“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”'s Jenna Ortega Says Original Movie Frightened Her as a Kid: 'I Was Scared of Everything'

"I was always very confused, but I think that I got older and I realized that excitement is the same as fear," Ortega said on the 'Today' show

Jenna Ortega wasn't always a horror fan.

In fact, the Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceactress — who is known for darker roles — said on the Todayshow Monday, Aug. 19, that as a child, she "was scared of everything," including the original Beetlejuice movie.

"I loved the Gremlins but I hated them at the same time," Ortega, 21, told Hoda Kotb. "So I was always very confused, but I think that I got older and I realized that excitement is the same as fear. So it's like, when I'm scared, I can just tell myself I'm excited."

"And you can do the same vice versa, but I just try to place it somewhere else, 'cause I hated being scared all the time," she explained.

Of her titular role on Netflix's Wednesday, Ortega added, "That one really came out of nowhere because I was a really expressive child when I was younger, so to be known for this deadpan persona, it's so funny to my family."

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Related: Jenna Ortega Says She Will Act in Horror Movies 'Until I Die': 'It'll Always Be Home' (Exclusive)

Thankfully, Ortega's fear of the Michael Keaton character subsided enough for her to answers "an immediate yes" to starring in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, with only "5 minutes of hesitation."

"Tim [Burton] kind of threw me off guard when he told me this," she said of the director, whom she has also worked with on Wednesday. "He gave me the script, I pulled over on the side of the road and just read it as soon as I possibly could."

"Within two hours, I called my team," Ortega continued. "I said, 'I can't tell you what this is about, but just know I'm doing another job with Tim.' "

She also raved about costarring with acting legend Keaton, 72, plus his fellow returning cast member Winona Ryder and new additions Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe.

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"And then to be connecting on a job ... as inspirational and inventive as Beetlejuice, to see Michael as Beetlejuice in person, it was unbelievable," the actress said.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will open the Venice Film Festival later this month and comes 36 years after the release of original movie, also directed by Burton, 65. It starred Keaton, Ryder, 52, and returning cast member Catherine O'Hara, among others.

Speaking with PEOPLE in January, O'Hara, 70, praised the "great" Ortega, adding, "Love her. What a cool young woman. Wow."

Of filming the first movie, she said, “It was really fun. And doing this last Beetlejuice was really fun too. I know [Tim] really wanted to get that feeling back on a set, and he got it.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice materializes in theaters Sept. 6.

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