‘Beetlejuice 2’ star Jenna Ortega shares why film can be a ‘religious experience’
‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’ star Jenna Ortega tells Fox News Digital that she agrees with Winona Ryder’s comments that movies can be a ‘religious experience.’
Actress Jenna Ortega recently called out Hollywood’s haphazard attempts at reviving old movies with gender-swapped roles for women instead of innovating new stories centered around a female lead.
While discussing how "certain movies that should get a sequel, and shouldn’t get a sequel" while promoting her new film "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", "MTV’s" Josh Horowitz asked Ortega what she thought about a possible reprisal of another Tim Burton classic, "Edward Scissorhands" as "Edith Sicssorhands."
"I love that there's a lot more female leads nowadays, I think that's so special. But we should have our own. I don't like it when it's like a spin off," the 21-year-old said. "I don't want to see a ‘Jamie Bond’, I want to see just like another bada-- [character]."
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(L-R) Jenna Ortega, Catherine O'Hara, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Tim Burton attend the "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" New York photo call at JW Marriott Essex House on August 17, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images)
The California native went on to say that it would be best to "leave" the classic film as is, going on to cite that "the beauty of something like Edward [Scissorhands is] very sensitive."
"Beetlejuice can still somewhat be original, because he exists in no specific time," the actress continued. "You could take him back to the 1800s if you really wanted to. You really can make an anthology movie series with him."
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Jenna Ortega attends the UK Premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" at Cineworld Leicester Square on August 29, 2024 in London, England. ((Photo by Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/WireImage))
Ortega, who plays Astrid, daughter of Lydia Deetz from the original 1988 version of the film, also shared her belief that the film could be a "religious experience" for viewers.
"Something religion can bring to people is hope, and that’s what film does as well… It can be a form of escapism; you can forget your worries and problems. Or you can watch something and take whatever it is that the character’s learned and apply it into your own life," Ortega said.
Other Hollywood stars have voiced similar perspectives on gender-swapped roles instead of original female-led storylines.
Jenna Ortega appears at the "Wednesday" world premiere in Hollywood. (Michael Tullberg/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
Barbara Broccoli, British-American film producer who has worked on a number of "James Bond" films, has expressed consistent beliefs in "making characters for women" instead of switching up genders for film leads.
"I don’t think a woman should play James Bond," Broccoli told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. "I believe in making characters for women and not just having women play men’s roles. I don’t think there are enough great roles for women, and it’s very important to me that we make movies for women about women."
Ana de Armas, who starred in the James Bond film "No Time to Die", also echoed Ortega and Broccoli’s support for original female roles in movies in an interview with The Sun. She said, "There’s no need for a female Bond. There shouldn’t be any need to steal someone else’s character… What I would like is that the female roles in the Bond films… are brought to life in a different way."
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