Newcomer Arthur Conti’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice character has rubbed fans up the wrong way
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice fans have called out Jenna Ortega and Jeremy Conti’s ‘age gap’ kiss in the belated sequel, despite the actors being around the same age.
Now legacy sequels can be pretty hit or miss. Sometimes they can be a great addition to a franchise and other times you have to pretend it simply doesn’t exist in order not to taint the memory of the original.
That being said, Tim Burton’s sequel to his spooky 80s classic has been an absolute hit since releasing earlier this month.
Much to the delight of fans, Michael Keaton returned to play ‘the ghost with the most’ in the sequel as well as Winona Ryder returning as Lydia, the first film’s protagonist.
While many have been laughing themselves into a fit over the film, some have been left uncomfortable by one kiss scene involving Jenna Ortega.
Jenna Ortega’s character Astrid Deetz is the daughter of Lydia and her love interest is Jeremy, played by breakout star, Arthur Conti.
While Jeremy might look the same age as Astrid in the film, he is actually a ghost who died a couple of decades previously.
And here lies the rub that has got some viewers up in arms for some reason.
While the actors are actually similar in age in real life, Conti being 19 and Ortega 21, the age difference in the story hasn’t sat well with some fans.
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Boy meets girl, but he’s also dead and a ghost and about 40-ish (Warner Bros)
They did the math and if Jeremy has been dead for over 20 years he’s not exactly a teen, he’d be closer to his mid 40s while Astrid is just 15 or 16.
Think Edward Cullen being in his early 100s while Bella is only 17 in the Twilight films.
On a post discussing the 600 year age gap between Beetlejuice and Lydia, with the ghost still pining after Winona Ryder’s character after all these years, one fan wrote: “I thought it was MORE relevant for them to mention the age gap between Astrid and the ghost boy, who was said to have been dead for 20-ish years!”
Another said: “Omg yes I didn’t even consider that! What’s interesting is, if I’m doing my math right, that’d put Jeremy in his mid-30s roughly and Astrid round 15-16… Bout the same age gap between Ryder & Keaton in the first movie (iirc).”
Of course, age gap regardless, sharing a kiss with a ghost is pretty creepy anyway.
In real-life, Conti and Ortega are around the same age, which the former said made him feel ‘less intimidated’.
He told Wonderland Magazine: “She was so much fun to work with.
“Probably 99% of my filming was with her and I think to have someone my age, who was so down-to-earth and easy to talk to, was so valuable to me in feeling less intimidated by the whole thing.
“She’s an incredible talent with an astounding work ethic, and also a supremely lovely person.”
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros
