Michael Keaton got candid about his character ghoul Betelgeuse in Tim Burton's upcoming sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
During his recent interview with Empire magazine, Michael dished details on the process behind returning to his character and how he look for past pop culture references.
“There’s been so much merchandising of it, I had to drop back to where it started,” Keaton explained.
He continued, “I had to go, ‘What was my unusual imagination even thinking about when I was developing it in the first place?’ As opposed to seeing a coffee mug or a golf club cover [featuring Betelgeuse’s face].”
Keaton also expressed how he felt when he witnessed his character’s merchandise hitting the fashion world, dubbing it as a “f***** weird” experience.
“To be honest with you — I’m being very frank — it was off-putting, to look and go, ‘I don’t want to look like all these little things, expletive that — what was the thing that started this?’” he noted.
Keaton further shared his thoughts on getting back to the basics of Betelgeuse for Burton’s sequel successfully.
“I love it,” he added, “I absolutely love this thing. And I don’t [usually] talk like that. I unabashedly love this. It was not easy to pull off, and I think we did it in spades.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which is scheduled to release on September 6, 2024, also stars Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci, and Catherine O’Hara.
