Jenna Ortega wants women’s stories to be prioritised and celebrated. In an interview with MTV Tuesday, the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice actress shared how much she wanted for women to be leads in their own franchises, instead of being leads in spinoffs.
During the interview, Josh Horowitz asked Ortega if she’d consider playing “Edith Scissorhands” if there was a gender-flipped version of the Johnny Depp classic. Ortega, instead, offered that women should get their own thing.
“I love that there’s a lot more female leads nowadays, I think that’s so special. But we should have our own,” Ortega said. “I don’t like it when it’s like a spinoff.”
“I don’t want to see like ‘Jamie Bond.’ You know?” she added. “I want to see just another badass.”
Although Ortega was speaking hypothetically, there won’t be a Jamie Bond, since its franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has said many times that 007 will always be played by a man. Broccoli’s previous statements on the subject actually aligned with Ortega’s sentiments: “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,” she added in a Hollywood Reporter interview from 2021.
On the topic of Edward Scissorhands, Ortega said in the MTV interview that she felt like Beetlejuice and Edward‘s stories being continued makes for two completely different approaches: “The beauty of something like Edward is that it’s very sensitive. Beetlejuice can be original because he doesn’t exist in a specific time. You could make an anthology or go to the future.”
Directed by Tim Burton, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to premiere in the United States on Sept. 6. The new film stars Michael Keaton in the original role, along with Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz. (Ortega plays Astrid, Lydia’s teen daughter, and Delia’s stepgranddaughter.)
From Rolling Stone US
