"It Was Like We Were Reading Each Other’s Minds" — Inside Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega's Friendship

If you have found yourself reflecting on how Jenna Ortega seems like a mini version of Winona Ryder , perhaps you'll be as thrilled as we are to learn that the two fright film actors are actually quite close in real life.

Indeed, not only does Jenna play Winona's daughter Astrid in the sequel to Beetlejuice , aptly named Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , but off-screen, according to both actors, they found that they had an instant connection that persisted after filming.

For Jenna Ortega, her friendship with Winona Ryder is about feeling "seen."

It turns out that the Wednesday star and the '90s icon hadn't met prior to filming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice . As Jenna told The New York Times about their first encounter, "She was so warm and welcoming and kind and inviting right from the jump, and I couldn’t be more grateful."

She added, "It was at a time where my career was taking a different turn, and I didn’t realize that I needed that from somebody who could relate, but I did."

Jenna also shared, "The way Winona and I got along was quite weird. It was like we were reading each other’s minds a little bit."

Jenna also told the outlet that her sudden fame after appearing in Wednesday made her feel like she "had entered somebody else’s life," and of course, her new mentor could relate.

"Obviously with the success and the attention that she received in the ’90s, Winona had experienced that probably to an even greater extent, so she was the first person that I connected with on that topic, or she made me feel seen where other people necessarily in my life, as much as they wanted to, couldn’t relate or couldn’t understand," Jenna confided.

The at-times controversial star (she was criticized for saying she had a hand in writing her lines for the Netflix series) also told Fandango that her connection with Winona hasn't stopped since filming for the highly-anticipated 2024 film ended.

Winona Ryder sees herself in Jenna Ortega.

For her part, the Heathers alum says she agrees with fans who see Jenna as a younger version of her.

As the Stranger Things star told Screenrant , "I don't think I've ever bonded with someone like I did with Jenna. It was insane. And it did feel a lot like I was talking to a younger version of myself, but she's just like a thousand times cooler."

Movies are one area where the two A-listers found a connection, with Winona saying, "Because we both have the same almost religious reverence for film. She is a cinephile, and we just can talk movies for years. We just bonded so intensely, and that was incredibly helpful."

The pair's bond couldn't be more apparent in a clip from an Extra interview posted to X, where they grasp hands and seem overcome by emotion just talking about one another.

In fact, they actually reach over Catherine O'Hara 's lap to hold hands, and we are here for this sweet moment.