JUSTIN THEROUX'S FULL CIRCLE MOMENT

THE FORMER EMO KID GREW UP LOVING WINONA RYDER IN BEETLEJUICE. NOW HE'S PLAYING HER BOYFRIEND IN THE NEW SEQUEL-AND IS HAPPIER THAN EVER OFF CAMERA

- JACK SMART

Justin Theroux looks good in black. "Definitely goth-adjacent," he says of his go-to red carpet look, adding, "Usually boots and black jeans." It's a combo that dates back to his "emo kid" days growing up in Washington, D.C. "There's a good case to be made that I haven't changed what I've been wearing since I was 14," the actor (The Leftovers, White House Plumbers), writer and Emmy-winning producer, 53, jokes.

It's partly what makes his role in director Tim Burton's long-awaited sequel to the 1988 classic Beetlejuice meant to be. Reuniting Michael Keaton as the titular ghoul and Winona Ryder as goth suburbanite Lydia Deetz, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (in theaters Sept. 6) also invites Theroux, Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe into Burton's wickedly macabre playground. Theroux says he has "such a soft spot in my heart" for the original horror-comedy-and its female lead, Ryder, 52, who plays his love interest in the sequel: "I think everyone related to or wanted to date Winona's character when you were a preteenager."