In recent years, audiences have seen Willem Dafoe do all kinds of things. He’s played ‘God’ (or, Godwin Baxter) in Poor Things, responsible for the creation of all kinds of hybrid creatures. He leapt around and farted in a cave for Robert Eggers’ The Northman. Even Spider-Man: No Way Home had him talking to himself down a back alley in his return as the Green Goblin. But Dafoe’s journey into weirder, wilder roles is far from over – he’s entering Tim Burton’s world in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, joining the hordes of underworld oddities in the long-awaited sequel.
Specifically, the film sees Dafoe play the brilliantly-named Wolf Jackson – an actor who, given that he was known for playing cop ‘Frank Hardballer’ when he was alive, has taken on a similar role in the afterlife as the head of the Afterlife Crimes Unit. Oh, and he has a segment of skull missing, leaving a bit of his brain exposed. “It’s not a normal role,” admits Dafoe. “The most important thing for me was to find the tone. It had to be rooted but it also had to be free enough that you could play with it.” That meant bouncing off the legendary Michael Keaton, the best way to dial into the free-flowing Beetlejuician chaos. “I take my cue off of him,” says Dafoe. “You take your cue off of the world.”
He’s not the only newcomer – there’s Jenna Ortega as Astrid, the daughter of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz; Justin Theroux as Rory, Lydia’s manager and fiancé; and Monica Bellucci is in the mix too as Delores, a woman from Betelgeuse’s past who has unfinished business with him. Together, they make up a cast the filmmaker couldn’t be prouder of. “It’s beautiful,” Burton tells Empire. “Having all these people, and also Justin, Monica and Willem… it felt very special for me.” Get ready for all kinds of new undead adventures.
Read Empire’s full world-exclusive Beetlejuice Beetlejuice cover feature – going on set of the film, and speaking to Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci and Justin Theroux about what’s in store – in the July 2024 issue, on sale Thursday 6 May. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice comes to UK cinemas from 6 September.