Jenna Ortega Got Scared by Michael Keaton Dressed Up as Beetlejuice, Talks Wednesday Season 2

-Thank you for coming back to the show. We have to talk about "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. " But, also, are you filming "Wednesday," season 2 right now?

-Yeah, I'm currently filming "Wednesday," season 2. I go back -- [ Cheers and applause ] -Yes! I can't wait for that.

-Yeah, of course. I came here just for you. -Thank you, buddy, I appreciate that.

And you're producing it now this season. -Yes, I am. Yeah.

-What is that like? -Oh, my God, it's been the best. I've never really done that on a TV show before, and we had talked about it first season.

And it's so nice being a part of these conversations because I love what I do, and I love my job, but I'm able to be a part of the background stuff. So, you know, I get to decide, like how blue somebody's gonna be or where the brains go on the floor, what the prosthetics look like. -Yeah.

-It's so exciting. It's so much fun, actually. Yeah, I'm learning so much.

It's so informative. -That's fantastic. That's great.

And does it come right back to you when you get in the carriage and you're like, "Okay, this is how Wednesday acts"? -Yeah, I was -- I was a little terrified just because it had been years since "Wednesday," since we shot the first one. We did that like 2 or 3 years ago in Romania.

So I didn't really know how I, uh. . .

I just was, I think, overthinking it. But as soon as you put on the costumes by Colleen Atwood, you get hair and makeup done, and then you take all the expression out of your face, it's like, "Oh, okay. I kind of.

. . " -"Yeah, I know how to do this.

" Yeah. Yeah. I know you're a big fan of horror films.

Now you're in the genre of horror. What was the first movie -- do you remember? -- that got you hooked?

-Well, I remember the first movie that terrified me. I think the first movie that terrified me was "Child's Play. " Because I was like -- -Chucky.

-Yeah, Chucky. Oh, God. -I still can't see it -4 or 5 years old.

I remember I accidentally watched it. I was like peaking around the corner 'cause I was very stubborn, and my parents were gone, you know, parent-teacher night, and my uncle was watching us, and they couldn't find me for 30 minutes 'cause I was rocking back and forth in a corner, like, "He's gonna get me! " [ Laughter ] Swear to God.

-Most frightening thing ever? -Swear to God, I was in my sibling's closet. -Wow.

-Yeah. -Oh, my gosh. It really traumatized you.

So now you're -- you're making them. Now. .

. -Yeah. [ Laughter ] -You're making that happen.

-You gotta face your own fears. -You really do. -It's really weird, too, 'cause on "Beetlejuice," we did all practical effects, so it's like toys and, you know, interactive things, which is so much better than staring at a tennis ball when you're acting.

-Yeah, yeah, you're actually get to really act and see. -Oh, yeah. I see everything that's happening in front of me.

But it's also -- it's doll-like. So, Chucky was a doll, and then now I'm acting with dolls. It's very strange.

-Did I read somewhere that you have a synthesizer or, like, a piano or something? -I have a synthesizer. Yeah, I do.

-And on set, you play and just have people play with you? -Sometimes. Sometimes I like to bring my synthesizer to set because I feel like music is the best way to get to know somebody.

And, you know, you come on these sets and you see people that you've never met before, and then you're super close to them for two months, and then you never see them again. So I got the synthesizer because I wanted to play music for people or get a feel for what they like, and then I can make them playlists and get to know them a little bit better. -And I also read somewhere that you like to compose.

-I would love to be a composer. I love film scores. I love everything about film scores.

And composing, it's just so interesting to me. -You have to do this. You have to do this.

-Yeah, yeah. -"Beetlejuice" has one of the most iconic scores of all time. I thought this would be kind of a fun game to play, if you would like to play a game with me here.

-Yeah, let's do it. -It's a trend on TikTok where people try to rank different things without knowing what's coming up. And I thought maybe you could rank some iconic film scores tonight.

Would you be up for that? -Yeah, yeah. -All right.

So here's how this works. I'm gonna give you a film score, and you have to rank it, okay? -Okay.

-Without knowing what the others are, okay? And once you do it, you have to lock it in, okay? -All right.

-You cannot change the score. Here's the first film score. "Star Wars.

" -Oh. -John Williams. Where does it rank?

♪♪ -Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. -Hmm. -Remember, there's other ones out there.

-Can I do -- Ooh. -And John's watching. Just saying.

[ Laughter ] -Here's the thing! Here's the thing! John Williams, obviously, one of the best to ever do it.

The greatest. -Let's see where you rate him. -I'm not a crazy "Star Wars" person.

[ Audience groaning ] I'm so sorry! Wait. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

It's the first one, though. It's the first one. So give me.

. . -Oh, my gosh, one of the greatest scores of all time!

I can't believe you did that to my man J. W. !

Oh. All right. "Titanic.

" [ Audience "Ohs" ] This is James Horner. This is legendary. -Oh, my God.

I'm so terrified 'cause I feel like people are gonna be so mad at me. -Yeah. Yeah.

[ Laughter ] Especially John Williams. [ Laughter ] -But when I say that, do you understand where I'm going? -Yeah.

♪♪ [ Audience exclaiming ] [ Applause ] -Okay. Oh, it's redemption day. "Jurassic Park," John Williams again.

[ Audience exclaims ] Wow! You immediately said 3 for "Jurassic Park"? -It's a perfect little centerpiece.

-But it's such an iconic. . .

-But all of these are iconic is the thing, so what if you pull out an even more iconic one? -Some are better, according to Jenna Ortega. [ Laughter ] -You know what?

-Here's another important thing to remember, too. "Jurassic Park" holds more nostalgic value to me than "Titanic" does. -Okay.

Okay. That's good. That helps.

-So it's, you know, relating it to myself. -"The Nightmare Before Christmas," Danny Elfman. [ Audience exclaims ] ♪♪ Number one?

-"Sally's Song"? Incredible. -Number one.

-Beautiful talented Catherine. . .

-"Lord of the Rings," Howard Shore. One of the best film scores of all time. Is it 2 or is it 6?

♪♪ -I love "Lord of the Rings. " -Uh-huh. -I love "Lord of the Rings.

" -Yeah. [ Audience groans ] One of my favorite -- Keep in mind, one of my favorite, if not my favorite, trilogy of all time. -Yes.

Okay, good. Yeah. Mine's, uh, "Rocky.

" -Okay. [ Laughter ] -That's also a good score. -That is a good score.

-"Beetlejuice. " -Oh. [ Laughter ] -Look, this game's rigged!

This game's, like -- I swear to God. I swear to God. -Wow!

-Did not know. -How are you even gonna talk to Danny Elfman ever again? There you go.

Right there. There's the list, in order. [ Cheers and applause ] [ Laughs ] We know, we know, we know.

We love all of them. We love all of them. -I do regret maybe the "Star Wars" one a little bit.

-Okay. It's okay. Yeah.

Let's talk -- No -- No regrets. Let's talk "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. " Congratulations.

-Thank you. -You worked with Tim Burton on "Wednesday. " I think he's a genius.

I don't know him, but I'm a big fan of him. Did he know that you would be perfect? Like, that he was -- that he was doing "Beetlejuice" -- "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice," and you were gonna be in the film, like, when you were doing "Wednesday"?

-He definitely -- He definitely knew before I did. I remember hearing about it because the writers for "Wednesday" are the writers of "Beetlejuice. " So I heard about that, and I was so excited about that.

I congratulated them, and then I just kind of forgot about it and, you know, went about my career, I guess. And then, I met with Tim a couple days before "Wednesday" came out, and we talked about potential of season two and what we wanted to do. So he told me to write down some ideas for the second season of the show.

So I said, "Okay, I got you. " I was feverishly scribbling in my journal for a week. Then I went and I met him again.

And then when I went to, you know, open up my journal and present these ideas, he just placed the script of "Beetlejuice" in my journal. And he didn't tell anyone. He just said, "Oh, okay.

There's, you know, no pressure, Jenna, but I think there's a part for you. But, again, if you don't want to do it, like, you know, don't. .

. " And I just said, "Okay. Thanks, Tim.

" Got in my car, and then, 10 minutes later, I pulled over on the side of PCH, which is a big, you know, freeway in California, and PCH is not somewhere you want to pull off to the side to. There's, like, rocks and ocean and, like, yeah, everyone's speeding. It's awful.

But I sat on the rocks in front of the water, and I just read the script for an hour, and then I called my team and I said, "I can't tell you what I'm agreeing to, but I am agreeing to it. " -Yeah, like, you're not allowed to talk about it. -I'm not available from this time to this time.

-No way. -It was that quick. -That immediate -- "You know, this is gonna be great.

" And then working with Michael Keaton, Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, come on. -Never -- never in my wi-- I just never could have anticipated something like that happening. -No.

-Michael is the coolest. Obviously, a character like Beetlejuice is so iconic and -- and so loved, and Lydia is the coolest character on the planet. Just everything about it, I was terrified.

-What was it like when Michael Keaton comes on set as Beetlejuice? Does everyone get quiet or do people cry? I would cry.

[ Laughter ] I mean, that's amazing. I can't believe you did this. -What if I just -- What if he came out right now?

-[ Gasps ] -Um, no, I, uh. . .

[ Laughter ] -I'm crying already. [ Laughter ] -He came up behind me. I was getting a hair and makeup test, and I got a tap on the shoulder, and I turned around, and it was a jumpscare, for sure.

[ Laughter ] He was like, "Oh, hey, I'm Michael," and he had, you know, molds peeling off his face, and I played it cool. And then, it was cool until I met him for a second time out of hair and makeup, because I introduced myself again because I forgot that I had already met him. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[ Laughter ] You didn't meet Michael Keaton. You met Beetlejuice. Yeah.

How do we set up this film for everybody? -Oh, man. Um, the demon is back.

He's still attacking, chasing Lydia. It's a complete original on its own, strangely enough. There's so much in this film that is new and refreshing.

And that's what's so wonderful about the worlds that Tim creates is you just want to keep exploring them. And I think that this film is, um -- I don't know whatever you're anticipating, but you should probably. .

. You're wrong, and I'm excited for, um. .

. -You're gonna dig it. -I'm just excited, I'm excited.

-You're gonna love it. Okay, I want to show a clip. Here's Jenna Ortega and Winona Ryder in "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

" Take a look. -Hey, where are we? -I don't know!

♪♪ -Hey, that's Saturn! Right? So we must be on one of its moons.

I swear, the afterlife is so random. [ Wind howling ] [ Rumbling, creature growling ] ♪♪ -Sandworm! Run!

♪♪ -How -- Come on! That looks amazing! [ Cheers and applause ] Jenna Ortega!

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" is in theaters and IMAX September 6th. More "Tonight Show" after the break. Stick around, everybody!