Arthur Conti, one of the stars of Tim Burton’s newly-released Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, had a rather dubious April Fool’s day. “I was at my friend’s house when I found out [I got the role of Jeremy]. So, I initially thought it was a really mean joke!” says the 19-year-old actor, who, having worked out this wasn’t in fact a wisecrack at his expense, became the boyfriend to Winona Ryder’s daughter played by Jenna Ortega in the legendary director’s highly-anticipated Beetlejuice sequel. “She was so much fun to work with,” he says of the experience. “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.”
It’s not hard to decipher what endeared the director to Arthur, who beat out a slew of stars to the role. Beneath the British charm and messy mop of black curls, is a rising actor whose magnetic enthusiasm could haul over a double-decker bus. “My school had a very good drama department, and I studied acting there. I did a lot of musicals, which was my first real introduction to it and what made me decide I wanted to do it as a job. I was turned down by RADA a few weeks before I was cast in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — I’ve been very lucky to be able to just learn on the job, which I think is both the scariest and most effective form of training.”
