Jenna Ortega Shares Teasers About ‘Beetlejuice 2’ & ‘Wednesday’ S2

There’s no question that Jenna Ortega has carved a name for herself in the horror scene with credits like Wednesday, the Scream reboot, and the upcoming sequel to the iconic Beetlejuice, under her belt. The Netflix series is one season in but Ortega already made history with her best actress Emmy nom for her role as Wednesday becoming the first Latina nominated in her category since Honduran American actress America Ferrera. When it was announced she’d be a part of the upcoming sequel of the beloved film it came as no surprise considering her macabre roles and her working relationship with director Tim Burton who is behind both projects. Through her recent work she’s put a spotlight on Latinas as deadpan, kooky, and spooky. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair for their Hollywood issue, the 21-year-old actress of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent divulged a few details about her involvement in these macabre movie and TV projects. 

Ortega shared that fans of the 1988 film starring Michael Keaton are in for a wave of nostalgia with the sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. She comments, “I feel like studios nowadays, of course they want people in seats and you’ve got to do reboots or sequels or things like that to get people entwined, but to bring Beetlejuice back—of all of the stories—is so good because people need to revisit weird, strange, off-putting stories again.” Her title role in the Netflix series Wednesday has proved she’s more than capable of capturing the spirit of the strange and unusual. So, it’s no surprise Burton chose to cast her as Lydia Deetz’s daughter, Astrid, with Winona Ryder reprising her role as Lydia.

Although the actress can’t reveal too much about her character, she does offer a few hints, saying, “She’s weird, but in a different way and not in the way you’d assume, I would say. The relationship between Lydia and Astrid, my character, is very important.” She also adds the movie will bring the audience up to speed on what’s been going on with her mother since we last saw her as a melancholic teen and how her own character differs from Lydia. She adds, “I’m not wearing pink and a cheerleader, but I am a little bit against my mom’s history or past. We butt heads quite a bit.”

As production for the Beetlejuice sequel is pretty much wrapped up, she’s now trying to get back into the Addams family mindset for Wednesday. Ortega didn’t mention filming has begun, but she has been reading scripts. She gave some insight into what viewers can expect for the second season, sharing, “We’re definitely expanding on the supernatural world.” She added, “It [each episode of season two] just stands out on its own as a very memorable scene or bit or setting.” Those teasers are enough to spike anyone’s curiosity.

Just as Wednesday in the TV show possesses a determined and persevering nature, so does Ortega. Since she first began acting when she was only 10 years old, the actress has worked hard to land roles and get noticed in Hollywood. In a candid moment, she opened up about where her career has taken her: “The last few months I’ve been able to reflect on the fact that a lot of the things that I wanted to do when I was younger, including work with Tim Burton, have happened.”

Her energy and presence are enriching the horror genre in a refreshing way, and the actress seems quite at home portraying characters with an eccentric, peculiar air. 

For those dying to know, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is slated to release on September 6 of this year. As for Wednesday, season two, it’s reported that production may begin sometime during early 2024. While there’s no confirmation on when it will hit Netflix, it’s speculated to release during the first half of 2025.