Justin Theroux Shares the Origins of His 'Goth-Adjacent' Style (Exclusive)

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ star Justin Theroux “was sort of emo, punk, whatever you want to call it back in the day,” he tells PEOPLE

Justin Theroux knows what look works for him: “Usually a boot and a black jean,” he tells PEOPLE.

The actor-filmmaker, 53, was favoring all-black looks long before Tim Burton cast him inBeetlejuice Beetlejuice (in theaters now), the long-awaited sequel to the director’s 1988 comedy-horror classic.

Theroux’s everyday style, which he calls “definitely goth-adjacent,” fits in perfectly with the dark Beetlejuice aesthetic best represented by Winona Ryder’s offbeat character Lydia Deetz. Growing up in Washington, D.C., “I felt like I was an emo kid, and I think everyone related to or wanted to date Winona's character,” he quips.

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“I mean, there’s a really good case to be made that I haven't changed what I've been wearing since I was 14,” he adds. “I was sort of emo, punk, whatever you want to call it back in the day.”

Meanwhile on the red carpet, Theroux, who is newly engaged to Nicole Brydon Bloom, often wears mostly black or neutral ensembles when posing alongside with the Gilded Age actress.

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Playing the “insufferable” Rory in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, love interest to Ryder’s Lydia, was a fun opportunity to “goth it up a little bit, put a little eyeliner on,” he says. And although the movie’s Colleen Atwood-designed costumes were “nothing I would wear in my daily life,” Theroux admits, he and Ryder and their costar Jenna Ortega “were so excited for our wardrobe.”

Related: 'Wednesday' Costume Designer Colleen Atwood Details the Stories Behind the Characters' Iconic Looks

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Also joining original Beetlejuice stars Ryder, Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara in the sequel are Monica Bellucci, Danny DeVito and Willem Dafoe. The inventive and immersive cinematic world that Burton, Atwood, production designer Bo Welch and screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar built, says Theroux, was a dream come true for that inner goth kid.

“To step onto set and see Winona in her sort of black petticoat dress, and her black, sharp bangs, and her smoky eye, it just was so fun,” he recalls.

“I have such a soft spot in my heart for Beetlejuice, and it's one of those miraculous moments in life where you're like, ‘Someone just handed me the key to the front door of that movie, and I get to walk into that world.’”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is in theaters Sept. 6.

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