Catherine O'Hara Wore a "Bus Load of Red Wigs" for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

In The Scenario, reporter Kirbie Johnson takes readers behind the scenes of the buzziest movies and TV shows to reveal how the best wigs, special effects makeup, and more are created. For this edition, Johnson spoke with hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell, who shares Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s deliberate nods to the original film and the experience of working with filmmaker Tim Burton to execute his vision.

It’s been 36 years since we first saw the charming, grotesque bio-exorcist on the big screen, and Tim Burton’s sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is just as much fun as the original. Fans of the 1988 film have likely spotted its clever tributes to its predecessor—from serving shrimp at a wake to the unlikely appearance of Adam and Barbara Maitland. Of course, there are plenty of hair and makeup nods to the original as well. Warning: Stop reading now if you don’t want to be as spoiled as the Deetz’s groceries.

Lydia Deetz’s Iconic Hair Remains the Same

Winona Ryder was only 16 when she appeared in Beetlejuice and is 52 in the sequel, but her hair remains eerily similar, particularly when she’s hosting her horror television program, Ghost House With Lydia Deetz. “I wanted for her to look stuck in a time warp with the look from the original film for her TV show,” hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell tells Allure. Not only did Lydia’s hair pay homage to her original look to please the film’s fans, the style also helped her play into her ghost-seeing persona for the television program. After the scene in which Lydia tapes her show, her bangs start to get softer and less spikey as the film progresses—but not too soft. “I mean, she still needed to be bonkers, though,” Blundell says.

Her famous hairstyle was created with a combination of faux fringe that connected to a hairpiece, culminating in what Blundell describes as a “third” of a wig that blends into Ryder’s actual hair.

Delia Deetz Goes Dark

As for eccentric Delia Deetz, played by scene-stealer Catherine O’Hara, her hair deepens from its original copper red to what Blundell calls a “titian” red. If Lydia’s fringe was meant to imply that she remains “bonkers,” consider Delia’s hair the depiction of a woman who gets more and more unhinged by the minute. “I made up half a dozen wigs for her with my wig maker in a copper tone that is closer to [her hair in] the first film and then brought in loads of cheap wigs in different shades of red and put them all on mannequins,” Blundell says. “When [O’Hara] arrived, we had a bus load of red wigs. We tried out a few and she was like, ‘I think she's gotten crazier and crazier and more and more artistic.’” Because of this direction, Blundell took the color deeper. Ultimately, O’Hara wears six titian red custom cut and colored wigs.

Beetlejuice Gets More… Beetlejuicy

Because this sequel takes place three decades after the first, the actors didn’t need to look like their younger selves for continuity—except Michael Keaton. Given that Beetlejuice himself lives in the afterlife and therefore isn’t getting any older, it was important to keep his look almost identical to that of the original.

Michael Keaton sports both fake teeth and a prosthetic “broken” nose in the film—same as the first—but for the sequel, he’s a little more “dead” looking. “You know, he was dead, so nothing is really meant to change,” Blundell says. However, Blundell said Burton wanted to avoid doing “loads of CGI,” so they instead opted to make Keaton look a little more disgusting to cover up any visible signs of aging where possible. “I did a few tweaks with the Beetlejuice makeup to make it a little bit more grimy—everything was a little bit more yucky and decomposed.”

Beetlejuice’s hair underwent some minor tweaks, but his makeup remained ultimately the same: The shades of purple and black around his eyes are the same, and his skin is still a pale white-yellow. His hair has more moss in it and it is a “fraction” longer. “Michael likes [his hair] standing up,” Blundell says. “He tweaked it and fine tuned it with us—he was very involved in the original look as well, so he was very specific about what he was doing.”

Delores Comes Back From the Beautiful Dead

In this film, we’re treated to some of Beetlejuice’s backstory, including meeting his murderous ex-wife, Delores (Monica Belluci), who poisoned him centuries ago in an effort to obtain everlasting life by sucking his soul. Naturally, Beetlejuice hacked her to pieces. In the present, we see her come back to life, staple herself back together, and seek revenge on her ex-husband.

You may be getting Corpse Bride vibes from the character, but Blundell says that wasn’t the inspiration. “It was very much the Bride of Frankenstein being put together,” Blundell says. Despite her intentionally messy makeup, Delores appears very glamorous in the film, which Blundell attributes to Belluci being Belluci. “We brought makeup down her face, we [smeared] her lipstick, [smeared] her eye shadow, and you put a camera in front of her, and you go, ‘Oh, shit, she's gotten more beautiful!’ She stole Beetlejuice's heart,” she says. “Just because she's dead and she's a soul sucker doesn't mean she can't be a beautiful soul sucker.” Blundell says they did try to put a frizzy wig on her but decided that it had “been done before,” so they opted for the long wig paired with makeup “dripping” down her face.

Of course, there’s so many signature Burton special makeup effects in this film, from the Shrinkers (justice for Bob!) to Astrid’s father, who drowned, and Delia’s husband, who got eaten by a shark after a plane crash—but we’ll save those details for later.

More from The Scenario:

• Channing Tatum’s Veneers Are a Character All Their Own in Blink Twice

• Nicola Coughlin Wears More Than $55,000 Worth of Wigs in Bridgerton Season 3

• Zendaya Ages 15 Years Without a Stitch of CGI or Prosthetic Makeup in Challengers

Now, watch Ariana Greenblatt's 10-minute beauty routine:

Don't forget to follow Allure on Instagram and TikTok.

Originally Appeared on Allure