Jenna Ortega has hailed her Beetlejuice Beetlejuice co-star Catherine O’Hara as ‘one of the greats’.
The 24-year-old star took to Instagram on Sunday to pay tribute to the Canadian actress, who passed away on Friday at the age of 71, and said that she will ‘forever cherish’ the time they spent working together on the 2024 movie.
Jenna wrote on the social media platform: ‘Catherine is one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever had the honor of getting to work with and know. I’ll forever cherish the time we shared together, and everything she taught me.’
The Wednesday star added: ‘A giant, an inspiration in many ways. One of the greats. Thank you so much for it all.’
Jenna’s message follows from a host of tributes from stars who have worked with O’Hara – including on-screen son in Home Alone Macaulay Culkin.
Jenna Ortega has hailed her Beetlejuice Beetlejuice co-star Catherine O’Hara as ‘one of the greats’
The stars in their 2024 movie
The 45-year-old actor posted two throwback photos of himself and Catherine and wrote on Instagram: ‘Mama.
‘I thought we had time.
‘I wanted more.
‘I wanted to sit in a chair next to you.
‘I heard you.
‘But I had so much more to say.
‘I love you.
‘I’ll see you later. (sic)’
Meanwhile, Catherine’s Schitt’s Creek co-star Eugene Levy stated that ‘words seem inadequate’ following her passing after a ‘short illness’.
In a statement given to Us Weekly, he said: ‘Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today. I had the honour of knowing and working with the great Catherine O’Hara for over fifty years.
‘From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on Schitt’s Creek, I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship.’
(L-R) O’Hara, Winona Ryder and Ortega arrive at the Palazzo del Casino at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on August 28, 2024 in Venice, Italy
O’Hara at 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, Arrivals, Los Angeles in 2024
The American Pie star also offered his condolences to O’Hara’s husband Bo Welch and sons Matthew and Luke.
He concluded: ‘And I will miss her. My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke, and the entire O’Hara family.’
Seth Rogen – who worked with Catherine on his acclaimed TV comedy The Studio – revealed that he felt inspired by the late actress when he was growing up.
The 43-year-old star penned on Instagram: ‘Really don’t know what to say… I told O’Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen. Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honor. S
‘he was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous… she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.’
