Beetlejuice 2: Willem Dafoe talks about his afterlife detective character

Back in March, film journalist Jeff Sneider said he had heard that “an aging action star” was up for the role of a ghost in director Tim Burton‘s Beetlejuice 2 – which, of course, happens to be the long-awaited (it’s been thirty-five years!) sequel to his classic Beetlejuice (watch it HERE). Sneider heard Jean-Claude Van Damme was in the running to play the character… but over the eight months since, we haven’t heard anything that indicates Van Damme actually made it to the set of Beetlejuice 2. We do know that Willem Dafoe plays an afterlife detective in the film – and during a new interview with Variety, he revealed that his character also happens to be a former action star!

Dafoe said, “I haven’t seen any footage (from Beetlejuice 2) yet, but it was fun to do. I play a police officer in the afterlife, so I’m a dead person. And in life I was a B-movie action star, but I had an accident and that’s what sent me to the other side. But because of my skills, I became a detective character in the afterlife. So that’s my job. But it’s colored by the fact of who I was [when I was alive]: a B movie action star.“

That action star history makes it sound like Dafoe’s character could be the same one Van Damme was rumored for… Then again, maybe Van Damme will show up in the movie as someone who has a connection to Dafoe’s character. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Beetlejuice 2 was in development hell for decades. In 1990, Jonathan Gems was hired to write a sequel that was going to be titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. Burton considered having Daniel Waters rewrite that script, Pamela Norris did rewrite it, and Warner Bros. offered Kevin Smith the chance to do another rewrite. He turned it down. Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to write and produce a new version of a sequel in 2011. Mike Vukadinovich was brought on to rewrite his script in 2017.

Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, co-creators and co-showrunners of Wednesday, have written the screenplay for Beetlejuice 2 that has actually been filmed. Plot details are being kept under wraps. Brad Pitt’s Plan B is producing the sequel, which filmed in London before moving to Vermont and Massachusetts.

Winona Ryder reprises the role of Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice 2 and is joined in the cast by Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s daughter; Catherine O’Hara, back as Lydia’s stepmother Delia; Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s wife, Willem Dafoe as a law enforcement officer in the afterlife, and Justin Theroux in an unspecified role. Of course, Michael Keaton is reprising the role of Beetlejuice.

Written by Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren from a story McDowell crafted with Larry Wilson, the original Beetlejuice has the following synopsis: What’s a yuppie ghost couple to do when their quaint New England home is overrun by trendy New Yorkers? They hire a freelance ‘bio-exorcist’ to spook the intruders. And everyone gets more than he, she or it bargained for! Director Tim Burton teams with Michael Keaton. The result? ‘Keaton’s Beetlejuice is one of the biggest, baddest wolves a ghost movie has ever unleashed, a polter-gas’ (The Village Voice). He’s a juggernaut of jokes, jolts and jive who hurls one-liners, spins into grotesque forms, gobbles insects and can’t leave ladies (living or dead) alone. So exorcise your right to fun. Say the ‘B’ word three times and have a wonderful Day-O! 

Beetlejuice 2 is heading toward a September 6, 2024 theatrical release. Are you looking forward to seeing Willem Dafoe’s character in action? Let us know by leaving a comment below.