couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Michael Keaton on set as Beetlejuice for the very first time.

"I remember feeling my soul leave my body for a second," Ortega told Vanity Fair. “And then in between takes, he’s sitting down and drinking his tea."

In the sequel to Tim Burton's comedy-horror hit, Ortega plays Astrid, the daughter of Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder). When Astrid mistakenly gets taken to the underworld, Lydia calls upon her old 'pal' Beetlejuice for help.

Added Ortega: "Every time I walked onto that set, I wanted to remember it for the rest of my life."

Tim Burton directs from a script penned by Wednesday showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The sequel's official title is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which is a play on the Blood Mary-esque way that everyone's favorite bio-exorcist is summoned. The cast includes Catherine O'Hara as eccentric artist Delia Deetz, Justin Theroux as Rory, and Willem Dafoe as ghost detective Wolf Jackson.

The flagship film premiered some 35 years ago and was a critical and commercial success, earning over $74 million at the global box office against a budget of $15 million. A sequel had been planned for quite some time, initially titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, though it remained in development hell until a brand new idea was brought to the table.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on September 6. For more. check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024 and beyond, or, skip right to the good stuff with our complete list of movie release dates.