With the actor’s strike now over and Hollywood back in full swing, Michael Keaton finally had a chance to open up about returning to one of his most iconic roles for director Tim Burton. And this time we’re not talking about Batman.
Later this year, Keaton will reprise his role as Beetlejuice in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a new sequel to the 1988 classic. The actor has been reluctant to come back as the demented demon, but he and Burton finally realized the challenge was worth it.
“We thought, ‘You got to get this right. Otherwise, just don’t do it. Let’s just go on with our lives and do other things.’ So I was hesitant and cautious, and he was probably equally as hesitant and cautious over all these years,” Keaton told PEOPLE. “Once we got there, I said, ‘Okay, let’s just go for it. Let’s just see if we can do it, if we can pull this off.’”
One thing both director and star agreed on, the sequel had to go light on the CGI and green screens. “It had to feel handmade,” Keaton said.
“It’s the most exciting thing,” says Keaton. “When you get to do that again after years of standing in front of a giant screen, pretending somebody’s across the way from you, this is just enormous fun.”
After starring in Spider-Man: Homecoming and The Flash, Keaton got a taste of modern CGI filmmaking, and he definitely prefers the old-school methods.
“It’s the most fun I’ve had on set in a long time,” Keaton said about the Beetlejuice sequel. “On one hand, you’d go, ‘Well, of course it’s the most fun. It looks like fun.’ As you know, it doesn’t always work like that.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice arrives in theaters on September 6, 2024.
(Via PEOPLE)